Theater Artists Olympia revives its ‘homegrown bit of toe-tapping horror’ for Seattle Worldcon
Eight months after losing its black box theater in Capital Mall, Theater Artists Olympia is back on the boards.
The company, still without a home, has revived its B-movie-inspired “The Head That Wouldn’t Die,” opening Friday, April 4, at the Lakewood Playhouse.
“Head,” which sold out when it debuted in Olympia in 2014, is a takeoff of the notoriously bad 1962 sci-fi/horror film “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die,” about a scientist whose fiancée is decapitated in a car accident. As scientists in campy horror flicks are wont to do, he keeps her head alive and begins searching for an attractive new body.
Next stop for the TAO’s musical version, spearheaded by TAO artistic director Pug Bujeaud, is a one-night-only performance at the prestigious Seattle Worldcon in August. Worldcon, also known as the World Science Fiction Society Conference, is the original sci-fi convention, the one at which the Hugo Awards are presented for the best science fiction or fantasy works of the previous year.
About 6,000 people are expected to attend Worldcon, and “Head” will be staged in a room that seats 600, said Kevin Black of Tumwater, one of the conference’s organizers. “The audience is really going to get a kick out of it,” he said. “I think it will be full, and we might have to turn people away.”
Black and his wife, SunnyJim Morgan, also a Worldcon organizer, are longtime fans of TAO and of “Head” in particular.
“We saw the original production, and we loved it,” Black said. “We’re excited to bring something great to Worldcon and give TAO a chance to have a Seattle premiere.”
“It will be a great way to get this thing seen, and ‘Head’ is worth seeing,” Bujeaud said. “It’s good enough to have legs. Some weird little theater company other than us might want to put it on.”
The “Head” that audiences in Lakewood and Seattle will see is massively different from the 2014 version, Bujeaud said. (Maybe one could call it the same head with a new body?)
“We used to say, ‘Based on “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die.” ’ Now, we say, ‘Inspired by “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die,” ‘ because it’s just gone so far off track,” Bujeaud said. “We still have the same basic premise, but it’s morphed.
“Even if you’ve seen it, you haven’t seen it. But if you’ve seen it, what you liked is probably still there.”
She said the timing is good for the revival.
“It’s a fun show,” she said, “and I think we could all use a little bit of distraction. I can’t say there are no politics in it, because there are.”
The updated version — starring Xander Layden, John Serembe, Heather Christopher and Lesley Gordon, and musically directed by Sarah Elliott — gives the play’s women more agency and calls out the bad behavior by the show’s privileged white men.
“It’s a timely time to be doing this show,” Bujeaud said.
When Black and Morgan first asked her to bring the show to Worldcon, Bujeaud agreed, planning to stage it at the mall in preparation for the Seattle performance. When the mall management found another tenant for the black box theater last summer, Bujeaud and company were stumped — until the playhouse came to their aid.
“It’s wonderful what they have given us,” she said. “It’s amazing.”
“When I heard that TAO was losing the space that they had thought was their permanent location, we wanted to reach out to see if we could help them bridge the gap and keep in production,” said playhouse production manager — and sci-fi fan — Luke Amundson, adding that the playhouse has partnered with the Tacoma Little Theatre and other community groups, too.
“When we met with Pug, we were delighted by her openness, ideas and passion,” said Joseph C. Walsh, the playhouse’s producing artistic director. “We were truly thrilled to be able to find a window for ‘The Head that Wouldn’t Die,’ and we hope this might begin more collaborations between the playhouse and TAO.
“I personally can’t wait to see the show.”
Black and Morgan, who saw the original version twice, feel the same way. “We haven’t seen it in over 10 years,” Black said. “I’m really looking forward to it.”
‘The Head That Wouldn’t Die’
- What: Theater Artists Olympia has revived and reworked its musical homage to the 1962 B-movie classic “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die.”
- When: 7:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday, April 4-6, plus April 10-13; and 2 p.m. Sundays, April 6 and 13
- Where: Lakewood Playhouse, 5729 Lakewood Towne Center Blvd. SW, Lakewood
- Tickets: $25, with a pay-what-you-can performance April 10
- More information: https://www.olytheater.com/