43
The afterlife for zombie films
Rust belt theater’s ‘Living Dead: the musical’
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
YOUNGSTOWN
Rob Zombie was the big name at Covelli Centre this week, but Robert Dennick Joki could also lay claim to the moniker.
Joki’s Rust Belt Theater Company will look to start a new Halloween tradition this weekend with the premiere of its zombie-film parody “Living Dead: The Musical.”
Joki, who wrote the script and music in collaboration with Josh Taylor, has put a lot of effort into the show, which he directs. He envisions it becoming an annual event, with a little bit of updating added each year.
For the initial run, four different endings have been written, and each performance will have a different one.
Joki has a long track record with the musical horror-comedy genre, including past area productions of “Bat Boy: The Musical,” “Evil Dead, the Musical” and “Rocky Horror Show.”
“Living Dead” has been a long time in the making. Joki began composing music for it almost a year ago with Taylor, who has been working behind the scenes at Rust Belt and the Oakland Center for the Arts for several years.
With opening night drawing near, Joki answers a few questions about “Living Dead: The Musical.”
Q. Is it safe to say that “Living Dead” is the biggest project you’ve ever tackled? How much does it mean to you? How long have you been working on it?
A. This show means a great deal to me. We’ve recently committed ourselves to producing only locally written material at the Rust Belt Theater Company. This is our first full-length musical, and I’m really excited to see how audiences react to it. If it does well, my goal is to write/produce one new musical each year. I’ve never devoted this much time to a single project. My hope is that “Living Dead” will continue to grow and expand over the next few years. I’m hoping it will become for Halloween what “How the Drag Queen Stole Christmas” has become for Christmas. We started working on the music for “Living Dead” nine months ago. The comedy is derived from watching classic horror movies with a modern eye. The script borrows from the plot of the original Romero classic [“Night of the Living Dead”], but the similarity ends there. New characters and plot twists have been added.
Q. Halloween and zombies seems to be a topic that you take seriously, even if only as fodder for hilarious musicals. How much of your past experience went into “Living Dead”?
A. Halloween has always been my favorite time of year, and I’ve always been a fan of campy horror films. That’s what attracted me to directing shows like “Bat Boy: The Musical,” “Reefer Madness,” “Rocky Horror” and “Evil Dead.” I love having the opportunity to frighten an audience one moment, and then make them laugh the next. It keeps them guessing.
Q. Because this is a parody of zombie films, how necessary will it be for the audience to have seen zombie films, or at least have a working knowledge of their traits?
A. We went to great lengths to make sure the show is funny, whether you’ve seen the original movie or not. It helps to have a basic understanding of traditional zombie culture (example: get bit by a zombie and you become one), so all of those things are explained in the dialog. Like most of the shows I’ve written, “Living Dead” is a pop culture parody with a teeny bit of social commentary hidden between the lines.
Q. Judging by some of the song titles — “Love Me Til The End of the World,” “I Got Yo Black,” “I Think I’m In The Wrong Musical,” “The Slutty Girl is the One Who Gets Eaten First” and “He Only Hits Me Cuz He Loves Me” — there will be some wild and hilarious musical numbers. What can audiences expect?
A. Audiences can expect hilarious ballads as well as high-energy dance numbers. There is a lot of risque humor. This show isn’t nearly as bloody as “Evil Dead” was last spring [at the Oakland Center for the Arts], but it’s the same kind of comedy.
Q. Other than yourself, who else is in the cast?
A. Kage Coven, Marisa Zamary, Kelsie Moon, Andy Peretic, Hunter Thomas, Tom Smith, Nicole Zayas, Misty Sharrone, Lynn Sabeh, Geri DeWitt, Alia Layshock, Tyler Rust, Grace Offerdahl, David Cirelli, Brian Root, Stan Schulte and Nicole Zayas.