Chainsaws, blood-soaked show tunes and a front row that comes with its own splash zone are set to take over the Omaha Community Playhouse this fall. The non-profit theater's Howard Drew Theatre will stage Evil Dead: The Musical, a horror-comedy mashup that follows a group of friends whose weekend cabin getaway spirals into supernatural chaos, with loyalty and survival tested as everything falls apart around them.
The production is scheduled to run October 22 through November 8, 2026, inside OCP's intimate 200-seat black-box space, according to KETV. Audiences can catch it before it closes.
KETV NewsWatch 7 reporter Waverle Monroe spoke with members of the creative team, including Olivia Cano, about what goes into mounting a show built around chainsaws, firearms and dismemberment on a 200-seat stage. The Playhouse's own production page fills in additional creative credits: Artistic Director Vincent Orduña directs, Jim Boggess handles music direction, and Cano serves as choreographer, with Noah Fowler pictured as Ash.
What the Show Actually Puts On Stage
This is not a quiet night of theater. Per KETV's reporting, the Omaha production includes graphic theatrical violence, abundant fake blood and gore, strong profanity, sexual humor and innuendo, and horror imagery throughout, with simulated violence involving chainsaws, firearms and dismemberment. The content is suggested for audiences ages 17 and older, the station notes.
For those who want to sit close to the action, there is a catch: splatter zone seating may expose audience members to sprayed stage blood, according to KETV's report. It is a staple of the show's identity nationally — Playbill notes that global publisher Music Theatre International acquired the licensing rights for Evil Dead: The Musical in 2023. The show has appeared in more than 500 regional and international productions and features a signature front-row splatter zone.
From Sam Raimi's Films to the Stage
The musical draws its DNA from Sam Raimi's original horror trilogy, blending the storylines of The Evil Dead (1981) and Evil Dead II (1987) while borrowing the campy slapstick and famous one-liners from the third film, Army of Darkness (1992), according to KIOS-FM, which spoke with Orduña about the show's history. Created by Canadian writer and lyricist George Reinblatt, the musical first debuted in 2003 at Toronto's Tranzac Club before launching an Off-Broadway run in 2006, per Wikipedia. Its cast recording later debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard Cast Albums chart following its 2007 commercial release, Playbill reports.
Hoodline previously covered the Playhouse when actor Anthony Michael Hall was scheduled to appear there for a benefit screening on October 23, 2026.
A Century-Old Stage With Hollywood Roots
More than a century old, the Omaha Community Playhouse is among the largest nonprofit community theaters in the United States.
The organization's leadership has shifted this year as well. In July 2026, the Playhouse appointed Kevin Johnson-Sather as its new Executive Director, the Playhouse announced.
Making Room for Every Audience
Even a show built on stage blood and chainsaw gags found a way to widen its reach this month. OCP scheduled a dedicated audio-described performance of Evil Dead: The Musical on October 17, 2026, in collaboration with Radio Talking Book Services to serve visually impaired theatergoers, according to the organization's accessibility page.
For theatergoers curious about the creative process behind the production, the Playhouse also hosted a pre-show discussion called Stage & Story on October 8, from 6:30 to 7:15 p.m. on the lobby's second level, per KETV. Whether patrons come for the camp, the gore or the century of local theater history behind it, the splatter zone seats remain the one spot in the house where the show quite literally reaches out and touches its audience.
