Evil Dead The Musical

Roxanne Daneman

Dominion Stage, Theatre on the Run in Arlington, VA is presenting Evil Dead: The Musical through March 25. It is  obvious  that the young ten-member ensemble cast has fun performing this high camp production which  is deliberately outrageous for humorous effect…and it works! Five friends plan to spend a weekend in the woods when the youngest of them gets attacked by trees in the forest. No sooner does she escape and head back to the cabin then she becomes a zombie, and an evil one at that. Colleen Robinson portrays Cheryl, the first demon, and proves to be a very good comedic actor. Nick Stone portrays Ash, the only member of the cast who is not turned into a demon but he is not Mr. goody-two-shoes.  He repeatedly tries to kills the demons with a gun or hacksaw as they become infected by each other, but to no avail. ( You can’t kill someone who is already dead). “Blood” frequently squirts into the audience.  To be fair, audience members are warned about the “splash zone” and asked to wear ponchos. Nick is on the stage for almost the entire production and presents himself very well. Roxanne Daneman portrays Linda, his love interest.  She has, far-and-away the strongest voice on the stage.  Whether singing a duet with Ash or in a group, the quality of her voice is wonderful to hear. She also makes a hysterical zombie head when her body is running around and her head is left on the table next to the chainsaw to make outragous faces.  There are some dance routines in the production as well, and Bonita Adams, who portrays Shelly, shines as an accomplished dancer. This show is not to be taken too seriously, but it is very funny and a joy to watch.