We mentioned the apparently-full-of-Anti-Zombie-stereotyping musical ‘Song of the Living Dead’ once before here at the ZRC, and now the reviews are in, so to speak, and it doesn’t sound good.

First, an overview piece tells us that the play indeed indulges in many of the worst and ugliest prejudices about the Differently Animated:

Promethean’s Margaret M. Ledford directs the splatter-thon of a tale, a plot which unfolds not in traditional “act” structure but as a slew of vignettes – first with a crooked-eyeglassed mad scientist (Noah Levine, in his first of two deliciously campy roles) who, in song, insists they avoid widespread public panic by labeling zombies as “victim’s corpses” instead. Right. A crush of marauding zombies clears up the semantical confusion by storming the lab, chomping on brains and ripping the mad scientist’s limbs off as he comically shrieks, “Oooh, help me, I’m bleeding!” Successive scenes introduce us to medical examiner Peggy (a wonderful Sharyn Peoples) a self-described “socially-retarded” loner who snorts geekily, has an estranged daughter and prefers the “company,” ahem, of stiffs in the morgue than a living human being.

…

Sprinkled among the hilarious brain-eating moments (a dyslexic zombie with an appetite for “brians,” for example) are the gag-inducing ones, such as a pregnant zombie who delivers – what else? – an overweight adult undead fetus (Joshua Olivares) who slobbers onstage and croons about his unholy birth with a surprisingly delightful falsetto voice.

Yes, interestingly enough, the Zombies get to sing too, although it’s apparently mostly about eating people.

Sigh.

A review doesn’t make it sound any more Zombie Friendly:

“Song of the Living Dead, a Zombie Musical” is silly, funny, bloody, vulgar and ridiculous – which pretty much makes it the perfect summer show for The Promethean Theatre.

…

The zombies appear from the get-go, disproving a scientist (Noah Levine) who musically doubts their existence by gobbling his brain. Then, for the rest of the show, the walking dead menace and/or kill an array of comically terrified humans.

Sometimes I hate it when my predictions are right.

As an alternative to this blood-soaked musical bigotry, might I suggest ‘Rigamortis: A Zombie Love Story’?

The ZRC officially endorsed that Zombie Friendly musical. You’ll like it, trust me.

Tags: Anti-Zombie Public Event, Zombie Theatre

This entry was posted by John Sears on Wednesday, August 31st, 2011 at 2:32 pm and is filed under Zombie Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.