Dead man talking

’Burbs native Tom Walker stars in Evil Dead: The Musical Off-Broadway

By Sarah Baicker
Philly EDGE Correspondent

Some films seem destined to end up as stage productions—The Lion King, for instance. Save for some tricky man-to-beast costume logistics, Disney’s time-tested story of little Simba’s coming of age immediately attracted audiences to Broadway, as well as hundreds of smaller theaters all across the country.

On the other hand, The Evil Dead, director Sam Raimi’s 1981 cult-horror movie about five college kids who unwittingly resurrect some very angry demons with insatiable thirsts for blood, is not one of those films.

But don’t tell that to Tom Walker.

Walker, a Kutztown University graduate and Philly ‘burbs native, stars as Ed in the American Off-Broadway debut of Evil Dead: The Musical, which began performances earlier this month at New World Theaters in New York City. But just as The Evil Dead was no ordinary horror film, this is no ordinary musical. According to the Evil Dead: The Musical Web site, for instance, one of the songs sung in the performance is titled, “What the Fuck was That?”

Walker, who said he barely has time to sleep between rehearsals, was happy to take some time out to chat with Philly EDGE via the phone from his new digs in Brooklyn.

Philly EDGE:  So we know you’re Philly-area connected—how?
Tom Walker: I was born in Bristol and raised in Levittown and Yardley. But I went to three different high schools—I started out in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, then moved to Michigan for four months, and finally to Elkton, Maryland. My dad kept getting job transfers that advanced his career, so we moved a lot.

PE: Which shows would folks around here know you from?
TW: Probably the biggest thing they’d know me from is the MTV show called The Gamekillers, a sort of mix of reality and sketch comedy, which was made in conjunction with the Axe (cologne) commercials [which I was also in]. We did a pilot episode that got around 10 million viewers. I played a guy called “The One-Upper,” same as the guy I play in the Axe commercials. And I think they’re in negotiation with MTV to make it into a series.

PE: How did you get involved in acting?
TW: I played basketball pretty religiously in high school, and started playing in college as a walk-on. But I left very quickly because I really knew I wanted to be an actor, and I didn’t like the politics of how the team at Kutztown was run. So I went and auditioned for a children’s play called Arkansas Bear and ended up playing the Arkansas bear. It was my first shot at that kind of acting—it was the perfect job to start with, because it was easy and it was for children. My first main stage play was the musical Godspell, in which I played Judas; I really liked the experience.

PE: You were involved with shows at the Bucks County Playhouse—we have to ask, were you ever in any of their notorious Rocky Horror Picture Show productions?
TW: Oh, boy. Yes I was, in 2003. I played Brad Majors, and I had to walk around in white briefs all night. I’ll tell you what, that production had some of the scariest experiences and some of the most fun I’ve ever had in theater.

PE: What other local acting experiences have you had?
TW: Very few. But I was in a rock band in college, and we had a cool following even though we didn’t last long, maybe 10 months at the most. That was where I started my singing—there, in college and the Bucks County Playhouse. The band was called Futureboy, and we performed mostly in Pennsylvania, in Philly, Allentown, Kutztown and Reading. I was the lead singer and my hair was down to my shoulders. I really couldn’t believe we had people showing up to our gigs like they did.

PE: Do you have a favorite character that you’ve portrayed in a past performance?
TW: I think my favorite character that I played on stage would actually be the sad and dramatic Konstantin Treplyov in the play The Seagull by Anton Chekhov. That was my junior year at Kutztown. We had a new acting teacher then, and no one really knew what to make of her—she was kinda wacky, but in a good way. She really wowed us, and I think I learned more about acting from her than anyone else.

PE: If you could act in any movie, stage production, TV series, etc., what would it be, and whom would you play?
TW: I’m a superhero fan, I must admit. And, if I were to play any character on film—I don’t know if I’m the name to do it—but I’d love to play The Flash on TV, or in a movie. He’s my favorite character, definitely.  

PE: How did you get involved with Evil Dead: The Musical?
TW: It was kind of a lark. My agent saw the breakdown for the audition. And I’m blond—very, very blond—and he thought, well, since I have an angular jaw, maybe I could emulate Bruce Campbell’s character, Ash. I can do a lot of impressions, so he thought maybe I could do some good impressions of Ash in the movie, and he knew I could already sing.

But I don’t think he knew the audition would go as long as it did—I sang a little “possessed hand” number at my audition, and I got called back four times in three days! It was definitely the best audition experience I’ve had, but also the hardest and most nerve-wracking, especially because there was a gentleman there—who is actually playing Ash now in the musical—who had played him in the Toronto version of the production. He was probably there thinking of me: ‘What’s this guy doing here?’ After all the auditioning, I was offered the role of Ed and the Moose and to understudy Ash.

PE: Were you an Evil Dead fan before getting involved with this production?
TW: I actually wasn’t really. I saw the third one, Army of Darkness, when I was like 12 and I liked it. And I was familiar with the name Evil Dead, but I had never seen [The Evil Dead or The Evil Dead II].

PE:  How would you describe the musical to those unfamiliar with the movie?
TW: The good thing about it, overall, for anybody—whether you’ve seen the film or not—is that you’re in for something that you’ve never, ever seen before in theater; I can guarantee that. It’s so off-the-wall and so funny that you don’t really need to have seen the movie to understand it. You don’t need to be that familiar with it at all, because it covers the story from beginning to end, from The Evil Dead through Army of Darkness.

PE: Explain the “Splatter Zone”
TW: The first two rows (sometimes three rows) of the theater, basically, are splattered with as much blood as possible. We do it pretty wildly in Act II. There’s a lot of blood and a lot of really cool fighting. Some people go to the show expecting to get covered in blood, and some people are unsure and get seated there and get slammed. It’s great! The blood flies right off the stage from all ends.

PE: What’s been the best aspect of being a part of this production?
TW:  I think the best part is to work on something new, something that’s so exciting and at this level. Because this show is being treated very much like a Broadway show—it’s Off-Broadway, but it certainly doesn’t feel like it. It’s treated with a lot of respect, and a lot of money and care. The people at this level are very professional. That’s the best part, really: to be involved with something at this level.

PE: Are you a horror film fan?
TW: I wasn’t really much at all, until I got this job. Then I saw the Evil Dead movies, and I learned to appreciate them for what they were. I’ve learned to have a better appreciation for horror movies, now, especially The Shining, and the newer Texas Chainsaw Massacre that came out a few years ago. And the Halloween and Scream movies. I love the Scream movies.

PE: In the spirit of Halloween, do you know any local ghost stories?
TW: I have been very interested in those, actually, because you know how Bucks County goes. I can tell a story about my aunt - and this is actually something that local police precincts know about.

My aunt was living in a farmhouse in Bucks, which isn’t unusual, of course, and she was renting it with her friend. She was in a big, open room in the farmhouse, sitting there with her friend and her dog, and there were about four lamps on at the time.

Suddenly, one of the lamps goes out. So she goes and checks the bulb and realizes nothing was wrong with it, and then the light goes back on! She was like, okay, that was weird. And then, again, another of the lamps across the room went off, and before she could even get to it, it went back on. And then another one, and all of a sudden then the lamps started going off and on and off again in a circle. And her dog, which was always so docile and barely ever barked, started barking in the corner, and he was just barking and barking and barking.

And my aunt and her friend freaked out and ran outta there, and jumped into their car with the dog. As they’re driving away, they look up at the farmhouse’s second floor bedroom, and there was a big man with a flannel shirt on who looked really pissed just standing there, looking out at them, plain as day.

They went to the local police, and told them there was a strange man in their farmhouse. When they told a policeman their address, he hesitated before telling them he knew about their place, that there had been stories going back for awhile about a man who used to live there who killed himself on the second floor. And when they went back, of course, he was gone.

PE: Anything scary or creepy that’s ever happened to you in the ‘burbs?
TW: Oh, yes. I think I attract spirits or something, which really isn’t by choice! I have had a lot of weird experiences when it comes to ghosts.

I was in Jim Thorpe once, and I was there with my ex-girlfriend and her family, and we were taking a tour of the Jim Thorpe prison. They’re very into spooks and spirits in Jim Thorpe, and they admit that their prison has had many disturbances. The police there, years ago, were very physical and violent with their prisoners. So much so, that the prison actually has a dungeon level cellar, and they’ll take you down there and tell you the stories about it now on the tour. When you go down there, you’ll see that there are about 12 holes that are carved out in the cement walls, and those are the cells! You have to crawl to even get inside them, and there’s no bathroom, no light. That’s where they’d put their worst prisoners.

So I was there looking at the cellar, and broke away from my ex and her family and the tour group. I was a good eight or nine arm-lengths away from everybody, and peered into one of the cells, and then suddenly, a solid hand forcefully touched my lower back, and I felt electricity go through me, like all my hair stood up on the back of my neck. And I just waddled over back to my ex-girlfriend, and was like, ‘I’m getting out of here!’

PE: Any last words?
TW: I love Bucks County! Everyone should know I’m really very passionate about where I grew up.

Evil Dead: The Musical

New World Stages: Stage 1

340 West 50th Street (Between 8th and 9th Avenues)

New York City

www.newworldstages.com

Tickets: 212.239.6200 or 800.432.7250

www.telecharge.com

Special “Opening Night” Wed. Nov. 1, 7 p.m.

Q and A with Bruce Campbell (Ash from the film) Nov. 2