GUEST REVIEW: Zombie Love: The Musical

NOTE:
I'm proud to present my very first Spooky Little Guest Post! This review of Zombie Love, the latest October offering from a theater group known locally for its annual live staging of Night of the Living Dead (read my review of last year's production here), comes courtesy of Madame Magnet, the mastermind behind Magnets de los Muertos Halloween magnetic poetry. Enjoy!
xo
SLG

Zombie Love: The Musical

The Maverick Theater in Fullerton is always doing fun, strange, and entertaining new things. They’ve had a successful five-year run of Night of the Living Dead (my favorite show at the Maverick), and they aren’t afraid of bold moves like their recent adaptation of the Hobbit to a small stage.

This year they premiered a new musical, Zombie Love, adapted from a short student film of the same name. When I text messaged my friend to see if she wanted to go to a zombie musical, she responded Zombie musical? Like ‘Brains. Brains! Braaaiiiiiiiins!’? I’ll admit that I didn’t know what to expect from a musical zombie romance play, but I was pleasantly surprised.

The story focuses on Claudia (the girl who is in distress) and Dante (the boy who is a zombie) and their perilous journey toward love. The story invokes a little Cyrano de Bergerac since Dante pretends to be a human as he woos Claudia. Dante’s friends get in the way, and they mock him when they find out that not only does he feel bad about eating humans, he was, in his human life, a vegetarian.

The story is pretty straightforward, but the charm of Zombie Love is in the tongue-in-cheek humor, references to other musicals, and pop culture. It is funny and sweet, and the songs are good enough that I heard my musical-disliking date laughing at them. The idea of parodying a love story with zombies and then adding music is enough to win some points from me, so I was pleased that the execution exceeded my expectations. Don’t read this if you don’t like spoilers: some of the funnier gags were when they lampoon the Lion King’s Circle of Life, invoke a little West Side Story, and perform a bit of the Thriller dance.

The cast and show were both funny despite a few crackling sound problems. One character in particular, a blind, transsexual prostitute, helps Dante change his image. He was a particular stand out with his performance and appearance; he definitely stole the show.

If you like musicals, zombies, and taking a risk on a local performance of a movie you’ve never heard of, I think you’ll enjoy the hour-long show. Tickets are $10; the bar has beer, wine, soft drinks and candy for dirt-cheap prices. The staff is really accommodating, and the shows are always a bit twisted or strange.

Now that I’ve seen the stage adaptation, I want to see the movie. The DVD is also available at the Maverick if you’re curious like me. Zombie Love: The Musical runs Fridays and Saturdays at 9:30PM until October 30th; Tickets are $10.00/$5.00 with a Student ID.

-Madame Magnet

Madame Magnet writes over at blog.magnetsdelosmuertos.com, loves legitimate theater like Planet of the Apes: The Musical, and sells zombie poetry magnets.