Chicago Tribune - Not Recommended
"..."Evil Dead," which is on a new non-Equity U.S. tour directed by Bond, replete with band on tape, fails because it does not approach its subject with any kind of satirical sophistication, nor a glancing blow, nor even a nod or a wink."
Chicago Sun Times - Not Recommended
"...The cast is composed entirely of Chicago actors. The show is not their fault; they are just trying to earn a living, and they sing and dance with verve (Stacey Renee Maroske’s choreography for “Do the Necronomicon” is the single bright spot) while generating plenty of blood, sweat and screams. But watching Johnson — who left such a terrific impression in a Porchlight Music Theatre production of “Pal Joey” a couple of seasons back — I just wanted to toss her a life preserver. She, and all the rest of these performers, deserve so much better. And so do we."
Chicago Reader - Not Recommended
"...The main problem with George Reinblatt's script (other than that it makes us sit through two different plots back-to-back) is that it treats the source material as if it were brainless slasher fare rather than the unique and artfully fucked-up vision it is. In Christopher Bond's low-rent staging, a relentlessly chipper cast isn't given much to work with, other than some terrible puns, obvious sex gags, casual misogyny, and a battery of cannons to spray the audience with stage blood. Is it funny? As the story’s excitable hero would put it, "Noooooo!""
Time Out Chicago - Not Recommended
"...This musical spoof of Sam Raimi's already comic horror-film debut, 1981's The Evil Dead, and its 1987 sequel, Evil Dead II, has apparently become something of a comedy institution in Toronto since its birth there just over a decade ago. The new production at the Broadway Playhouse, the kickoff of a non-Equity tour featuring a mostly Chicago-based cast of young actors and helmed by the show's original director, makes one wonder if something was lost in translation in crossing the Canadian border."
ShowBizChicago - Highly Recommended
"...The basic brilliance of this show is that those loyal fans who have grown with this movie, who cannot even look at a beautiful women without thinking “Give me some sugar baby,” or have been turned down by the same said women and said “Baby you got real ugly,” to her back as she walked away. Who have quoted lines like “This is My Boom Stick” or “Good, bad, I’m the guy with the gun,” right along with Star Wars and Monty Python they will love it. The brilliance lies in the fact that even someone who has never seen the movie will love it, just as much, and that is not a bad thing. They say, this is bound to be the next Rocky Horror picture show, huh? It’s a bold statement, but perhaps it is deserved. But why?"
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...Yes, as an avid fan of obnoxious productions and bad horror movies, I say Evil Dead: The Musical was amazing. Now I don’t think everyone should rush to see it, because I can tell you that if you think you won’t enjoy it, you’re probably right. I had the joyous opportunity to sit in the splatter zone, where I as well as the next 4 rows behind me got covered in fake blood. Cherry flavored fake blood! If you don’t want to be covered in fake blood, I highly advise that you don’t sit in the Splatter Zone. Now on the other hand, if you like that sort of thing and want to experience the blood almost like he’s chopping YOU up with a chainsaw, then I highly advise that you pay the extra few bucks to become part of the show and sit in the Splatter Zone. I highly recommend this production to my fellow fans of camp and carnage who just so happen to also love singing and shotguns. It’s quite an experience!"
Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended
"...The man responsible for writing all this insanity is George Reinblatt. A comedy writer who has worked with seemingly everyone, he clearly understands that this is source material meant to be taken lightly. I found myself laughing at the absolute dumbest things, and that is a credit to the script. Christopher Bond is the director, who joined, Reinblatt, Frank Cipolla, and Melissa Morris in writing the music and lyrics. As you can probably guess by now, the music is not classic Broadway. Think Rocky Horror crossed with South Park. Lindsay Anne Black's scenic design is surprisingly complicated. A lot of surprises are hidden on that stage."
Around The Town Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...I went to "Evil Dead" not expecting to like it, and I can't say that I did. The story concerns five college age kids who break into a cabin in the woods. Unfortunately, a professor of classics and archeology owns it, and has discovered the long presumed lost "Book of The Dead" which he has stashed in the basement. Ash and his friends find the book, play an audio-recording of the professor, and set forth long-vanquished demons upon the world. Ashe's sister and friends are promptly turned into zombies, and it will be up to Ash to destroy them and save the world even with one hand and no genitals. I understand that this is supposed to be a satire on a horror franchise from the eighties of which I profess total ignorance, but isn't satire supposed to at least somewhat criticize the genre from which is drawn. These feels like taking a bad-horror film its logical extreme and then reveling in it."
Chicago Theatre Review - Not Recommended
"...A musical satirizing a film that already satirizes the horror genre may be overkill (pardon the pun). This production, which is being billed as “Toronto’s Favorite Show” just doesn’t work, which is a shame since there’s so much talent involved. Featuring a gifted, attractive, hard-working cast who do everything they can to make this tacky script entertaining, the production might play better in a smaller storefront venue. As a professional touring production playing in the glitzy Broadway Playhouse, however, this is a very disappointing evening of Chicago theatre."
The Fourth Walsh - Not Recommended
"..."What the f#ck was that?" sums up my experience last night with this Canadian cult classic. It's also the title of a song in this horror spoof set to music. Since the original production opened in Toronto eleven years ago, 150 productions have presented in cities around the world to sold-out houses and rave reviews. So, "what the f#ck was that?" opening in Chicago yesterday."
Splash Magazine - Not Recommended
"... I would venture to say that Evil Dead: the Musical ranks right up there with one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen. How the producers ever thought this would make a great non-equity tour is a major mystery to me. In fact a lot of Evil Dead: the Musical was seriously just hard to watch. Not because we see the characters getting butchered on stage one by one, but because of how badly they butchered this entire show. I’m not kidding. It was painful to sit through. Nothing in this badly directed, poorly acted, and cheaply conceived production was even the slightest bit amusing - it was just downright embarrassing.”