Torn Ticket II brought a show back from the dead this weekend, breathing new life into the wonderfully zany musical comedy Zombie Prom. The original production premiered off-Broadway in 1997; though popular with theatergoers, it was thrust into oblivion after critics panned its lack of originality and superficial treatment of deeper underlying themes.
But none of these flaws were apparent in Torn Ticket II's production. In fact, the stereotypes inherent in the script are precisely what made this show work as it combined the best of Grease, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Saved by The Bell, and everything in between. It didn't matter that the lyrics rhymed "wax" with "nymphomaniacs" or declared that "everything morphs when you're boyfriends a corpse" because they matched perfectly with the ridiculous nature of the show as a whole.
Though the story is rather hokey, senior Mike Robb directed the cast with just the right touch of parody. The show's premise is an unlikely mock-up of the traditional musical theater plot, retelling a tired story with new and bizarre ideas. Instead of boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy and girl get back together and live happily after, Zombie Prom adds a twist: Jonny (junior Scott Doty) commits suicide after his girlfriend Toffee (senior Kathleen Mulready) dumps him, but comes back from the dead to reunite with his love.
The brilliant chemistry between Doty and Mulready appeared right from the moment they laid eyes on each other under a table during a nuclear disaster drill. Their relationship provided a serious humanistic dimension to a show that is largely focused on poking fun of life, love, and musicals themselves.
As the ultimate ing?©nue, Mulready embodied everything that is good and sweet in her portrayal of Toffee, and her gorgeous vocal styling allowed her to do so in a way that was not overly syrupy or even a bit annoying. Doty's Jonny came across as the suave and popular rebel, though his biggest "crime" was ripping the "H" off his jacket to symbolize changing the spelling of his name. Nevertheless, Doty took his character seriously, even after he came back from the dead clad in eerie but fabulously designed green makeup. A newcomer to Torn Ticket II, he is definitely a talent worth keeping an eye on.
A mix of veteran and new Torn Ticket actors portrayed the rest of the students at Enrico Fermi High School -which, by the way, is named after the inventor of the atomic bomb. The biggest strength of these actors was their ability to create individual characterizations while still acting as a cohesive ensemble. Of note were Enrico Fermi's very own Screech Powers and Violet Bickerstaff, Josh (freshman Billy Stanford) and Ginger (senior Seren Levinson). Vanessa Schiff's bubbly and incessantly nail-biting Candy was also entertaining, with senior Ashley DiPetrillo's Coco, sophomore Adam Stahl's Joey, and junior Dan Fink's Jake rounding out the cast.
But if the show belonged to any one particular actor, it was senior Kate Goldberg. Her portrayal of Miss Delilah Strict, the high school principal everyone loves to hate, was dead-on (no pun intended) and uproariously hilarious. In the first act she used vocal inflections a la Miss Lynch in Grease to come across as a no-nonsense control freak, but still managed to intertwine a sense of comedy. As the truth about her tainted past unfolded in the second act, Goldberg milked the humor for all its worth. In a duet sung with her past lover Eddie Flagrante (freshman Steve Harris), called "Expose," Goldberg's character transformed instantaneously as she symbolically discarded her glasses, loosened her hair, and planted a big smooch on him in the cleverly designed senior prom scene that followed.
Other aspects from the technical side of the show also helped to pull the production together. Costume Designer Lindsay Braun focused on assigning colors to each character and matching them with their respective love interest. The colors were everywhere from the characters' poodle skirts, prom dresses, nightclothes, and even the furry phones the girls used to gossip during the song "Easy to Say," and, like the show itself, were very much in the style of the '50s. Lauren Rodan's set design achieved a similar feat. She chose day-glo colors like neon green, orange, and pink to offset the blackness of the arena, using a "googie" style of theatrical design to emphasize that the show was parody.
But it wasn't just talented actors, catchy lyrics, and a creative production staff that made the show a success. The performance thrived on the intense energy on the part of both the cast and the crew, and the fact that the cast was having so much fun on stage made it so much more enjoyable to watch. Torn Ticket II truly believed in Zombie Prom, and the group's passion and enthusiasm clearly shone throughout the production.
