[CW-Grad] Re-Animator-The Musical: Extended to 5/29 [HOLLYWOOD - midnight shows, matinees, student discount tix

[Robin Russin]

I went to this. It's pretty funny. Worth checking out if you're in LA.


Re-Animator™ - The Musical
Announces Half Price Tickets for Students +
Midnight Madness Every Friday:
Free Beer With ID & Bands Perform Opening Set at 11:00pm
At the Steve Allen Theater in Hollywood
Final Month of Shows – Through May 29, 2011

“Bloody hilarious.” – LAist.com
"Terribly inappropriate … it's glorious!" – KCRW

Re-Animator™ - The Musical, the horror-comedy based on the 1985 cult movie hit and earlier H.P. Lovecraft story, has extended its run due to popular demand and added Friday Midnight Madness events and matinee performances on Sundays at the Steve Allen Theater.  Half price student discount tickets are also now available. Stuart Gordon who directed the film is now on hand directing the new musical, which is receiving standing ovations and rave reviews in the media.  The new performance schedule for this funny, bloody and tuneful production includes five shows per weekend:  Friday at 8:00pm and midnight (it's a horror show, after all!), Saturday at 8:00pm, Sunday at 3:30pm and 8:00pm. 

Costumes are encouraged and seating is open – come early and sit up front in the “splash zone.”  Ticket prices are $30 for general admission, $15 for students (with ID) as well as all Center for Inquiry members. The Steve Allen Theater is located at 4773 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90027.  For theater information please call 323-666-4268 or visit http://steveallentheater.com.  For ticket purchases only please call 800-595-4849.  For more information on the musical please visit http://www.re-animatorthemusical.com.  Online tickets can be purchased through the Re-Animator or venue web sites.

Throughout the month of May, every Friday night the doors will re-open at 10:45pm (following the 8:00pm performance of Re-Animator The Musical) for Midnight Madness – featuring all ages preshow events with bands and free beer (21+ with ID) followed by a midnight performance of the musical. Starting with horror metal band Rosemary’s Billygoat on Friday the 6th, Midnight Madness will continue with loony punk band Radioactive Chicken Heads on Friday the 13th and more bands to be announced.

On Mother’s Day – Sunday, May 8 – Moms get in free all day.

According to his letters, Lovecraft wrote the original story as a parody of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Re-Animator - The Musical is the story of brilliant yet amoral medical student Herbert West whose discovery, a bright green glowing serum, can actually revive the dead. He involves fellow student Dan Cain and his fiancée Megan Halsey in his research by murdering and then re-animating their cat. Cain, realizing the enormous potential of West's research, agrees to smuggle him into the hospital morgue, which results in an orgy of bloody mayhem.

“There’s a lot of liquid spurting through the air,” says Gordon of the live performances, “The special effects are even better in 4D than they are in 3D.”

Those special effects are being delivered by the same folks who executed them for the 1985 movie: Tony Doublin, John Naulin and John Beuchler. The blood flows so freely that the first few rows are designated as the “splash zone.” Laura Fine Hawkes, who last designed the equally bloody Lieutenant of Inishmore at the Taper, provides the creepy sets, Joe Kucharski the moldering costumes, and Jeff Ravitz the cadaverous lighting. Stage managing the madness is the unflappable Joe Begos.  Steve Pope helms the Technical Direction.

Graham Skipper, Chris L. McKenna, Rachel Avery, Harry S. Murphy, Jesse Merlin, Mark Beltzman, Cynthia Carle, Brian Gillespie, and Liesel Hanson make up the amazing ensemble.

Music and lyrics by Mark Nutter. Libretto by Dennis Paoli, Stuart Gordon and William J. Norris. Adapted from the story by H.P. Lovecraft. Based on the film H.P. Lovecraft's Re-Animator produced by Brian Yuzna
. Play produced by Dean Schramm and Stuart Gordon
. Directed by Stuart Gordon. Musical director: Peter Adams. Choreography by Cynthia Carle.

“Mark Nutter’s songs are absolutely inspired,” says Gordon, “They are dark, twisted and yet also insanely cheerful at the same time.”

Stuart Gordon (Director/Producer/Co-Librettist) –
“Re-Animator” has become Gordon’s middle name since the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won a Critics’ Prize in 1985. The legendary horror film has also spawned comic books, video games, sequels, and fan fiction. Previously, as Artistic Director of Chicago’s Organic Theater Company, Gordon had the opportunity to work directly with Ray Bradbury, Roald Dahl, and Kurt Vonnegut, adapting their stories to stage.  He also collaborated with David Mamet, directing and producing the world premiere of Sexual Perversity in Chicago.  Gordon is a big fan of Lovecraft and has adapted several of his stories for the screen. They include not only Re-Animator, but also From Beyond, Castle Freak (from The Outsider), and Dagon, as well as the Masters of Horror episode “Dreams in the Witch-House.” Additional directing credits include Dolls, Robot Jox, Pit and the Pendulum, Fortress, Space Truckers, The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit, King of Ants, Edmond, and Stuck.  Gordon created the Disney blockbuster Honey I Shrunk the Kids.  He also executive produced its sequel, Honey I Blew Up the Kid.  With his writing partner Paoli, he wrote Body Snatchers and The Dentist.  He lives in Los Angeles with his actress wife Carolyn Purdy-Gordon (who he murders in his films whenever possible) and three daughters. 

Steve Allen Theater –
Housed in the basement of the Center for Inquiry - West in Hollywood, the intimate Steve Allen Theater is a multidisciplinary stage that premieres original work, uncategorizable performance, and creative explorations of science and theology.  Says the Los Angeles Times: “Theater of the Absurd… some of the freshest, strangest work in town.”

“Not since Little Shop of Horrors has a screamfest tuner so deftly balanced seriousness and camp.” – Variety

“Two thumbs up. If you count the bloody severed thumb, then it's three!” – Flavorpill

“Re-Animator, the Musical is unexpected. This outlandish adaptation of the 1985 cult classic should have fans storming the Steve Allen Theater... a bloody good time.” – Los Angeles Times

“Incredibly wet!” – Shocktilyoudrop.com

“The keys to this kingdom, however, are the combination of the brilliant comic ensemble and Gordon's pristine craftsmanship as a director…” – LA Weekly

“… richly sophisticated… The horror movie vibe is amplified by a genuine operatic ambition.” – The Hollywood Reporter



_______________________________________________
Robin Russin

Associate Professor and Director
MFA for Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts
Department of Theatre
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
(951) 827-2707
(213) 949-1061 cel
robin.russin at ucr.edu
http://robinrussin.com

"I try all things; I achieve what I can." - Ishmael in "Moby Dick," written by Herman Melville

"Deserve's got nothin' to do with it." - William Munny in "Unforgiven," written by David Webb Peoples

"Hunger is the best spice." - Spike Spiegel in "Cowboy Bebop," written by Keiko Nobumoto

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