Groovy

My Dear Princess and Dear Fellow, 

Today was "Evil Dead: The Musical" day!

Excitement was high. And to add to the fun, we decided to go to a teppanyaki restaurant before the show.

I have never been to a teppanyaki restaurant before. 

It was so fun! The chef chatted to us the whole time and got Jefe to catch his egg and his rice in a bowl!

I'm glad I didn't try that. I am a dropper.

All the same, we arrived at the venue way early. We could still hear the cast rehearsing inside when we arrived. But most importantly the bar was open, so we got ourselves some drinks and chatted with the crew. 

They pointed out to us a white t-shirt that someone had worn at an earlier performance. It was SERIOUSLY stained red with blood. 

"Are you sitting in the Splatter Zone?" they asked us.

We confirmed that we were. 

"You're going to need ponchos," they observed. 

So here's the story. Back in Canada where this musical originated, the Canadian cast realised they had a problem. They couldn't help but splash the front row of the audience with fake blood when performing. They tried various methods to keep the blood onstage but nothing was working.

And so, "The Splatter Zone" was born. They decided to make a feature of blood spatter and so the first three rows of the audience are pre-warned they may get sprayed.

We knew about this in advance. We had our ponchos ready. 

Anticipation was high as the show started. I looked around at fellow audience members and was amused to note three whole rows of people clad in rain gear of various sorts. 

But nothing much happened at first. The (amateur) show was very low-rent and embraced the cheapness. The introduction as to the origins of the Necronomicon Ex Mortis was handled by having a man in a leotard show us the book (upside down) and then dropping it. 

We then went into the opening number Cabin in the Woods which is a cheery, boppy little number. The sound system in the venue was RUBBISH*  but no-one seemed to care and the cast was clearly having great fun.

The evil trees in the movie were also charmingly rubbish. They included an evil Xmas tree, complete with baubles that chased Cheryl around the stage, and then possessions, decapitations and the chain-sawing of Ash's hand occurred. 

It was during the chain-saw sequence that a SPURT of blood shot out of the chainsaw all over Manda. It was like they were aiming directly for her. But me and Jefe were completely unscathed. The first act of the musical was over and I was still completely dry. 

The musical, by the way, covers Evil Dead and Evil Dead II. So act II starts with Annie Knowby arriving with the extra pages. When she accidentally stabs Jake (Ode to an Accidental Stabbing) I could see a look in Jake's eye. 

"Uh-oh," I thought.

SPLASH 

RIGHT IN THE KISSER

The blood RAINED down on me. All I could hear was Manda cackling wickedly. Annie then got stabbed herself by Ash's evil hand, and the scene was set for carnage as Ash went on a demon-killing spree. 

THERE WAS SO MUCH BLOOD

SO MUCH

Jefe actually held up his poncho as a shield. Which totally worked. He stayed dry and blood-free. But on the other hand, he missed a lot of the action. 

The demon-massacre went on and on. And basically this meant the demons ran around the stage with super-soakers. Manda and I were DRENCHED. 

I think they got some on Jefe's shoe.

The audience was in stitches. The cast looked like they were out of control, but eventually they burst into song again, for the big finale.

As a bit of an Evil Dead nerd, I was very happy to see they included references to Bruce Campbell's biography, and also lots of lines from the movies, including:

"We can't bury Shelley, she's a friend of ours!"
"Shop smart, shop S-Mart!"
"Well HELLO Mr. Fancy-Pants!" 
"This is my BOOM STICK!!!"

And of course...

"Groovy."

And then it was all over! Manda and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. To be fair, I was COVERED in blood. To the point where other members of the audience wanted selfies with me and even the crew were laughing at me on my way out. 

The pair drove me home and we came across a police checkpoint and there was I, covered in blood. 

"I'm going to bang on the glass and scream for help," I told Jefe.

"Don't you DARE," he replied. 

I walked into the living room to see Caro before I went for a shower. 

"Oh for f*ck's sake," she said. 

So it was a fun end to a hilarious evening. I'm so happy I went to see the musical. It was WAY better than "Wicked" and DEFINITELY better than "The Wedding Singer"**. 

And now I've got "Cabin in the Woods" stuck in my head. 

CABIN IN THE WOODS OOOO-OOOOH
CABIN IN THE WOODS YEAAAAAAHHHH
WE'RE FIVE COLLEGE STUDENTS
ON OUR WAY TO AN OLD ABANDONED CABIN IN THE WOOOOOODS
YEAH!

S.

* As noted by Jefe the AV Guy, obviously. 
** Either time.