Evil Dead: New York’s BLOODIEST Musical 

Kicking off your cult musical with an outdoor performance in the dark is probably a good start.

11:48 - I was that Lighting Designer. The world premiere of Evil Dead continues to be one of the most magical theatre experiences of my life, and that was pretty much the night we all realized that the show was unstoppable. It's been a rare privilege and honour to have been, and continue to be a part of this incredible show (as you mentioned later in the video, Bondo and George are still involved, the National Tour has also retained the Lighting, Sound, and Costume Designers from its' Tranzac days), and I'm hoping we can bring back our absurdly bloody Deadite party once we're allowed to have gatherings again. Thanks for a wonderful trip down memory lane, and keep up the good work!

Man, getting Bruce Campbell's approval must've been a highlight of this production.

Normally: What Went Wrong? Rarely: What Went Right? Evil Dead: Here's how this shit went down

Saw "Evil Dead: The Musical" probably three or four years ago, in the splatter zone. It was amazing.

Look at WITW being the Defunctland of musicals, I love it

You know how this series is called "What Went Wrong?" Let me tell you guys what went wrong with Evil Dead the Musical. It premiered in the winter. That's it. Other than that, it would be a powerhouse.

we've got a horror musical streak going....delving into Carrie must be next....

Playing Linda in the first production of EDtM to happen in Denver was one of the greatest experiences of my entire life. I’m 27 and have been in theatre since I was 11. The only show that was more fun to be in than EDtM was Rocky Horror as Magenta. And tbh it’s pretty much a damn tie. This show is AMAZING, and so fucking delightful!

Honestly it makes me so happy these college kids show worked out so well and now is even a source of steady income. Who would've thought?

Hey! what up!?!?!? Original Cheryl from the Off Broadway Company (and cast album)here! My friend just sent me this! So interesting to watch it considering my fun journey with the show. I wish you would've used more clips from our production in NYC! :-) Looks like most of your clips are from somewhere else. Love this show. Love these people. Wish it could've lasted longer.

I played Cheryl an evil dead the musical and it was literally the most amazing experience I’ve ever had

My husband and I met on a college production of ED in 2013. I was the makeup and blood designer, and he was the bassist. It was a wild and dirty time. I was covered in fake blood for a solid month. We even added a (30?) person zombie ensemble, which all needed a mask like prosthetic. Such an excellent show.

We were very lucky to be part of Evil Dead very early on (starting on the 2nd run in Toronto) creating the makeup fx, the deadite masks and props and watching it bloom the way it did truly was amazing to see. It started so small and kept growing and growing and growing and growing to the amazing cult status it's in now... Congrats to Evil Dead: The Musical and all it's accomplished!

I'm a fairly new fan of musical theater and have been trying to learn more about it. Your videos have really helped in that department. They are so well done and informative and I have learned so many interesting and compelling stories. I really enjoy your content and look forward to seeing what you will make next!

As a Michigander, Evil Dead the musical is a great thing. Detroit held professional productions of it for over 10 years. Last year was the final year of it. And I played Jake in an amateur production in 2014 I love this show, and would do it again in a heartbeat

Sam's most iconic camera style comes from the idea that you can't see the threat. It's just the camera chasing after the victim in a brutal manner.

I'd love to see you do one of these videos for a Starkid show. The condensation of several storylines was done by Starkid in AVPM as well.

I also had tickets for opening night at the TRANZAC, and I figured it was cancelled due to the blackout. I kicked myself the next day when I read about the crazy show they put on in the parking lot, hanging from trees and using headlights to light the show. It would have been a perfect encapsulation of the madness of that day in Toronto.

I’ve never heard of this in my life, which seems absolutely insane for how crazy this is! Tbh sometimes I wonder how on earth people pitch these things!

My internet connection may be shitty, but I'm here as fast as I could!

Fantastic timing! My high school's theater has been floating around ideas for shows next year, and Evil Dead was towards the top of the list! Also, goes without saying, but another amazing video, oh my gosh. *obligatory question about if we'll ever see a Great Comet of 1812 video*

Can you talk about what went wrong with “Be More Chill the musical” as it’s pretty cool that a musical went to Broadway because of the internet!

This is such a heartwarming story of the artist winning out and putting out something truly amazing and beautiful in its unabashed acceptance of its identity. I love it, I truly hope I can see a showing of it someday.

I friggin' loved this show in middle school. I even sang "Bit Part Demon" for an audition in the school musical and got a leading role XD. I didn't know so much of this info and it was honestly really inspiring so thank you. It's still my dream to see it live and get splattered with blood. Some day...

I’m a Canadian university student (from Toronto) currently writing a comedic stage play. This is bloody inspiring

I've seen EDtM 31 times, and every show was an absolute blast. From it's first run back in 2003 in Toronto, the 10th Anniversary show in Toronto (twice), the Vegas run (23 times) to a local production here in October. Always the best time. I've listened to the official soundtrack more times than I think I've seen the sun. haha Thanks for the awesome video!

While it is cool to see you tackle stuff like Spongebob and Beetlejuice, this is the kind of content that drew me to your channel. Taking a look at the more bizarre bits of Broadway history. Those shows that sounds weird and many people probably haven't heard of. And that is, certainly what the subject of this video was. And it is fascinating! I really hope you cover more Off Broadway cult classics in the future. The story of the blackout performance kind of reminds me of that blackout in NYC last year, and how the performers in the Broadway theaters came out and performed on the streets.

25:31 Bruce Cambpell, I am so, so so glad that you exist and decided that acting was a career choice.

I remember katherine steeles video about her being in this show. Aside from that I knew nothing about this show.

i was Cheryl in a production this past halloween in maine. it was my company's first show four years before then and we did it as an anniversary production. it's the most fun i've ever had in a show in my entire life. my director shared this video in our cast/crew fb group. 💕

I absolutely love this musical and am so happy and proud to have played Ash in a low-budget production of it

Watching this while making the moose puppet for a production of this at Stagedoor Manor, the camp that premiered the High School version of Evil Dead back in 2017, is a surreal experience I love it

just rewatched the spiderman: turn off the dark video last night! excited for a new episode!

Yay! I’m a sucker for the underdog success tale :) makes me remember why I love theatre. Now I must begin my quest to find a copy of the soundtrack!

Seeing that one bit of Carrie in there makes me need a Carrie video by y’all DESPERATELY

I'm going to suggest this as my theatre groups next amature production 💅💅

I honestly love the story of the Evil Dead Musical so much. It's such a great example of a community embracing the silliness of and jankiness of a DIY concept instead of trying to be perfect and over-produced Perfection through imperfection, and all that

Wait, was that Matthew Morrison in the Hairspray clip? I never knew he was in Hairspray, good stuff!

I went to splatter zone performances in Detroit several years in a row. Absolutely one of my favorite shows and I sing the songs around Halloween every year.

This series is so interesting. Please keep making them!

This should really be on Broadway, we need shows like this on broadway

the funniest thing is, before the video even brought up the stage actor playing ash, from the background clips i thought "wow this guy really has that ash energy, that's awesome" crazy how you can feel it even just through his physical acting alone!!

I actually got to see the National Premiere of Evil Dead The Musical High School Edition. Actually my first time seeing the show in any form. Surprisingly works very well as a high school show! Its not really butchered at all. The script also allows for anything from the Original script to be added back in depending on your audience. The high school cast was incredible and the cast captured the spirit of the deadites. Special effects were low key top notch.

Did... did Starkid take the idea of basing a musical on multiple works from the same franchise from Evil Dead? Or do they simply have a similar artsy college kid mentality? I can't help but draw parallels.

I got to see the offbroadway version after it left Toronto and hit Calgary in 2008 and it's still a highlight to this day. It was such a blast to sit in the splatter zone with no idea what was in store, and I hope to see it again one day!

Hey Run Crew, I hope you liked the video. What's your favorite Evil Dead movie? I'm an Evil Dead 2 guy myself. Also, did you know that liking or sharing helps with getting our videos out there and help shine a better light on the lesser known shows that people should know about? Give it a try ;)

Was able to make my musical theatre directorial debut with this show in 2010. Sold out most nights and is still one of my favorite theatre memories.

The jump from Evil Dead to Spider Man 3 makes total sense.

I was SO PLEASANTLY SURPRISED to see you had a video on this show!!! I played Linda back in 2019 and this brings back such great memories :’) It’s interesting that the show has a direct influence from Rocky Horror tho, because after we closed I actually posted, word-for-word, that “it felt like our own little Rocky Horror most nights.” It was some of the most fun I’ve ever had performing, and out of all the shows I’ve ever been in, this is the one I would LOVE to do again. Thanks for letting me relive my Deadite days! 🩸🧟‍♀️

Great video! Watching the video on Beetlejuice the other day had me searching through your videos to see if you'd done Evil Dead before cause is an obvious choice and example of a horror musical done right- and here it is! :D

I got to play Cheryl in a local production a few years ago and it was (and still remains!) my favorite show I've ever done. The cast was small and intimate, so we all got to know each other very well. I'm glad more people are being introduced to this one-of-a-kind musical!

I was going to go to bed but...this calls. It’s 10 pm over here for me but I need my theatre fix.

The final minutes where you talk about the expectations of Broadway shows, that's really insightful. Seems like this shows legacy continues, reading some of the other comments here. I don't think the same can be said of some actual Broadway productions.

Saw this at the Grandel Theater in St Louis a couple years back and it was the best night of my life. I was the only kid in the crowd so it felt kinda weird but it also meant at the end when the cast brought out the blood guns to spray the splatter zone even more, I was singled out as their main target. It was so awesome.

I did this show in college! It was a lot of fun!!

Every single song is such a banger. And then there's the blood, which is half the fun! Ryan Ward gives a performance worthy of an opera singer, and it makes these crazy songs feel so much more epic.

This is simply some of the very best content in all of RU-vid! I really do look forward to seeing whatever it is you'll cover next, and although I missed my opportunity to ever perform on stage again, you do such a great job of making me feel like I'm still part of some kind of theater community, and I can't possibly tell you enough about how much I appreciate your work. I'm sure you'll never actually see this, but regardless, thank you so very, very, VERY much for the content you create and share with us! You're absolutely the best!!♥️

*groovy*

im from the states and have only ever seen the Korean version. kinda disappointed it wasn't brought up, because it was a huge flash in the pan there

I worked on it in Toronto, making masks and props. I loved that cast and crew, and have many great memories and continuing friendships. That show was lightning in a bottle. I loved watching the audience. They would quote along and were totally engaged. It is funny to see that almost every clip here is of the Toronto cast, with only one or two of the off-Broadway crowd. I personally preferred the show pre-NY changes, and the wardrobe and set designers from Toronto deserve more credit, because almost nothing was changed from their original designs. I saw the show in New York too, and to be honest, our Toronto cast was better . You cannot beat our good ol' reliable Jake, or our sweet, hapless Ed. Or the late, great, and much missed Matt as Scott. Matt was such a huge part of the show, and was the public and online face from the beginning. He is the one I met first, and who welcomed me in to the fold. I am so glad to hear it is still going strong. Hooray for Bondo!

I remember putting on Evil Dead in high school, and it still remains one of the most enjoyable show I've ever worked on

Just had the pleasure of seeing this last weekend. It is FANTASTIC! Hilarious, campy, and just plain entertaining!

So glad to see this being covered! I work in theatre in Montreal, and remember how awesome the Montreal production was, I still have the buttons and the program from it

I saw EDTM 11 times in total. Absolute favorite.

I was in one of the Toronto productions! Such a wonderful trip down memory lane!

Bruce Campbell is one of my favorite people alive

Again hitting me with an amazing brief of a musical's (or anti musical) history. To be honest I had heard of evil dead as floating rumors, but never got around to looking what it was about. This is AWSOME-- I mean, what other show has such a cool splatter zone like this? And people get to drink while being in the theater? ( which by the way how to they clean up that mess, I'm really curious) Come on, this is brutally awesome, and I thank you for helping me see what bloody fun massacre of a show it is. Love these vids 😁❤🍻🔪

Another video making me want to listen to a show I hadn't engaged with before! Love your videos!

My freshman year of high school a senior approached me and a few other outcasts in the theater department to submit a group musical number to our state acting competition. The number he wanted to perform was Do The Necronomicon from Evil Dead the Musical. After weeks of rehearsals in various family rooms we presented. I was so nervous and had no idea how our performance would be received. Well turns out the Oregon theater board loves when kids perform numbers from obscure musicals where they play zombies! We took home that blue ribbon to the surprise of our entire department. It's one of the highlights from my short lived theater career! I got to see a production a few years ago (in the splash zone of course) and it was surreal! Still one of my favorite musicals to this day.

Omg the "small towns in Oregon" is a reference to the shows we did in Bend, OR, for almost a decade, it's so weird and cool to see my friends in that brief clip shown here. Excellent video, I adore Evil Dead the Musical, it's one of the most fun shows to perform and to attend that I've ever been involved with.

I had the opportunity to see the new york run, to this day still one of my favorite shows i've seen.

I was fortunate enough to play Jake in our college's production in 2012. It was so much fun! It's still on the top of my list of shows I've done.

Yasss, pumped for this one! My little community theatre company tried to get rights for this once, but they were insanely expensive so we couldn't put it on, as much as we loved it :(

*Sees WITW is covering Evil Dead* Me: YYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

That pencil to the ankle still to this day makes me VERY uncomfortable.

Oh I think my local theater put this on for Halloween, now I wish I had seen it

I was wondering if you’d covered this show! I don’t see many people talk about it but it’s one of my favourites! It plays up the campy gore of the films so well

There's a solid chance that I watched that high school version my freshman year at a theater competition. As someone who had very little knowledge of the movie, watching was an amazing blindside

10:05 Loving all your videos...I did not expect to see the Arden production of Metamorphosis I lit. Bonus, Thanks!

I just came across this and very excited about ED. I have many fond memories of the show when I did it. I was the PE for the Off Broadway production at NWS. So glad to know people are still talking about it. Maybe one day it can come back to NYC.

This is really awesome since I didn't know much of the history, going to watch evil dead in Toronto is like a rite of passage in my family, my mom took each of her kids as teens as a way of saying their adults now and if ever have kids I'm gonna do the same

Firstly: "The Coachella of Comedy" jokes, killed. Secondly: I worked FoH at the Diesel Playhouse and it was unforgettable. Great video.

God, this show looks like SO much fun to be a part of.

I never knew this musical existed, otherwise I would have gone to see it. I'm a huge fan of the Evil Dead series and now want to see how it translated to the stage. So intrigued.

Every time I see more people talk about this I keep finding more professional recordings of the show. How do you find all these?

This Video is Electric!!! It makes you want to go out and Create something... Thank you again for the Fantastic Content.. Keep it coming...

Saw this musical advertised on a poster at a Sprit Halloween one time, now I wish I could’ve gone and seen it cuz it looks like fun! Especially getting blood sprayed on ya! (Yea it’s sick but cool at the same time)

defunctland is one of your patreons??? that's how you know this channel is gold

going to see a production of this on halloween and came back to rewatch this video

Dude I’m not into musicals but I love your content! I remember being 13 when this came out and finding out on MySpace

Very cool. Interested in this show now! Thank you.

I LOVE this show! It’s so good, and I wish there were more like it!

I saw an early off Broadway production and it was by far the best show I've ever seen and one of the best times I've ever had. All the clips I come across online unfortunately can't hold a candle to it. Ryan was the perfect casting choice.

I played Annie in Evil Dead the Musical and it was some of the most fun I’ve ever had on stage. I would 1000% do this show again! If you’ve never seen the show- I HIGHLY recommend going to see a production of it.

I did not know this existed until a few months ago, but god I love it. You'd think The Evil Dead of all things would not translate well to a musical, but not only did they manage to capture the spirit and tone of the franchise perfectly, a lot of the songs are catchy as hell!

I would have loved that experience! This is definitely my style!

You guys wouldn’t believe it! I told my boyfriend about this documentary YESTERDAY and he instantly bought us tickets to it in the spray zone!! We’re seeing it June 22nd at the Red Rocks Community College! So excited!!!

can you do Carrie: The Musical next please.

I got to see my uncle play Ash in a local production of this musical back in 2018! I was seriously had a great time seeing it and I loved it! Me, my mom, my nana and her boyfriend, and my aunt and her friend sat in the balcony while my uncle’s girlfriend now wife got to sit in the splatter zone.