Horror/Suspense Driven Musicals

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 9/6/17 at 2:07pm

I was thinking about Stephen Sondheim's interview in PBS's Broadway the American Musical and how what he wanted to do with Sweeney Todd was see if he could scare a modern audience. I was thinking about what an awesome concept that is and was wondering if anyone would be interested in this type of genre being explored on Broadway in musical form. It's funny because I'm far from a fan of horror films or tv shows in general and don't go out of my way to watch them, but I feel like this would add some energy to Broadway the way Hamilton has.

What other musicals are out there where the creators wanted to get that sort of reaction from the audience? Honestly, I want to see more of this ambition (of course so long as the music and book are excellent or at least very good) because I think I've been really bored with the concept of the last few new musicals that have come out. With the exception of a show like Fun Home, Hamilton, and others, I sort of feel very been there, done that with a lot of these shows. 

Updated On: 9/6/17 at 02:07 PM

[theater_tech]

Posted: 9/6/17 at 2:16pm

American Psycho immediately comes to mind.

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 9/6/17 at 2:39pm

I describe Murder Ballad kind of as a thriller. You watch the show and you feel on edge, it's awesome.

[carolinaguy]

Posted: 9/6/17 at 2:40pm

Carrie was meant to scare audiences, but it ended up frightening them for reasons not intended by the creators.

Updated On: 9/6/17 at 02:40 PM

[rjnyyz]

Posted: 9/6/17 at 2:54pm

Evil Dead the musical is violent and gory and sometimes scary,  though not really in a serious way, IMO. Horror with humor you might say.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_Dead_(musical)

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 9/6/17 at 2:54pm

LOL. Re: Carrie, I wonder if it was mostly that Debbie Allen choreography/direction. I remember seeing clips of the rehearsal just thinking how needlessly over-choreographed every thing was.

Updated On: 9/6/17 at 02:54 PM

[raddersons]

Posted: 9/6/17 at 3:04pm

rjnyyz said: "Evil Dead the musical is violent and gory and sometimes scary, though not really in a serious way, IMO.Horror with humor you might say."

Evil Dead is much more campy than it is scary.

I think suspense is supposed to be a much bigger factor in The Visit, but it doesn't really reach that point.

[Valentina3]

Posted: 9/6/17 at 3:53pm

ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "LOL. Re: Carrie, I wonder if it was mostly that Debbie Allen choreography/direction. I remember seeing clips of the rehearsal just thinking how needlessly over-choreographed every thing was."

Felt that way about Waitress. Still do, in fact. 

[PatrickDC]

Posted: 9/6/17 at 3:57pm

I saw the revised production of CARRIE at a regional theater a few years back and loved it. It found less horror/suspense and more quite topical from the bullying perspective. Could be that since I knew the story so well, the suspense didn't build as it might for a different show. 

[PatrickDC]

Posted: 9/6/17 at 3:58pm

Jekyll & Hyde, especially with Hasselhoff...terrifying. :) 

[trentsketch]

Posted: 9/6/17 at 4:13pm

There really aren't that many horror/suspense musicals, and the ones that exist are mostly dark comedies with horror elements. Think Bat Boy, Heathers, Carrie, Evil Dead, Silence!, Toxic Avenger, Little Shop of Horrors, Dance of the Vampire, Young Frankenstein, Shockheaded Peter, Re-Animator, and Zombie Prom.

There are some straight up horror/suspense/gothic musicals that are totally hit or miss depending on the production. I'm a big fan of Nevermore, but it's a pretty bleak Edgar Allan Poe adaptation. There have been numerous Frankensteins and Draculas. Jekyll and Hyde and Lestat exist, as well. Jane Eyre dabbles with some good old gothic suspense, but is more romantic than not. Phantom of the Opera does the same (only much better). 

I'm a big fan of the unlicensed parody musical A Shoggoth on the Roof, which is a Lovecraftian spin on Fiddler on the Roof. Recordings exist, but the Fiddler rights holders shut down any real attempt at a production since Shoggoth uses all the original orchestrations and only changes lyrics. Apparently, someone wrote a brand new score for it at some point but it never got any traction. The genius is how well the existing music works for a tale of absurd horror. This documentary features a lot of the lyrics and some backstory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bHqURZrgIc

[coreman009]

Posted: 9/6/17 at 4:29pm

Honestly we need more shows that are horror/suspense/thriller. Sweeney Todd is the best, though others like Phantom and Little Shop have dipped into it a bit. American Psycho I was REALLY hoping would do it, but I was disappointed. It was more strange than it was spooky or scary. Can Rear Window become a musical? Or Psycho?

[ggersten]

Posted: 9/6/17 at 10:58pm

Cats.