Horror legend Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead franchise has amassed a cult following since the movie’s initial release in 1981. Nowhere is that more evident than at the popular underground Tenth Avenue Arts Center in East Village.
The Arts Center is home to The Casual Company’s production of Evil Dead The Musical. Now in its 11th year, the production returns every fall to the delight of its bloodthirsty fans.
The first three rows in the 130-seat main stage theater are called “The Splatter Zone.” During the show, patrons are sprayed with fake blood and guts by stagehands with spray guns.
“The people who buy tickets to The Splatter Zone – they know what they’re getting,” Tenth Avenue Arts Center owner Jeff Cotta says. “We’ve had audience members go to a thrift store and buy a white wedding dress or white suit just for the intent of getting those bloody.”
Over the last six years, Evil Dead The Musical has sold out 48 consecutive shows. This year is the first time the show sold out prior to the month of October.
Cotta says there are fans who come every year. Attendees range from longtime veterans to newcomers who get word-of-mouth recommendations.
“This year will be my second time,” patron Jill Witthoft says. “My first experience was amazing. We sat in The Splatter Zone and I laughed so much. I got completely soaked.”
Cheyenne Anderson-Hess has seen the show three times. “The cast is always so friendly,” she says.” And having such an intimate venue makes it feel like y’all are just hanging out having a good time… I have been dying to share it with someone new.”
Cotta has owned the building at 930 Tenth Avenue since 1997, when it was a church. In 2007, he made the decision to transform it into a performance center, hosting both original and partner productions across a variety of art mediums.
It’s rumored that while the church moved across the street, many of the building’s ghosts stayed in the theater and still wander every floor–and so do many of the Arts Center’s patrons and performers.
Full engagement by patrons and backstage and front crews is encouraged.
“We’re so honored by how much of a fan base we have,” Director Carlyn Thometz says. “We have some people that have seen it every year, and even though I haven’t been in the show for a long time, they’ll come and tell me, ‘My first year was the year that you [played] Shelly!’”
Thometz joined the cast after working with her high school theater teacher, Stacey Allen, who originally ran the Evil Dead The Musical production. She worked as an understudy, a choreographer and then a director; Allen eventually stepped back and allowed her to take the role.
Thometz is now a teacher herself (albeit in math) and believes supporting local theater is inseparable from community empowerment.
“Go nurture live theater, because that’s who grows into all the media that we see online and on our TVs,” Thometz says.
Since stepping into the role, Thometz has seen many iterations of past characters. Every year, for auditions, she thinks of past actors and the unique nuances they brought to their characters.
“I texted everyone I know that’s ever been in our show and said, ‘Hey, send me your selfies,’ and talked to upwards of 50 people,” Thometz says, laughing. “People willingly still support us, even if they’re not part of it anymore.”
Besides Evil Dead The Musical, Thometz has directed a wide variety of shows. Her most recent production was First Date, on another floor of the building.
Over the years, Tenth Avenue Arts Center has put on 35mm: A Musical Exhibition and Murder Ballad, produced by both Cotta and Thometz. The building has also seen dance groups, burlesque performances, operas, and a gamer convention.
This month at Tenth Avenue Arts Center, The Casual Company and Popcorn Reef plan to host the first “Fall Freak Out,” a horror movie marathon.
From Nov. 14 to Dec. 7, Renaissance Theater Company will put on their production of Stephen King’s Misery.
The success of the center is so widespread that almost all available weekend performance slots for 2025 are booked.
Note: Bruce Campbell (Ash, from The Evil Dead movie) and George Reinblatt (creator of Evil Dead The Musical) are invited every year; this is allegedly the first year that they will attend, front row.
Looking beyond, the production rights for next year’s Evil Dead The Musical are in the works. And according to Cotta, Tenth Avenue Arts Center hopes to be the San Diego home for “Smokus Pokus,” a marijuana-themed magic show based in Las Vegas.
“Our audience is loyal,” Cotta says. “We’ll continue doing shows until they stop coming.”
For more information, go to: Tenth Avenue Arts Center. SDSun
