Evil Dead: The Musical

Book & Lyrics by George Reinblatt
Music by Frank Cipolla, Christopher Bond, Melissa Morris and George Reinblatt  

Evil Dead: The Musical combines elements of the Evil Dead and Army of Darkness cult classic films for a blood-splattering theatrical experience. The story follows five college kids who get abandoned at a cabin and accidentally unleash an evil force that turns them into demons. Hailed as “The next Rocky Horror Show” by the New York Times, the hero in this campy musical of horror and hilarity must wield his trusty chainsaw to save the day. Limbs are dismembered and demons tell bad jokes while performing uproarious numbers, such as All the Men in my Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons and What the F#%$ Was That?

• Viewer discretion is strongly advised due to gratuitous profanity, gore and adult subject matter.
• This show is not appropriate for children. 
• Be Aware: Those seated in the rows close to the stage risk being splattered with blood!

SHOW PHOTOS

2012 Performance Dates

Feb. 17, 18, 23, 24 & 25 at 8 p.m.
Feb. 19 (ASL interpreted) & 26 at 2:30 p.m.

• Feb. 17 is Scholarship Night! All proceeds from on opening night benefit Stark Theatre scholarships.
• For the ASL interpreted show on Feb. 19, the interpreters will be located on the right side of the stage, in front of the audience.

Ticket Information

Adults - $14
Seniors (55 and over) - $10
Non-KSU Students (17 and under) - $10
KSU Students - Free with current ID

• Tickets go on sale January 30.
• Purchase tickets online, by phone or in person at the Box Office.
• Visa, MasterCard and Discover accepted. Checks and cash accepted in person at the Box Office.
• Tickets purchased online or by phone will be available at Will Call.
• Will Call opens one hour prior to curtain time and closes when the performance begins.
• Kent State Students: Free admission with current Kent State ID. Seats must be reserved in person at the Box Office.
• No refunds for purchased tickets. Exchanges for the same production can be made by contacting the Box Office prior to the reserved performance date.
• Tickets held at Will Call will be forfeited if not picked up by curtain time.

Tickets for the Blood Splatter Zone are only available at the Box Office. The Blood Splatter Zone seats are 101-116 in rows B & C.

Cast

Brianna DeRosa: Linda
Brianna DeRosa is a sophomore BFA musical theatre major at Kent State University and is very excited to be involved in her first production at Kent State Stark. She has previously appeared in Brigadoon and A Chorus Line at the Kent Campus, and worked at Porthouse Theater during the 2011 Summer Season. Some of her favorite roles also include Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, Chava in Fiddler on the Roof, and, of course, Linda in Evil Dead: The Musical! She is so excited to put zombie killing as a special skill on her resume, and wants to congratulate the cast and crew on a great show!

Samantha Rickard: Cheryl
Samantha Rickard is currently a senior at Kent State University, pursuing a BFA in musical theatre. She is thrilled to be joining this talented cast in such an exciting, crazy production. Recent credits include: A Chorus Line, Pippin, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Wedding Singer, and RENT.

Elizabeth Casper: Annie, Shelley
Liz Casper is a junior BFA musical theatre major at Kent State University. She recently returned to the university after spending last year on the road with the national tour of Grease the Musical. Other credits include Holly in The Wedding Singer at Weathervane Playhouse and Toffee in Zombie Prom at the Toledo Repertoire Theatre. She is thrilled to join this super talented cast! "Thanks Mom, Dad, Jordan, and my Luke for all your love and support!"

Seth Hunter: Ash
Seth Hunter is a graduate of Somerset High School in western Pennsylvania and a sophomore in the BFA musical theatre program at Kent State. He is thrilled to join with this great cast and production team for his first show at Kent State Stark. Seth has also been seen locally in A Chorus Line at Kent State and Pippin at the Weathervane Playhouse. In high school, he studied with the Stage Right Theatre Company in Greensburg, PA, where he had the good fortune to play a variety of other creepy and disturbing roles, such as The Ghost of Christmas Past in A Musical Christmas Carol, Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd, Roger Davis in Rent, Prince Charming in Cinderella, Aladdin in Aladdin, and Troy Bolton in High School Musical 2. "Thanks to my family and Brit for all of their love and support. Shop smart. Shop S-Mart!"

John Walker: Scott
John Walker is a sophomore at Kent State Stark, and has appeared here in Dating is Tough to do…And Funny, Too!, Songs For a New World and Plumfield, Iraq. He also was assistant stage manager for The Glass Menagerie. John has performed elsewhere in Les Miserables, Oliver Twist, South Pacific, Man of La Mancha, Fiddler on the Roof, Annie and many more. John is a theatre major and his goals are to work on television and movies as an actor after graduation.

Connor Reese: Ed
Connor Logan Reese is very excited to be making his Kent State Stark debut. He is so grateful to be joining the wonderfully talented cast of Evil Dead as Ed. Connor is a graduate of Jackson High School where he was a Jackson School for the Arts student, and is currently studying at Kent State University where he is pursuing his BFA in musical theatre. Past credits include Tommy in Brigadoon, Kenicke in Grease, and Joe Keller in All My Sons from high school; and has most recently appeared as Hopkins in The Crucible at Kent State. Connor would like to thank his family, his amazing musical theatre family at Kent, and all of the people who have helped him get to where he is today.

Steven Grisez as Jake
Steven Grisez is thrilled to be performing with the cast of Evil Dead: The Musical as good ol’ reliable Jake. He previously appeared at Kent State Stark theatre in Crazy for You (as Lank Hawkins) and Alice in Wonderland (as the March Hare). Steven aspires towards admission to the BFA in musical theatre program at Kent State University. He thanks his friends and family for their support, and cast and crew for a great opportunity. "Go Deadites!"

Dark Force Chorus (aka "The Demonettes")

Madi Buczkowski
Madi Buczkowski is very excited to perform in her first show at Kent State Stark! She graduated from Clarence High School in Buffalo, New York, and is now a freshman at Kent State University, earning her BFA in musical theatre. Some past credits include Cosette in Les Miserables, Amber in Hairspray!, Antonia in Man of La Mancha, and Connie in A Chorus Line. "Thanks and to my family, who always stood behind me and supported me, no matter what!"

Rachel Meyer
Rachel Meyer is a sophomore BFA musical theatre major Kent State University. She is thrilled to be making such a demonic debut at the Stark Campus! She last appeared on the Kent stage as Tricia in A Chorus Line. Her favorite past roles include Sally Brown in You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown and Annabel Glick in The Lucky Stiff at Centerville High School. "Thank you to my family and friends for all of the support you are always giving me! I love you!"

Joshua Brown (also plays Knowby and Moose)
Joshua Brown has performed in many plays throughout his high school career (including roles in Once and Future King and Oklahoma) and appeared in Plumfield, Iraq at Kent State Stark. His performance is in honor of his mother.  

Production Team

Brian Newberg: Director
Brian Newberg is an Assistant Professor of Theatre and Theatre Director at Kent State University at Stark. Brian’s directing experience (over eighty production credits) includes Broadway, Regional, Equity Waiver, industry showcases, new work development, and many college productions. He has extensive experience as an actor (over seventy production credits) in the New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Oregon areas. He has also served as an Associate Artistic Director for a regional theatre company, run his own private acting studios, and taught at a number of colleges on the west coast before coming to Kent State. Brian is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) and received his M.F.A. in Directing from the University of California, Irvine.

Melissa Fucci: Music Director
In her 14 years at Kent State, Melissa Fucci has music directed 14, Wonderful Town, Urinetown, Cabaret, Into the Woods, Honk!, Anything Goes, The Wild Party, Children of Eden, and many more. Porthouse Theatre directing credits include The Music Man, Sweet Charity, Jesus Christ Superstar, Dames at Sea, West Side Story, The Spitfire Grill, Guys and Dolls, and more. Mel has also been involved with shows at Cain Park, The Halle Theatre, The Great Lakes Theatre Festival, Weathervane Playhouse, and many other venues. Currently Mel teaches on the Kent and Salem campuses of Kent State. She is also a director of various choirs and ensembles, and a performer and private instructor of keyboards and woodwinds.

Angelo Lemo: Choreographer
Angelo Lemmo has been Canton Ballet’s Choreographer in Residence since 1991 and a faculty member since 1987. His works have been chosen for performances at fourteen Regional Dance America Festivals, six of which have been performed on the Gala performance and two of which received the RDA Craft of Choreography Project Tier Award chosen form submissions from across the United States. Mr. Lemmo’s choreographic versatility has provided commissioned works in classical ballet, modern, musical theatre, opera, trade shows and flag corps. At present Mr. Lemmo has choreographed three original full length ballets, Dracula, Frankenstein and The Wizard of Oz, over 35 short works and 25 musical theatre productions. His works have been seen throughout the northeastern United States and in Europe. In addition to works performed by the Canton Ballet his work has also been seen on Ohio Dance Theater, the former Cleveland Ballets Dancing Wheels, Ohio Light Opera, The Canton Players Guild, Canton Symphony Orchestra, Kent State University at Stark Theater, Canton Civic Opera, Fort Wayne (Indiana) Dance Collective, College of Wooster, Eastern Michigan University, Ashland Regional Ballet, New Castle Regional Ballet, The Northeastern Ohio Dance Ensemble and Vineland Regional Dance Company. Mr. Lemmo is also an accomplished stage manager and lighting designer. 

Louis Williams: Scenic & Lighting Designer
Louis Williams is the resident technical director, and scenic and lighting designer, at Kent State Stark and has designed over 200 productions in 30 years in theatre, opera, ballet and rock-n-roll. This includes work with such theatre companies as: The American Ballet Theatre II, The Joffrey Ballet II, The Arizona Theatre Company, The Children’s Theatre Company of Minneapolis, The Kenley Players, The Ohio Light Opera, The Cleveland Opera, The Cinncinnati Opera, Southern Arizona Light Opera Company, Carousel Dinner Theatre, The Agora, Cleveland Ohio, The Temple Of Music And Art, Tucson, Arizona, ChildsPlay Inc, of Phoenix, Arizona, and The Scottsdale Civic Center, Scottsdale, Arizona. Read more about Louis Williams.

Susan Blurton: Costume Designer
Susan Blurton has designed costumes for various productions over the past 16 years including the Canton Palace Theater, Canton Civic Center, Players Guild, Porthouse Theatre, John F. Knight Center, Akron Civic Theater and The Christmas Spectacular, which was recorded and aired on PBS. She began her venture into theatre while living in New York and freelancing for Off-Broadway shows, mainly as a stitcher and pattern maker. She designed sportswear for the 7th Ave. design house Ellen Tracy/Liz Claiborne. Her duties included designs for sportswear and the dress division, purchases of all fabric and trims, and dressing models at runway shows and photo shoots. While living in L.A., she served as a dresser to Franki Valli, The Pointer Sisters, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and she was a personal shopper for Aaron Spelling. Along with designing costumes, she is an active artist and art teacher. She received her B.S. in Fashion Design from the University of Cincinnati, Teaching Certification from Mount Union University and M.A. from Marygrove College.

Ron Jarvis: Sound Designer
You might recognize Ron Jarvis as a performer, producer, music director, and/or composer for such stalwart North East Ohio acts as The Buckeye Biscuit Band, Ital, First Light, Alex Bevan, Pat Dailey and, most recently, Macaw; the American Worldbeat Band. He is also an adjunct faculty member at Kent State where he has taught Art of the Theatre and Theatre Criticism classes as well as the three part series of Sound Design and Technology classes for the Entertainment Arts and Technologies certificates program. Ron has worked with world renowned directors Vincent Dowling (composition for The Winter’s Tale at Kent State) as well as Ping Chong (Blindness: The Irresistible Light Of Encounter at La Mama Theatre in NYC) and has served as a live-mix consultant at Geauga Lake and Cedar Point amusement parks. Although his first sound design for Kent State Stark was for the 2002 production of Dancing at Lughnasa, since 2007 he has designed many of the Kent State Stark theatrical productions including Oklahoma!, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, Into the Woods, The Revenger’s Tragedy, The Mikado, Crazy for You, Dating is Tough to Do...and Funny, Too!, Songs for a New World, Plumfield, Iraq, Evil Dead: The Musical and Anton in Show Business.

Ian Chiofolo: Stage Manager
Ian Chiofolo is a senior at Kent State majoring in theatre design and technology with a minor in art history. He has studied art history in Florence, Italy for four months. At Kent State Stark, he has done costume work for Tons of Money, Adventures of Huck Finn, Songs For a New World, lighting design for Dating is Tough To Do...And Funny Too! and Songs For a New World, and been stage manager for The Glass Menagerie. Ian has also done costume work for Puss in Boots and Aladdin Jr. at other venues.

Devonn Patterson: Assistant Stage Manager
Devonn Patterson graduated from Hoban High School and has appeared in various productions since 4th grade. Her first lead role was in a production of Stage Door. She has appeared in Hoban's productions of The Nerd and Almost, Maine, and Kent State Stark's Plumfield, Iraq.

Anthony Antoniades: Assistant Stage Manager
Anthony Antoniades appeared in Huck Finn’s Story and Dating Is Tough To Do...And Funny, Too! and Plumfield, Iraq at Kent State Stark, where he also stage managed Songs for a New World. He is a theatre major at Kent State.

Kerry McCarthy: Sound Design Assistant
Kerry McCarthy is currently a junior majoring in Theatre Studies at Kent State University. She assisted costume crew in Huck Finn's Story, was costume design assistant for Songs for a New World, stage managed Dating is Tough to Do...And Funny,Too! and The Glass Menagerie, and was the sound design assistant for Plumfield, Iraq.

James Cromer: Sound Design Assistant

Caitlin Roberts: Makeup/Special Effects Design Assistant
Caitlin Roberts is a freshman at Kent State Stark and is pursuing degrees in music education and theatre. Previous theatre experience includes acting in Lil Abner, Anything Goes and Oklahoma. Cait is a graduate of Northwest High School, and is involved in worship at her church and working on youth drama there. Caitlin was an assistant stage manager for Plumfield, Iraq.

James McKeon: Scenic Design Assistant
James McKeon is a music technology major at Kent State Stark. He has an extensive background in music performance and writing, as well as painting. James has performed in various bands since 5th grade, and has created original artwork all his life. He continues to expand his artist talents by learning about scenic design through his first full theatre experience, Evil Dead: The Musical, and is more than excited to be a part of the production.

Jillian Dailey: Costume Design Assistant
Jillian Dailey began her theatrical training at Lake Center Christian High School where she was involved in all the musicals and plays during her four years there. This included leading roles in Seussical and Little Women. She is a freshman at Kent State Stark and performed in Plumfield, Iraq.