Trivia / Evil Dead: The Musical

• Acting for Two:
  • Sometimes the same actress plays Annie and Shelly, since Shelly is killed off very early in Act 1 and Annie's role becomes bigger in Act 2; it doesn't alter things too much to not have them in the same scenes together towards the end.
  • It's also tradition for every cast member except Ash to double up and play the medieval characters when he gets sent back to the 1300s.
  • The moose is either played by the same actor as Ed or Scottie.
  • For obvious reasons, another actor has to double up as Linda's body after she's decapitated.
• Approval of God: Both Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi gave the show their approval. Bruce has even travelled to multiple cities to see it.
• Author's Saving Throw: Sam Raimi himself regretted the infamous tree rape scene from the first film, and Ellen Sandweiss clarified that the original script just said that Cheryl would be "attacked by the woods". The musical leaves it vague what happened to her, having the lights go out as soon as the trees start attacking.
• Colbert Bump: The show got a boost in popularity in The New '10s when YouTuber Katherine Steele documented her experience starring in a production of it.
• Executive Meddling: The first run just ended the same way as the second film, with the song "Hail to the King". When it came to the Off-Broadway run, producers felt it wasn't enough and possibly too confusing for those unfamiliar with Army of Darkness. They came up with the ending featuring Ash at the S-Mart telling the story to his co-workers, and the song "Blew That Bitch Away".
• Fake American: The show originated in Canada, and lines of dialogue confirmed that Ash is from Minnesota.
• Follow the Leader:
  • With its Audience Participation, midnight feel and being a horror comedy, it's frequently compared to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The show was indeed inspired by the midnight screenings and cult following of Rocky Horror.
  • The song "Blew That Bitch Away" was heavily inspired by "Can't Stop the Beat" from Hairspray.
• Humble Beginnings: The first performance was done from a small bar in Toronto, and ended up going to Off-Broadway.
• No Budget: The musical as first performed just had a budget of $5000 (Canadian).
• Troubled Production: A positive example, if that's at all possible for this trope. The opening night for the first run took place on the first night of the 2003 Northeast Blackout, meaning they had two hundred people lining up to see a show that was going to happen in a venue with no electricity. However, they opted to perform the show on the front lawn, using car headlights as spotlights and with the crew playing their instruments acoustically. This ended up attracting even more attention from those with nothing to do, and resulted in the planned run extending for a few more weeks with a bigger budget.
• What Could Have Been: Sam Rami wanted to make a film version of the musical in 3D. Needless to say that the project wasn't made. Instead a remake was made in 2013.

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