Blood Supply: A Zombie Apocalypse Love Story
Reviewed by Socks Whitmore
The Emerson Theatre at Theatre 68 Arts Complex
Through Feb. 11
It’s not often the words “love” and “zombie” are paired together—and it’s even rarer to see them alongside the words “new musical.” Set one year after the onset of the dreaded zombie virus, Blood Supply: A Zombie Apocalypse Love Story is a folk rock saga that has populated the Emerson Theatre stage with its world premiere shamble. The two-act show follows Sadie, a blind woman who is left for dead by her fellow survivors after her father is turned, and the relationship she forms with Harold, a zombie microbiologist who uses his remarkable sentience to pass as a (sickly-looking) human. Meanwhile, a plot stirs at the junkyard where Sadie’s ex-gang ends up under the dictatorship of Alec Baldwin gone rogue. Blood Supply marks multi-hyphenate Holly Anne Mitchell’s playwriting debut, adding ever more unconventionalism to the production if you look at her background as a leadership coach, hypnotist, and former dentist. Mitchell notes that this production is dedicated to her late partner Evan and has deep connections to the personal and collective apocalypses from her own life experience. For her, this show is part of a healing process focused on themes of love and the urgency of life; “You never know what’s going to happen… you figure out what’s important, and love is important.”
For Blood Supply, knowing the context of the show’s writing is half the battle; the pieces of her history Mitchell has shared in her time as a public speaker and mental health advocate reveal layers like a complicated relationship with her father, traumatic loss, and a struggle to break into the entertainment industry due to a clinical fainting disorder. These parts of Mitchell’s life metaphorically manifest throughout the story, some more clearly than others, as she takes on the role of the female lead Sadie, who violently loses her father to a zombie attack, is abandoned by her chosen family, falls passionately in love with someone who is at one point taken from her, and above all, is blind. Seeing the parallels between Sadie and Mitchell leads one to believe that Sadie’s literal blindness is intended as a metaphor for less tangible ignorance, though to what is unclear. It should be noted, however, that Mitchell does not self-identify as blind or low vision, and though the writing does a decent job of remembering that the character is blind, ultimately the choice does little to serve the story. Sadie’s blindness is often painted as either a reason for rejection or a reason she is vulnerable to being manipulated, yet the character of Sadie herself lacks identity or other qualities to make her a sufficiently well-defined character for audiences to care about her being rejected or manipulated; her blindness’ sole “purpose” is to be an obstacle, which unfortunately creates a somewhat ableist narrative.
One reason that Sadie’s character is underdeveloped may be that the show is simply crammed with content. Sporting a large cast, heavily populated with songs, and bouncing between several different subplots that are difficult to follow, Blood Supply has a lot going on. Primarily, there are signs of the first-time writer and/or a first draft: a lack of dramatic tension, an excess of characters, unclear passage of time between scenes, and other structural fallacies. The songs pause the plot rather than advance it, and some of them don’t seem to belong in the show. (“Puta” from Act II comes to mind, which is pretty much what it sounds like, or the singular rap verse that comes out of nowhere in the penultimate number.)
The show also isn’t aiming particularly high when it comes to humor; the jokes are often slapstick and/or gratuitously sexual, mixing B movie horror with clowning and karaoke energy. Ian Reier Michaels as General Baldwin is an absolute stand-out in the cast as the funniest and most engaging performer, and the most talented Segway pilot one may ever see on stage. Baldwin’s recurring Segway gag is by far the best joke of the show, and his solo number “Baldwin” is similarly delightful. (Coincidentally, “Baldwin” is the single song Michaels contributed to the show as an established writer of musicals himself.) Other strong vocalists in the cast include Marianne Rotyliano as Mary Mumford and Elise Walters as Crystal.
Although many of the actors sport healthy resumes and professional training, the overall performance quality feels fairly low. The music tracks fall prey to the common pitfall of small theaters — being too loud to understand the words — while the cast generally seems to have trouble singing the vocal lines. Pitchiness, tension, and lack of breath support run rampant, especially when a song proves to be out of an actor’s vocal range. One scene featured some impressively messy vocal improvisation, while another had rhythmic group choreography completely out of sync. Whether it’s more rehearsal or more time in the writer’s room, something needs to bake a little longer before the story can complete its mission.
This “Warm Bodies”-esque undead love story has a lot of work to do before it’s ready for a paying audience, but though the caliber isn’t “industry standard,” there are definitely some fun and exciting elements! Viewers can get excited for disco angel-themed zombie costumes, parkour-esque gymnastics used to climb and hang from parts of the set, and of course, a Segway. And it’s very clear that everyone involved is having a blast! Blood Supply almost feels like it isn’t for the audience… this project was brought to life as a tool for healing, and even if it’s as indie as theater gets, it looks like a lot of fun to be involved with.
The Emerson Theatre at Theatre 68 Arts Complex, 5112 Lankershim Blvd, North Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 pm; Sun., 7:30 pm; thru Feb. 11. https://onstage411.com/BHOP Running time: 2 hrs with one 10-minute intermission
