Tech crew breathes life into ‘Living Dead’
Sometimes, theater is just about having fun.
Nothing deep, nothing moving, nothing profound, just fun.
That was the case last weekend at the Chapman Theatre in Apalachicola, as the Panhandle Players opened their 2024-25 season with a performance of George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead Live, a comedic tribute to the historic 1968 film.
Written by Christopher Boyd, Dale Boyer and Trevor Martin, and created by Christopher Harrison and Phil Pattison, the show is the official authorized stage production of the cult classic.
If you’re not familiar with the film, it was a groundbreaking black-and-white film that featured vintage horror and a relentless pacing as human beings flee from, elude and fight to survive against a horde of zombies. It’s a constant barrage of shotgun blasts and armless and legless attackers with a heavy dose of gore that by today’s standards, seems rather tame.
Those knowledgeable about the film – small clips of which were projected at times on the theater’s walls – would probably have gotten more out of the show, since the writers deftly paid homage to specific scenes.
But even if you’ve never seen it, it didn’t take long to get the hang of it.
Normally, a review would begin with a mention of the actors, and add in a passing reference to the tech crew and assorted backstage assistants.
But in this case, it is essential to begin with those people who brought off one of the most technically expert shows in recent memory. Gunshots rang out just the right time, the lighting was appropriately somber and mysterious, the set was well-constructed for its many functions, all of which combined to keep the action moving at a throbbing, trudging pace.
Hats off to director Rob Pierce and his assistant Debra Olds for their deft staging; stage manager Nick Avossa, sound techs Jim Morris, Ashley Olsen and Carol Avossa for their timing; lighting techs Nick Avossa and Lorri-Anna Tate; set designers and builders Nick Avossa, Cole Nichols, Dan Floyd, Renee Valentine, Tim Phillips and Mishelle McPherson; and make-up artists Judy Loftus, Olds, Valentine and Tate.
The acting carried the show because it didn’t take itself too seriously. Blowing the heads off zombies (none of which was visualized, just suggested) doesn’t demand Shakespearian chops, just an energized sense of movement and menace when mayhem was called for, and a return to innocence and sweetness when laughs were needed.
The two leads carried the show well, Eric Olsen as Ben and Faith Lynch in a man’s role as Harry, both of them throwing their weight around, as did Josh Hall as the sarcastic police chief, while the rest of the terrorized community groveled, screamed and argued to bring out the comic ridiculousness of how people sometimes handle pressure.
Scott Davis, Megan Shiver, Jo Branch, Graham Dewsbury, Dan Floyd, Sophia Fonseca (as a male cop), Nancy Friauf, Cole Nichols and Dawn Hare – each once worked well together in their respective roles, as they brought out the show’s overall theme (yes, it did have a theme) that maybe, just maybe, if we can get a hold of our petty, glory-hungry, egocentric selves we might actually be able to survive in this increasingly hostile and threatening world.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.