Toronto 'Evil Dead' Extends; Campbell Offers Talkbacks

Evil Dead: The Musical, winner of Toronto's favorite show as the 2007 Dora's Audience Choice Award, is pleased to announce today its final extension to September 8th.

To celebrate the show's tremendous success, actor Bruce Campbell – the original 'Ash' and star of the Evil Dead movies - will be attending two shows and participating in audience talk-backs on Saturday, August 11th following the 7PM and 11PM performances. Bruce Campbell has a devoted legion of fans and is a pop-culture icon due to his role as 'Ash' in Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, and Army of Darkness, coining phrases such as "This is my Boomstick!" and "Good…Bad… I'm the guy with the gun." Current Sam Raimi fans will also remember Campbell from his memorable array of roles in Raimi's three Spider-Man movies.

Jeffrey Latimer, producers of the musical, said today, "The show's wild success and Audience Choice Award is due to mainstream theatre-goers finally coming to enjoy a hilarious night out at the theatre. July 27th will be our 100th show and what better way to celebrate our success and to thank our die-hard fans than to bring Bruce Campbell to Toronto straight from the set of his new series, Burn Notice - now shooting in Miami ."

As part of an ongoing fan appreciation campaign, Evil Dead: The Musical followers have a special opportunity to purchase tickets for Bruce Campbell's audience talk-back. Tickets to both August 11th Bruce Campbell performances will go on sale in person only at the Diesel Playhouse on Saturday, July 21st at 1PM with remaining tickets available to the general public at 4PM. "The Evil Dead trilogy of films has a loyal cult following that has spilled over onto Evil Dead: The Musical which has in turn created another genre for fans to follow. Devotees of both the musical and the movies will be thrilled to have Bruce Campbell in person at the show," state press notes.

Evil Dead: The Musical, which began performances Tuesday, May 1st, features film and Broadway stars Ryan Ward, reprising his critically acclaimed Off-Broadway performance as Ash, Sarah Cornell (Ulla in The Producers, Toronto and Broadway, Sex and the Second City, Chicago) as both Annie and Shelley, Tara Macri (Hairspray, Broadway and US Tour) as Linda, Michael 'Nug' Nahrgang ('Men With Brooms', 'The Tuxedo') as Jake, Matt Olmstead as Scott, Christian Bellsmith (Buddy Holly in Buddy at Stage West) as Ed and Rachel Fischer as Cheryl.

Evil Dead, co-directed by Canada 's Christopher Bond and Tony Award winner Hinton Battle, is produced by Jeffrey Latimer Entertainment and the Diesel Playhouse.

"While the title may convey horror - fans, critics and audiences alike are calling it an uproariously funny musical comedy. Based on Sam Raimi's 80s cult-classic horror films, Evil Dead: The Musical unearths the old familiar story: boy and friends take a weekend getaway at abandoned cabin, boy expects to get lucky, boy unleashes ancient evil spirit, friends turn into Candarian Demons, boy fights until dawn to survive. As musical mayhem descends upon this sleepover in the woods, "camp" takes on a whole new meaning with uproarious numbers like 'All the Men in my Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons,' 'Look Who's Evil Now' and "Do the Necronomicon,'" state press materials 

The original New York cast recording is now available in stores. Canadian comedy writer George Reinblatt penned both the lyrics and the script. The show's music was written by Frank Cipolla, Christopher Bond, Melissa Morris and George Reinblatt with music supervision by Frank Cipolla.

The Diesel Playhouse is located at 56 Blue Jays Way in Toronto.  Tickets are on sale now.  Call: 416-971-5656 or purchase at the Diesel Playhouse Box Office – 56 Blue Jays Way, Toronto or purchase on line at  www.evildeadthemusical.com.

Photo - Bruce Campbell