Crown Center Presents Coterie's MAUL OF THE DEAD, 10/16-10/31

It's time to celebrate the era of polyester, disco, punk rock and platform shoes! The year is 1978 and the dead rise once again to terrorize Coterie audiences trapped in Crown Center's Off Centre Theatre during Maul of the Dead, October 16 - 31. The world premiere, by Mitch Brian and directed by Ron MeGee, is inspired by the favorite zombie movie of all time, Dawn of the Dead. Maul of the Dead is part of the Coterie At Night series that brings evening-only performances to older audiences.

A decade and a day after Night of the Living Dead, six strangers take refuge in an abandoned shopping mall, only to find zombies behind every mannequin and planter. The motley crew of survivors include a pale ‘Sid Vicious' beauty, two high-powered SWAT team agents, a local TV weather woman, and a traffic chopper dude who seek to find 'a morning after' in a deadly paradise of consumer goods as the world crumbles around them.

As audiences arrive - like the characters in the play - they will experience the invasion of Crown Center from attacking zombie hoards whose undead instinct has led them back to the mall.

Employing a concept developed in the Coterie's previous Night of the Living Dead production, Maul of the Dead features a guitar-wielding zombie (Cody Wyoming) playing live underscoring and 44 (yes, 44!) extras. The 44 extras perform in teams of 22, and are composed of parents, adults and teens from the Coterie's intergenerational "How to Be a Zombie" class taught by director Ron MeGee and the production designers.

"It's not just about the zombies and the terror. People become materialistic even under these circumstances. Their human nature comes through," said Director Ron MeGee.

"And one of the great things I like about it is that Mitch (Brian) understands how to tribute classic ‘70s horror films," Megee said, explaining that the audiences will find gems from that era strewn throughout the play.

Coterie at Night is supported with funding provided by the Missouri Arts Council, ArtsKC Fund and The New Generations Program, a grant initiative cooperatively designed by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Theatre Communications Group (TCG). It is specifically given for Future Audiences programming which allows theatres to expand and strengthen existing unique and innovative audience development programs that have proven effective in reaching young, culturally specific and/or underserved audiences.

The cast, the largest in the Coterie's history, features Tosin Morohunfola, Matt Weiss, Cody Wyoming, Ashleigh Murray, Greg Krumins, Kimberely Queen, Meredith Wolfe, Michael Sembroff and Keely Siefers.

Two casts of community Zombies will perform in rotation. Team Fear will perform 10/17, 10/19, 10/23, 10/25, 10/29, and 10/31; Team Shock will perform 10/16, 10/18, 10/22, 10/24, 10/28, and 10/30.

Team Fear zombies are Keith Smith, Jimmy Darrah, Jeff Janney, Caleb Mills (Johnson County Community College), Kimi Worstell-Laabs, Carsen Shook (Shawnee Mission South High), Twylia Ross, Brooke Jackson (Freedom Academy), Sydney Moore (Delta Woods Middle), Jennifer Welch (Lakeview Middle), Melissa Janney (Park Hill South High), Morgan Gillette (Blue Springs Freshman Center), Megan Pierce (Sumner Academy), Emma Plecas (Delta Woods Middle), Rachel Shelby (Home Schooled), Rhiannon Lentz (Olathe East High), Chris Fielder (Rockhurst High), Zachery Hershberger (Blue Springs High), Nazareth Viramontes (Wyandotte High), Austin Smith (Mill Creek Middle), Marty Gillette (Home Schooled), and Nick Lopez (Basehor-Linwood High).

Team Shock zombies are Marc Patterson, Mark Johnson, Kevin Davis (University of Central Missouri), Caleb Mills, Jill Camper, Margaret Leigh Guthrie, Anita Arnold, Kara Strickler (Pleasant Lea Middle), Brandy Panfili (Archie R-V), Zoe Brian (Shawnee Mission East High), Karly McNeil (Indian Hills Middle), Brandi Stutes (Raytown South High), Samantha DeCanio (Chisholm Trail Junior High), Jordan Spatz (Lee's Summit High), Erin Moylan (Blue Valley High), Taylor Zimmerman (Gardner-Edgerton High), Robert Evans (Visitation), Casey Owen (Indian Woods Middle), Zane Merry (Cristo Rey), Sam Rider (Shawnee Mission East High), Melvin Gibson Jr. (Paseo High) and Aaron Sembroff (Liberty Junior High).

The artistic and Production Company includes Ron MeGee (director, set designer/properties), Scott Hobart (set designer, technical director, carpenter), Megan Turek (costume designer), Art Kent (lighting designer), David Kiehl (sound designer), Cody Wyoming (composer), Kimberley Queen (make-up and hair designer), Matt Weiss (make-up design associate), Jaclyn Larson (stage manager), Tim Davis (assistant stage manager), Delinda Pushetonequa (special effects), Matt Larson (carpenter) and Keely Siefers (house manager).

Mitch Brian made his first movie when he was 11 years-old. It was a mummy movie. He spent the rest of junior high and high school in Hutchinson, Kansas, making films and acting in school plays. He vividly remembers stumbling like a zombie from a dark theater into the harsh Kansas daylight after having his mind altered forever by George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead.

After attending film school at California State University he began writing screenplays, eventually selling scripts to independent companies and finally major studios and networks. He has written screenplays for directors including Oliver Stone, Chris Columbus and Robert Schwentke and teleplays for all the major networks including FX and HBO. He co-created Batman: The Animated Series, co-writing the series bible as well as episodes, including the Man-bat pilot "On Leather Wings." He co-wrote the NBC miniseries The 70's with Kevin Wilmott, which prepared him for this new foray into the 1970s and his first play: Maul of the Dead. Brian also teaches screenwriting and film studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and last year contributed essays to Harper Collins' The Book of Lists: Horror.

Maul of the Dead performs October 16 - 31 at Off Center Theatre, third level, Crown Center Shops. For specific dates and times, visit www.coterietheatre.org.

Tickets for Maul of the Dead are $12 for all ages; $9 for Coterie season ticket holders. Group tickets are 10 tix for $10 each for advance orders only. In celebration of the ‘70s, all audience members who wear polyester receive a $2 discount when purchasing tickets at the box offIce The night of the performance.

Tickets are available online at www.coterietheatre.org, by calling or purchasing at the Coterie box office (816) 474-6552 from 10 a.m. to 4 p. m. Monday through Friday; or at the Off Center Theatre one hour prior to performance time.

Celebrating its 31st season and named "One of the Five Best Theaters for Young Audiences in the U.S." by TIME magazine, the Coterie Theatre is a not-for-profit professional theater for youth and family audiences. Its mission is to open lines of communication between races, sexes and generations.