Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

How does one judge a performance of a script that’s supposed to be “bad”“ Perhaps, a bit of background information is necessary here:

1. “The Orgy of the Dead,” produced by Do What Now Media, characterizes itself as “a burlesque-comedy-horror-musical-variety show! Inspired by the notorious Ed Wood cult movie of the same title.” The X-Rated 1965 film was written by Wood and directed by A. C. Stevens.
2. Ed Wood? There is a 1994 film “Ed Wood” in which Johnny Depp plays the screenwriter-actor-director. Martin Landau’s Bela Lugosi won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
3. Wikipedia, the online free encyclopedia, also provides some insights. “In the 1950s, Wood made a bizarre run of independently produced, and extremely low-budget horror, science fiction and cowboy films, now notorious for their technical errors, unsophisticated special effects, idiosyncratic dialogue, eccentric casts and outlandish plot elements. After extensive critical and commercial failure, Wood ended his career making pornography and writing pulp crime and horror novels.”

It was not “a dark and stormy night” on which I attended the production, but the early happenings of the intimate Red Room Theater certainly did their best to prepare me for a theatrical one. First there were ominous greetings from ushers, followed by a series of projections to be viewed: one stating, “Welcome, Foolish Mortals”; others were advertisements for real or imaginary things. Music (lively and haunting) and additional sound effects (wind-in-the-trees and katydids being a few) sought to set the tone. After an introduction by the Ghost Host (Michele Schlossberg-Cwiklik), the sparse, yet multifaceted, plot began to unfold in the course of the one hour and ten minutes to follow.

Matthew Gray (Bob) and Carolyn Demisch (Linda) do wonderfully disciplined jobs of playing the almost-believable living couple who is taken captive in a cemetery by the Emperor and Empress of the Dead ( appropriately played by Josh Mertz and Scarlet O’Gasm, respectively) where they are forced to view an assortment of festivities taking place before sunrise. Of these, bits involving the Wolfman (Adam Swiderski) and the Mummy (Brandon Belis) seemed beyond “bad” and least effective. More engaging were the many superbly choreographed numbers, particularly those presented in The Burlesque of the Damned. Smooth and sexy dance routines by The Rebel Deb (Gwen Warkulwiz), The Go-Go Ghost (Shoshana Hoffert), The Matador’s Mistress (Jennifer Leigh), The Drunken Guest (Sarah Marck) and The Fashion Victim (Jessica Silver) were a delight to watch, but my personal favorite was by an exotic Jungle Girl (Jessica Savage).

With superb costuming, top-notch effects and lighting and meticulous direction by Frank Cwiklik, the performance of the “bad” script for “Orgy of the Dead!”--in a positive way--delivers all that is promised. Nevertheless, it might be nice if these creative and talented artists would in the near future, perhaps “on a warm and sunny day,” sink their teeth into something more dramatically corporeal.