Graphic by Vicki Marie Singer

They didn't outgrow their infatuation with creating horror films nor their love for the Three Stooges. All three of these kids went on to have big careers in Hollywood. They even created the Fake Shemp website commemorating the Three Stooges. The site is now gone, but you can read about Fake Shemps on the BookoftheDead website. The three guys combined their twin obsessions with film and the Three Stooges into the Evil Dead movies and series.

While it's hard to see their Three Stooges fixation in the first Evil Dead film from 1981, it becomes very apparent as the franchise develops. By the time we get to Evil Dead The Musical, it's full-on Three Stooges. The musical, with book and lyrics by George Reinblatt and music by Frank Cipolla, Christopher Bond, Melissa Morris, and George Reinblatt, was born in Toronto in 2003 and moved to Off-Broadway New York in 2006. It was praised as the next Rocky Horror Show. It went on tour in 2014 and 2015, and is now getting produced at countless regional theatre companies such as Musical Theatre Southwest (MTS).

The MTS production is a hilarious treat. It's drenched in slapstick gore. There is even a "splatter" section of audience seating where blood goes flying. Audience members receive house t-shirts to protect their clothing from the blood. I wasn't in the splatter section, but I still went home with blood on my shirt and arms. Most of all, this production, directed by Laura Cummins Wright, is split-a-gut funny. I can't remember laughing as hard at a play. This goes beyond Noises Off, which is dangerously funny.

The setup is that five teenagers have headed out to the woods for a stoned and sexy weekend. They bumble into a "Book of the Dead" in the beat-up cabin. It has human skin as its cover. They open the book and haplessly conjure evil spirits from the dead, who pick off and inhabit the kids one by one. Ash is the holdout. He stays free from the evil–except for his hand, which he dutifully cuts off to protect himself and his friends. He famously attaches a chainsaw to the stump. The first act roughly follows the Evil Dead movie, while the second act covers Evil Dead II. Yet the musical goes far beyond the movies in its humor.

The songs are appropriately goofy–well-written and well-performed. It helps that there is a live orchestra under the direction of Cameron Illidge-Welch.

The hero, Ash, is delivered in full bravado by Jesse Miller. The other actors join in the hilarity. Even the evil trees get in on the action. The all turn in stellar performances in this elaborate production. The crew numbers more than 30, and there is a "blood manager," Jordan R. Claghorn. This exhilarating effort includes a wealth of clever props.

Go see this production. It's a riot from the opening in a beat-up car to the blood-splashing finish. I've seen countless standing ovations, but I've never seen an audience jump to its feet like they did at this show.

Evil Dead The Musical runs through October 26, 2025, at Musical Theatre Southwest, Black Box Theatre, 6320 Domingo Rd. NE, Albuquerque NM. Performances are on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm and Sunday at 2:00 pm. There is a special midnight performance on Saturday, October 18. General admission is $33. For seniors, students, and ATG members, admission is $30. For tickets and information, please call 505-265-9119 or visit mtsabq.org.