Knocking them dead with laughter
Night of the Living Dead Live is a funny homage to 1968 film
This is the story of how three Hamilton horror film geeks had a vision, met their childhood idols and teamed up with comedians to bring the 1968 film classic Night of the Living Dead to the stage — with some 2013 surprises.
“This is what we dreamed of,” says co-creator and producer Chris Harrison about Night of the Living Dead Live, which opens Friday at Theatre Passe Muraille. “We’ve brought new life to Night of the Living Dead. This is not another remake.”
For horror movie fans, Night of the Living Dead is sacred ground. In 1968, it was groundbreaking in its gruesomeness and its portrayal of a black man as the hero.
To mess too much with this iconic film is to invite the wrath of its legions of rabid fans. Maybe even the dead ones.
Harrison, 36, and the other producers, Phil Pattison, 38, and Marty Birthelmer, 26, grew up not only loving the movie but idolizing its director, George Romero, producer Russ Streiner and writer John Russo.
As a kid, Harrison would haunt Hamilton video stores for any Romero movie. “My dream as a kid,” says Harrison, “was to be with George Romero on the cover of Fangoria, the No. 1 horror magazine.”
Fast forward to 2010. On Facebook, Harrison spotted a photo of friends dressed as black-and-white zombies from Night of the Living Dead.
He immediately called Pattison, his partner at Nictophobia Films, a production company specializing in horror movies, with an idea: a black-and-white stage production of their beloved movie.
Although the movie is in the public domain, they wanted the approval of Romero, Streiner and Russo. “It was imperative that we were not another group of guys stealing the property of our heroes,” explains Harrison.
Serendipity — or friendly spirits — intervened. At the 2011 Festival of Fear in Toronto, the filmmakers happened to spot Streiner and Russo. “We’re like, ‘No way,’ and we got their autographs and a photograph first, all that fan-boy stuff,” recalls Harrison. “Then we got the guts to tell them we were interested in adapting the movie for the stage.” Streiner gave them his card and invited them to call.
What caught the veterans’ interest?
Their respect for the original material, says Streiner, 73, the chairman of the board of directors of the Pittsburgh Film Office.
“The fact they had enough courtesy to ask if we’d like to be involved,” says filmmaker Romero, 73, who now lives in Toronto. “We were like, ‘Hell, yeah.’ ”
To direct the stage adaptation, the three young producers turned to Christopher Bond, co-creator and director of the hit show Evil Dead, the Musical, and gave him a scary script they’d written.
“I told them, ‘We need to blow this up and start over. Make it a comic journey,’ ” explains Bond. “We’ll still have some scares. But when you try to scare someone in a theatre setting, the payoff is comic.”
He brought in Trevor Martin, who co-wrote A Little Bit Zombie, and Second City alum Dale Boyer to help develop a script. “It was important that it was a period work, 1968. The racism and sexism were interesting nuances we could explore,” says Bond.
The first act is close to the original movie, but the second act is new. To stay true to the film, everything in the play, even the blood, is black, white or grey.
Last year, the producers and director met at the King Edward Hotel bar to sign the deal with Streiner, Russo and Romero. “George Romero is about six-foot-six. That made him even more epic,” says Harrison. The three long-time filmmakers came aboard as executive producers, approving some big decisions but giving the younger team free rein.
Still, Harrison and the others anx-
“It’s terrific. Act I is like Second City does Night of the Living Dead. And the second act is full of surprises. I don’t want to give it away.” GEORGE ROMERO ON NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD LIVE
iously awaited reaction from their childhood idols, who came for the dress rehearsal.
“It’s terrific,” announces Romero. “Act I is like Second City does Night of the Living Dead. And the second act is full of surprises. I don’t want to give it away.”
As for filmmaker Russo, 73: “I laughed my butt off.” Night of the Living Dead Live runs at Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Ave., until May 19. See nightofthelivingdeadlive.com or call 416-504-7529 for tickets.