Not really a theater review … more a fanboy gush over ‘Evil Dead: The Musical’ at Selma Arts Center

I’m just too big a fan of the material. (Which should be pretty obvious considering the number of pixels I’ve thrown at the production these past weeks.)
Sure, there are people with opposing views – many people, I’m guessing –who see it differently. If they go to the current blood-soaked production now playing through Sept. 7, they likely will use words like this to describe it: Cheesy. Sexist. Supremely violent. Unabashedly profane. Disgusting. Silly. Stupid.
I cannot defend this show from any of those adjectives. Yet I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face as I watched it.
Thus, as the production finishes up its third weekend and heads into the fourth, I present the following non-review, complete with weirdly specific categories:


Best lyric: “I got some Shelly on my shoe.” I’m not even going to give you the context on this one. (Credit to Chris Ortiz-Belcher as Ash and Kaci Clason as Shelly.)
Best sound made by a human throat: The gurgle at the end of “Good Old Reliable Jake.” (Credit to Bryan DeBates as Jake.)
Best possessed animal on stage: The beaver. (Credit to the beaver puppeteer.)
Best voice of a singing moose: Joseph Portella, who sounds like a mix of the smarmy announcer for “Big Brother” and a couple of lungfuls of helium.

Best breakout number: Gavin Flores, as Ed, who gets to ham it up in “Bit Part Demon.” He made me think of how weird it would be if my accountant suddenly broke into song while doing my taxes.
Best creative team: It all comes together on this labor-of-love show: Ajay Davis’ sound design, Jacquie Ford’s costume design, Christina McCollam Martinez’s scenic design, and Vinny Galindo’s lighting design. Good, fun stuff.
Best reason to see this show: To laugh. Thanks to co-directors Claudio Laso and Summer S. Session (and assistant director Xaivtuam Her), you get to do that. I give it nine buckets of blood out of 10.

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