The director has something to say:
The dream of Evil Dead the Musical started last year when Nicole and I pitched it to the MCT board as a productions for young adults. My dream to direct it started five minutes later when Nicole said "Scott will direct it!" My fate was sealed. If you were like me and hadn't seen any of the Evil Dead movies (1, 2, and Army of Darkness), I greatly encourage you to watch them when you get home, then come to see the play again to laugh at the references you just learned!
Nicole and I pretty much sat around and did nothing until about two weeks before auditions when we realized "Oh man we should really do something about this." Luckily we are masters at procrastination, drinking our problems away, and flying by the seats of our pants. We quickly threw together something that resembled a plan, sat down in the theater, and did what we do best: sit back and silently judge peop--I mean hold auditions. We were able to pick a cast of newbies as well as veterans, and I can honestly say they are the best cast I have ever directed (fun fact: this is my first performance). But seriously, we were so lucky to have a cast that rose above and beyond what they volunteered for. We had members make blood, sew puppets, design rather technical costumes, direct the band, make props, and one brave moose/tree that dared to understudy for everyone.
It was about four weeks into practices that we realized that Evil Dead the Musical was, in fact, a musical, and that we should really find a band of some kind. We were having one heck of a time finding even a pianist until we reached out to Ken Seutterlin, an old piano and choir teacher, and he was more that eager to get back into performing music. Then we found some hobos outside the theater, taught them how to play some instruments, and we were back on track! (Pun intended.)
This is probably the part of the essay where I should talk about "what we learned" or something along the lines of "the real success were the friends we made along the way." The truth is that the biggest things we learned were: hot glue burns, fake blood stains, musicals are a big time commitment, and alcohol is still the best way for a cast to bond. While these are important, they're not particularly profound. So, another thing we learned is that there is a lot of talent in this community; t least half of the cast has never been in an MCT performance before, and the same goes for the band and several our production staff. I'm sure any one of them would tell you that, even though it is a large time commitment, it's a lot of fun and that you make lots of new friends! On an unrelated note, auditions for the next play, Murder on the Nile, are coming up in December.
Thank you for coming to MCT's first R-rated performance! If you liked it, please tell us! If you didn't like it, please tell us! Approach us after the show, post on our facebook wall, send us an email, commission a singing telegram, nail your 95 theses to our front door. The biggest discussion we have when deciding new plays is "does the community want this?" MCT took a risk producing this play with so many swear words and fake blood, so let us know what you think!
Enjoy the Show!
Hugs & Kisses,
Scott Lindborg
