'Zombies From the Beyond' Returns to Skylight

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Photo credit: Mark Frohna

In 1986, I saw the original production of Zombies From the Beyond in the basement theater on Cathedral Square that was then the home of the Skylight Opera Theatre, as it was known. It was created by my friend Jim Valcq, produced by my friend Colin Cabot and featured my friend Claire Morkin as the brilliant, wholesome heroine Mary Malone. I was dazzled by the perfect crafting of this deeply considered, loving pastiche of Cold War era movies, romantic era operettas and raise-the-roof Broadway musicals. The title song proved unforgettable.

The brand-new production by the Skylight Music Theatre at the Broadway Theatre Center is exquisite. Like the original, I suppose it has special appeal to a gay man like me. This time Zombina, wonderfully acted and voiced by SaraLynn Evenson, even looks like Divine, the star of so many John Waters films. While the difficulty of finding a partner is wildly spoofed here, it’s poignant nonetheless; likewise, the honor it pays to women as leaders, as thinkers, as people with brains; and, of course, the joy and world-saving power of good tap dancing.

I had no plan to review the show but our reviewer was ill so I’m sharing my thoughts while noting my obvious biases. Pam Krieger directed a 1986 remount of the original in Milwaukee, as well as the glowingly reviewed Off-Broadway production that Cabot produced in 1995. She returns to it now and has outdone herself in keeping every second hilariously impassioned and physically exciting. The entire cast is superb. (Kathryn Hausman somehow channels Morkin’s original performance.) Aaron Dyszelski’s sets and Shima Orans’ costumes are brilliant. The surrealistic Downtown Milwaukee skyline, which animates as Zombina works her wiles on the men of the city, rightly drew applause and the entire cast looks great in alien drag.

Through Feb. 18 at the Broadway Theatre Center, 158 N. Broadway. Call 414-291-7800 or visit skylightmusictheatre.org.