*Personally, I miss everything about my old writing job of reviewing plays and events around town. I loved the people and the whole spectacle. There are so many people who are talented and I have been blessed to see a lot of them perform in integral roles. Even with the changes from Covid (an excuse for a lot of people) I have been able to find an alternative way to see some of the most interesting reproductions of dark musicals.
Idaho State University put on a piece of the early version of Repo, before it became a cult success on the silver screen. The music was kitchy and irreverent, I absolutely loved the whole idea. After finishing my program at ISU I forgot about the story until a few weeks ago. I found it on a free streaming service and decided it was time to see it in its full glory.
+After an unfortunate event of bankruptcy and reposession the brains behind the Repo storyline was Darren Smith. He created an idea of where a world where people would be forced to pay monthly on their organs or the Repo Organ Man would come to repossess the organs, usually killing the host. Terrence Zdunich and Darren Smith expanded on the entire idea and created the world of the genetic opera.
The movie begins in 2056 where the world has seen some devastating illnesses that have decimated the population by organ failures. GeneCo became the savior of the people by creating organ transplants through a repayment plan. They became a super corporation with too much money. Beyond the much needed transplants, they also created Zydrate the ultimate addictive pain killer.
We meet the Gravedigger at the beginning after a sequence of comic strips describe what is happening in the world in 2056. The GraveRobber who concocts a Zydrate alternative which is crafted from the bodies of the dead. He sells it on the street. If one has ever seen musicals like Cabaret with the Emcee or plays with a chorus on the sidelines, one can grasp the idea of the GraveRobber. The GraveRobber speaks to the audience watching and then imparts wisdom to Shilo.
Shilo has a blood disease that her overbearing father Nathan believes he can cure. In his past, Nathan and Rotti (The head of GeneCo) both fell in love with the same girl. Rotti creates a situation where Nathan is forced to become the RepoMan for GeneCo and collect the organs that have fallen into arrears. Shilo is unaware of her father's nighttime job, as she is kept in her room. She does happen to escape and meet the GraveRobber. Rotti entices her outside with the promise of a cure for her illness, and in hopes to poison her against her father.
As a lot of dark musicals go, some of the unsightly characters have nefarious ideas beyond the storyline. Rotti's children want the entire company to themselves while being drugged up, surgery addicts, and more. Rotti hopes to give it to Shilo if he can maneuver her in the right way.
This musical met with negative reviews as well as many people who hated the cheap gore. A lot of people hated some of the ways the music was ill-fitting, poorly rhymed, chanty, and poorly assembled. The earlier parts of the musical do have some poor tonal qualities, but as it continued through the storyline the songs got better and had a better range for the singers.
There were three characters I liked overall. The first was Nathan, played by Anthony Stewart Head. Many people know him as Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was in the musical episode that Zdunich knew he wanted Head as Nathan. He has a great voice and his rock-esque demeanor makes his bloody alter-ego fun to watch as he is tearing into bodies. The gore is far from realistic, so suspension of disbelief make the musical more fun. The second character was the GraveRobber, played by Zdunich. The GraveRobber doesn't follow the rules and breaks the fourth wall interacting with the audience. His character is a lot of fun and pops up to reveal pertinent information for his own fun. Finally, I love Shilo, played by Alexa Vega. Her singing voice is incredible and the songs she performs show an impressive range.
If one likes fun music with awful gore effects then this musical is for you. It is an intriguing storyline and has music that one will find singing off and on throughout the day.
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