help us bring EVIL DEAD the Musical to Europe!

Evil Dead the Musical has never before been played in Europe in its original language English. But for the first time ever, Evil Dead the Musical will play in Stockholm, Sweden, and as a newly started theatre company, we need your help to make this as groovy as possible!

Why do we need YOUR help?

Despite the extensive experience in musical theatre and production management, this will be the first time this team join forces together as Swann Entertainment to produce a show. Being a new, up and coming production team, we don't have the same funds as the big companies out there, but we are confident we're ready for it, and that Europe and Sweden wants, nay, needs Evil Dead the Musical.

The biggest challenge with any theatrical production is always the cost, and with Evil Dead the Musical the biggest cost in our budget is the most exciting, but also the most important one: the set design, special effects and props. We strive to stay as true as we can to the original source material, which means we have to reach the level of gore that the audience and the Evil Dead fans are expecting. So we have teamed up with some really awesome blood/SFX/puppet makers to make this the most gory and fun experience we can. Our GoFundMe goal covers the bare minimum, but the more we raise, the better the production can be.

EVIL DEAD THE MUSICAL takes all the elements of the cult classic films The Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 and combines them for one of the craziest, funniest, and bloodiest theatrical experiences of all time.

You don’t need to be a fan of Evil Dead to love this show. You don’t need to be a fan of horror to love this show. You don’t even need to be a fan of musicals to love this show. As long as you like having fun - this show is for you!

Is it scary? No! Is it gory? Hell yeah! But this is a pure comedy start to finish. It has fun with the horror genre, and in doing so appeals to a wider audience than you could ever imagine. Plus it’s the only musical in the world with a “Splatter Zone” – a section of the audience that gets covered in fake blood. And with this combination of blood, jokes, cheesy effects, and really awesome musical numbers, EVIL DEAD THE MUSICAL is unlike any live show you’ve ever seen.

Based on Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead movies, this is a story about a group of college kids, spending their weekend in a cabin in the woods. Unfortunately this romantic get away becomes a blood splattered gore fest when they accidentally unleash an evil demon force, turning them one by one into showtune singing deadite zombies. And of course it is now up to our brave chainsaw wielding hero and S-Mart employee Ash to take them down and save the world.

EVIL DEAD THE MUSICAL debuted in a small bar in Toronto in 2003, and has since then made it Off-Broadway in NYC and have played in cities like Tokyo, Las Vegas, Seoul and all over North America. New York Times proclaimed it as “The next Rocky Horror Show”.

But it has never before been played in English in Europe - until now!

And where better for this show to start its European takeover than in Sweden; the land of juicy meatballs, annoyingly catchy pop music, and the historical Stockholm Bloodbath.

This will be the Swedish and Scandinavian Premiere of EVIL DEAD THE MUSICAL and we want YOU to join us in making this the most groovy musical experience possible:

EVIL DEAD THE MUSICAL is undeniably gory, with tons of SFX makeup, blood and very specific props. This musical is poking fun at the movies and the whole horror genre, but it’s also a loving tribute to the Evil Dead franchise and we want to make sure we make it justice.

The infamous KNOWBY CABIN is the main setting for the first two Evil Dead movies and also for the musical, and we will be working together with people that are specialized in everything that has to do with puppeteering, gore, special effects, and all kinds of stage magic, and we are just beyond excited to work with them and make the cabin come alive in a way that all Evil Dead fans know and love.

There are certain parts of the cabin and props that is needed, like f.ex:

There is also important SFX needed like f.ex:

The Evil Dead movies are famous for their legendary gory scenes, and the musical is no exception. So blood is of course a huge part of this production, and as we love to say: “there is no such thing as too much fake blood!”

Not only is Evil Dead the Musical filled with hilarious special effects and gore on stage, it is also the only musical that has a Splatter Zone: the first three rows of the audience that gets covered in fake blood! These limited seats are obviously the most popular tickets and people who are sat there are overjoyed with this unique and bloody experience.

For both on-stage splatter and the Splatter Zone we are going to need buckets and buckets of fake blood.

Fake blood is tricky to deal with as it’s both sticky and slippery, and we need a formula that is non-toxic and on top of that easy to wash off and doesn’t stain.

We will also need different types of fake blood; some blood is for the demon zombie makeup, severed body parts, guts or wounds and has to be thick and not runny, while the blood being splattered over the stage and audience can be a lot more diluted and used in bigger batches.

Swann Entertainment is a newly started production company with the ambition to bring unexpected and different musical theatre experiences to Sweden, Scandinavia and Europe. We strive to attract new audiences to the theatre and challenge their preconceptions about what musical theatre has to offer, both in terms of repertoire and ticket prices, and we're dead set on having ticket prices that doesn't exclude anyone: The size of your wallet shouldn't stop you from getting the most incredible experiences.

Our goal is to provide exciting and unique musical theatre that is accessible to everyone, regardless of their background or budget.

Swann Entertainment may be a newly started company, but the women leading it are definitely no spring chickens:

Linda Holmgren

With 19 years of experience as a professional musical performer, Linda is currently touring Germany as Regina in Rock of Ages, and has been in shows like We Will Rock You, Avenue Q, Rock of Ages, Tanz der Vampire, Bat Out of Hell, Legally Blonde, Cats, Sound of Music, Mamma Mia, and Shrek the Musical, in countries like Sweden, UK, Germany, Austria, Norway and Denmark.

She has an immense passion for the slightly weird and not so typical kind of musicals, and she loves horror movies and gore.

She has previously produced You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown! at Kungsbacka Teater, and in 2009 she was the leading force in the team that successfully produced Batboy the Musical at Underjorden in Gothenburg, attracting an enthusiastic audience that normally never would’ve gone to see a ´traditional´ musical theatre production.

Ida Swann

After graduating from the prestigous musical theatre college The Urdang Academy in London, Ida has had a successful career in Germany. She got her professional debut in the original German cast of Bat Out of Hell and then spent several years on roller skates in Andrew Lloyd Webber's spectacular train musical Starlight Express, covering several different roles as an on stage swing. She returns to the Starlight Express stage every now and then, as they reach out when help is needed.

As a producer she wants to broaden the Swedish and European repertoire of musical theatre!

Katarina Hatti Isaksson

Katarina, or Hatti as most people call her, has almost 20 years of experience of different professions within the culture and arts. After her Cultural Project Leader studies at Kulturverkstan in Gothenburg she's worked as communicator, project leader and production manager at Playhouse Teater in Stockholm, knowledge centre ShareMusic & Performing Arts, and Dragster Communication Bureau. Before that she was a freelancer, working as stage manager and tour leader for 2Entertain and Vallarnas friluftsteater. In 2009 she was also a part of the production team bringing Bat Boy the Musical to Gothenburg.

Hatti also has a degree in English litterature and theatre studies, and is part of the newly founded NGO Hållbart Kulturliv NU that promotes the green adjustment in Swedish cultural life.

Evil Dead 2 is a favourite of Hatti's and she's dead set on the fact that Bruce Campbell should have recieved an Academy Award for his performance. She's really looking forward to contributing to this production, as it's everything a "normal" musical is not.

Why do we need YOUR help?

Despite the extensive experience in musical theatre and production management, this will be the first time this team join forces together as Swann Entertainment to produce a show. Being a new, up and coming production team, we don't have the same funds as the big companies out there, but we are confident we're ready for it, and that Europe and Sweden wants, nay, needs Evil Dead the Musical.

The biggest challenge with any theatrical production is always the cost, and with Evil Dead the Musical the biggest cost in our budget is the most exciting, but also the most important one: the set design, special effects and props. We strive to stay as true as we can to the original source material, which means we have to reach the level of gore that the audience and the Evil Dead fans are expecting. Our GoFundMe goal covers the bare minimum, but the more we raise, the better the production can be.

Thank you so much for your help in making this dream come true!