“The rain in Spain stays mainly on the… brains?”
That’s what Eliza Doolittle would say in the classic musical My Fair Lady if she were an undead, brain-eating zombie.
Welcome to the weirdly wonderful concept that is “My Fair Zombie, The Musical” – a genre-bending musical comedy/horror making its world premiere in Ottawa.
It’s the same time-honoured tale of a lowly street vendor trained to mix with high society, albeit with a bit of a twist.
“The twist is braaaaiiins!” growls actress Robin Hodge, who plays Eliza. “Eliza starts out as a voracious, thoughtless zombie. And throughout the play learns to speak properly and act like a true lady.”
My Fair Zombie is the brainchild of Ottawa filmmaker Brett Kelly. The stage play is actually based on an award-winning cult movie he made in 2013. He says making the character of Eliza isn’t as far-fetched as one might think. “It is kind of interesting because My Fair Lady and Pygmalion discussed the differences between society, between higher-class society and lower-class society. And you don't get much lower than somebody who came out of the ground,” he notes.
The toughest challenge to playing an Eliza who only eats brains? “There’s a lot of throwing up,” laughs Hodge. “A lot of biting. A lot of throwing up. A lot of growling.”
Kelly says it’s all in good fun. He thinks the combination of a classic tale, original new music, and bloodthirsty zombies will find its audience. “I think it’s infectious,” he says. “Much like the zombie apocalypse, this show is infectious.”
We shall see. My Fair Zombie, The Musical opens at Ottawa’s Gladstone Theatre on May 4th.
After that, who knows where it will spread?
