Los Angeles Times - Recommended
"...Even amid the current mania for turning every movie ever made into a musical, "Re-Animator, the Musical" is unexpected. This outlandish adaptation of the 1985 cult classic should have fans storming the Steve Allen Theater."
Variety - Highly Recommended
"...Amid all the groany jokes, threadbare trappings, magic tricks and movie homages, Mark Nutter's score may be overlooked, and it shouldn't be. Synthesized with valiant gusto by musical whiz Peter Adams, it alternates mock-heroic anthems worthy of Bernard Herrmann's trunk with cute ditties in a Gilbert & Sullivan jugular vein, all teeming with tricky rhymes and wit ("His psychosis gives me chills/He cannot love, he only kills")."
LA Weekly - Recommended
"...The keys to this kingdom, however, are the combination of the brilliant comic ensemble and Gordon's pristine craftsmanship as a director - his perfect unity of styles, and his sculpting of each short scene to bring narrative turning points to the fore, supplemented by Jeff Ravitz's lighting and musical director/arranger Peter Adams' building of suspense."
Backstage - Highly Recommended
"...There's a bloody good time to be had-literally and figuratively-at the exhilarating "Re-Animator: The Musical." While you don't have to be familiar with the 1985 cult film upon which the musical is based, the show should appeal to fans and newcomers alike. "
LAist - Highly Recommended
"...The new production of Re-Animator The Musical at the Steve Allen Theater is really a comedy in horror drag, and it's a terrific treat–a show chock full of witty songs, performed by a cast that is clearly having a great time."
Edge - Highly Recommended
"...it is Jesse Merlin as Dr. Hill that truly makes the show. At first, he is just the calmly weird professor that butts heads with Herbert. His longing for the Dean's daughter is hilarious (especially when sung) and when he – -ahem – loses his head, the special effect and the continuing nuttiness of his character are hilarious to watch and listen to. I smell an Ovation award!"
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"...When all is dead and done, a good story, great songs, fantastic actors and a tight-knit crew firmly entrench Re-Animator The Musical as a comedy-camp-cult-chiller classic."
The Hollywood Reporter - Recommended
"...Gordon does wonders with the utterly cramped space at the Steve Allen, conjuring up an epic number of scenes and locations in front of a half-wall and door by continually inviting the audience to share the imaginative experience of creating a theatrical perception. A production in which every effect creates intricate attitudes and reactions, all of which are splendidly calibrated despite their relentless excess and homely provenance, this is Grand Guignol resurrected unabashedly, for the terror of nervous laughter both delightful and distressed. The show revels in gore to high and low purpose simultaneously, to the extent that the first three rows are designated a splatter zone for which ponchos are urged upon patrons seated there (even so, the actors revel in extending the range of liquid blood and viscous guts as far as they propel them)."
LA Splash - Highly Recommended
"...Georja: What's a little blood bath when you can laugh and scream at hysterically funny horror antics? If you are a fan of the funny macabre – you must slice and dice your way to the Steve Allen Theater. Gerald: Both Skipper and Merlin have commanding singing voices, capable of booming resonance that adds to the thrill."
ReviewPlays.com - Highly Recommended
"...All the rave reviews are totally justified as this is the kind of show that keeps you giggling all the way through - especially in the goriest scenes. Even in a tiny stage, Stuart Gordon manages to direct the cast with a singleness of purpose. The purpose? Make them laugh. He succeeds big time."
CurtainUp - Recommended
"...Gordon who co-wrote the book with Dennis Paoli and William J. Norris, directs all by himself but with exquisite timing and a prancing sense of fun."
Musicals In LA - Highly Recommended
"...Come for the horror, stay for the camp, and you'll be happily satisfied."
