Ward, Cornell, Etc. Set for Toronto's Evil Dead Musical

Evil Dead: The Musical has announced complete casting for the musical's production at Toronto's Diesel Playhouse, running from Tuesday, May 1st - Saturday, June 23th.  Evil Dead: The Musical returns to Toronto for a limited run after its hit Off-Broadway debut in New York City.

The cast 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 

On April 24th, the original New York cast recording is 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 of Ryan Ward by Carol Rosegg