Get ready to travel back in time to the totally rad 1980s… or into the future to a world where aliens invade the planet. If you’re already completely obsessed with Heathers, like I am, then it’s time to check out even more hilarious shows full of outlandish comedy and satire. Mean girls, horror movie stars and aliens are all ever-present in these campy and crazy plays and musicals.
We’ve created a list of the best stage adaptations of cult classics as well as some wacky spoofs and parodies of sci-fi films and horror movies. None of these shows take themselves too seriously, but all are sure to entertain and delight readers and audiences ready for a totally awesome time!
Heathers The Musical by Laurence O’Keefe, Kevin Murphy
This adaptation of the cult classic film is the darkly delicious story of Veronica Sawyer, a brainy, beautiful teenage misfit who hustles her way into the most powerful and ruthless clique at Westerberg High: the Heathers. But before she can get comfortable atop the high school food chain, Veronica falls in love with the dangerously sexy new kid J.D. When Heather Chandler, the Almighty, kicks her out of the group, Veronica decides to bite the bullet and kiss Heather’s aerobicized ass… but J.D. has another plan for that bullet. Heathers The Musical is a hilarious, heartfelt and homicidal new show based on the greatest teen comedy of all time. With its moving love story, laugh-out-loud comedy and unflinching look at the joys and anguish of high school, Heathers is on its way to be one of the most popular new musicals. 8m, 9f
Evil Dead: The Musical by Christopher Bond, Frank Cipolla, Melissa Morris, George Reinblatt
Based on Sam Raimi’s 80s cult classic films, this musical tells the tale of 5 college kids who travel to a cabin in the woods and accidentally unleash an evil force. And although it may sound like a horror, it’s not! The songs are hilariously campy and the show is bursting with more farce than a Monty Python skit. This show unearths the old familiar story: boy and friends take a weekend getaway at abandoned cabin, boy expects to get lucky, boy unleashes ancient evil spirit, friends turn into Candarian Demons, boy fights until dawn to survive. As musical mayhem descends upon this sleepover in the woods, “camp” takes on a whole new meaning. 5m, 3f
That Pretty Pretty; or, The Rape Play by Sheila Callaghan
A pair of radical feminist ex-strippers scour the country on a murderous rampage against right-wing pro-lifers, blogging about their exploits in gruesome detail. Meanwhile, a scruffy screenwriter named Owen tries to bang out his magnum opus in a hotel room as his best friend Rodney (“The Rod”) holds forth on rape and other manly enterprises. When Owen decides to incorporate the strippers into his screenplay, the boundaries of reality begin to blur, and only a visit from Jane Fonda can help keep worlds from blowing apart. Sheila Callaghan’s That Pretty Pretty; or, The Rape Play is a violently funny and disturbing excavation of the dirty corners of our imaginations. 2m, 3f
Slasher by Allison Moore
When she’s cast as the “last girl” in a low-budget slasher flick, Sheena thinks it’s the big break she’s been waiting for. But news of the movie unleashes her malingering mother’s thwarted feminist rage, and Mom is prepared to do anything to stop filming…even if it kills her. 2m, 4f
The Rocky Horror Show by Richard O’Brien
That sweet transvestite and his motley crew did the time warp on Broadway in a 25th anniversary revival. Complete with sass from the audience, cascading toilet paper and an array of other audience participation props, this deliberately kitschy rock ‘n’ roll sci fi gothic is more fun than ever. 7m, 3f
Die, Mommie, Die! By Charles Busch
A comic melodrama that evokes the 1960’s “grande guignol” films that featured aging stars such as Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Lana Turner. Ex-pop singer, Angela Andrews, is trapped in a hateful marriage with film producer Sol Sussman. Desperate to find happiness with her younger lover, an out of work TV actor, Tony Parker, Angela murders her husband with the aid of a poisoned suppository. Angela’s Elektra-like daughter, Edith, then convinces Angela’s emotionally disturbed son, Lance, that they must avenge their father’s death. Lance, demanding proof of Angela’s crime, slips some LSD into her after-dinner coffee. Angela is plunged into a wild acid trip that reveals a surprising secret about her identity. A twist ending has all of the Sussman family’s dirty laundry aired out for once and for all. Angela realizes that happiness cannot be built upon a foundation of lies and turns herself in to the police. 3m, 3f
Psycho Beach Party by Charles Busch
Frankie and Annette beach party epics and Hitchcock psychological suspense thrillers are given a shotgun marriage in Psycho Beach Party. Chicklet Forrest, a teenage tomboy, desperately wants to be part of the surf crowd on Malibu Beach in 1962. One thing getting in her way is her unfortunate tendency towards split personalities. Among them is a black check out girl, an elderly radio talk show hostess, a male model named Steve and the accounting firm of Edelman and Edelman. Her most dangerous alter ego is a sexually voracious vixen named Ann Bowman who has nothing less than world domination on her mind. 5m, 6f
Return to the Forbidden Planet by Bob Carlton
Blast off on a routine flight and crash into the planet D’Illyria where a sci-fi version of The Tempest set to rock and roll golden oldies unfolds with glee. The planet is inhabited by a sinister scientist, Dr. Prospero, his delightful daughter Miranda, Ariel, a faithful robot on roller skates, and an uncontrollable monster, the product of Prospero’s Id, whose tentacles penetrate the space craft. Winner of the 1989 Olivier Award for Best Musical. This juke box musical is packed with rock ‘n’ roll classics such as Heard it Through the Grapevine, Young Girl, Good Vibrations, and Gloria. 7m, 4f
Scream Queens – The Musical by Scott Martin
They sing – they dance – they die! It’s 1998, and six voluptuous B-movie “Scream Queens” are going to revive their fading acting careers by presenting a musical revue for their fans at a science fiction and horror film convention. From young newbie to seasoned grand dame, the Queens strut their stuff in song and dance, reveal personal stories, and share hopes and dreams. For 90 minutes of hilarious musical mayhem, they take the audience into the world of no-budget movies with awful scripts, fake monsters
and gooey Special FX and even involve the audience in a screaming contest and zombie talent search. 6f
Women Behind Bars by Tom Eyen
In this hilarious satire on B-movies of the 1950’s, Mary Eleanor, an innocent duped into crime, lands in the Greenwich Village Woman’s House of Detention, presided over by a massive matron with a taste for sadism and female flesh as our heroine, now Caged in the Big House, learns about life The Hard Way… 10m, 1f
Devil Boys from Beyond by Buddy Thomas, Kenneth Elliott
Flying Saucers! Backstabbing Bitches! Muscle Hunks and Men in Pumps! Wake up and smell the alien invasion in this outrageous comedy by the author of the smash off-Broadway hit play, The Crumple Zone. 4m, 4f
Mother-Daughter Scholars Dr. Rosary O’Neill and Dr. Rory O’Neill Schmitt Celebrate Success in Ireland
Concord playwright Rosary O’Neill and her daughter and collaborator, Rory O’Neill Schmitt, discuss their recent residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Center in Ireland, their new book, and several upcoming projects.
Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None: Meet the Characters
Here’s a look at each of the characters in Christie’s masterful suspense thriller, set on a remote island. All are potential victims, but which of them is the killer?
Community Theatre: Your Guide to Season Planning
Need some fresh show ideas for your community theatre? Concord Theatricals is here to help! Find your next hit in this dynamic selection of celebrated and noteworthy titles for your next season.