Re-Animator the Musical Returning to LA; Get Opening Weekend Discounted Tickets Here!

Steve Barton |

Apr 28, 2012

Post Thumb:

/apr12/reanmusicalthumb.jpg

On May 3rd Re-Animator the Musical reopens at a new location in Los Angeles (The Hayworth Theatre) for a limited ten-week engagement that includes the return of George Wendt, and we have a special offer for Dread Central readers to score opening weekend tickets at a big discount.

Earlier this month Re-Animator the Musical won six LA Weekly Theater Awards including “Musical Of The Year”, “Original Music” – Mark Nutter, “Direction of a Musical” – Stuart Gordon, “Musical Ensemble” – The Cast, “Adaptation” – Dennis Paoli/William J. Norris/Stuart Gordon, and “Blood Effects” – Stuart Gordon!

The musical’s ten-week only run comes just prior to its performance dates in New York and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Tickets are regularly $35-$60 each, but on April 30th for ONE DAY ONLY Dread Central readers can buy them for just $10 each. This offer is good for regular priced tickets during opening weekend performances only, excluding the May 3rd opening night: Friday, May 4th; Saturday, May 5th; and Sunday, May 6th. Showtimes are 8:00 pm on Friday and Sunday with two shows on Saturday at 7:00 pm and 10:30 pm.

Check your calendars now to see which of those dates/times work best for you because this is something you DO NOT want to miss! Then come back here at 12:01 AM on Monday, April 30th, to get the code and further instructions. Orange County and San Diego people, take note – it’s well worth the short drive.

Re-Animator the Musical Returning to LA; Get Opening Weekend Discounted Tickets Here!

In 1985 Stuart Gordon directed his first feature film and created a sensation. It was H.P. Lovecraft’s Re-Animator, a smashing popular success produced by Brian Yuzna that delivered as many laughs as it did screams, making it a cult classic among horror fans and winning a Critic’s Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Last year Gordon, his co-writers Dennis Paoli and William J. Norris, and composer/lyricist Mark Nutter turned Re-Animator into a musical for the stage, playing to rave reviews and standing ovations for a sold-out six-month run.

And the original cast is back! George Wendt, best known as the affable Norm from “Cheers”, plays the Dean of the Medical School whom West transforms into a mindless zombie. Chris L. McKenna, the star of Gordon’s neo-noir thriller King of the Ants, is Dan Cain, Herbert’s hapless roommate who finds himself drawn into the mayhem. And operatic Jesse Merlin, who played the President of the United States in the long-running The Beastly Bombing, is Dr. Carl Hill, who loses his head for Meg, the dean’s beautiful daughter (Rachel Avery) only to actually lose it at the hands of Herbert West. But thanks to the glowing re-agent, Dr. Hill is still able to take his curtain call with his head tucked underneath his arm. Rounding out the cast (in alphabetical order) are Mark Beltzman, Cynthia Carle, Brian Gillespie, Marlon Grace, and Liesel Hanson, featuring Graham Skipper as Herbert West.

Special effects are being done by the same guys who did them for the 1985 movie: Tony Doublin, John Naulin, and John Buechler, joined by Greg McDougal and Tom Devlin. And the blood will flow so freely that the first few rows will be designated as a “splash zone.” They also just won an LA Drama Critics Circle Award for their amazing work on Re-Animator the Musical.

  Laura Fine Hawkes will provide the creepy sets, Joe Kucharski the moldering costumes, and Jeff Ravitz the cadaverous lighting. Stage managing the madness is the unflappable Mike Lemek.