Maelstrom: The Zombie Opera is one of the most innovative pieces of theater I have seen from PSU, either through the student group TASO or the department itself, in a very long time.
Sure, the concept is weird. But combining opera, which is usually comprised of dramatic period costumes and buxom women crying over honor or betrayal, with zombies, a tried and true horror enemy, makes for one entertaining performance.
In typical zombie-story fashion, an outbreak occurs leaving everyone in a medical institute at risk for infection, including two couples and the core characters of the story. Both campy and tender, nerdy and elegant, Maelstrom, now playing at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center, has the ability to keep everyone amused. At least, that is what the writers, Reed Reimer and Benjamin Larson, hoped while scribing the thriller.
“What Ben and I had intended for people to get out of it may not be what the audience gets out of it at all, but the fact that they are getting anything is awesome for us,” says Reimer about writing the opera.
“There is a little of something for everybody in it. We didn’t write it to be a total farce, but at the same time there is a lot of humor,” Larson says.
Reimer, a music composition student, and Larson, a theater major, decided to collaborate based upon their common interest in the subject and their desire to make something accessible to many different types of people.
“There are two things we want people to get out of this. First, we want it to be fun to watch, fun to perform and fun to design, and fun to direct,” Larson says. “A lot of zombie stuff is about complacency, but our world focuses more on some of the suffering. It is not a super-serious thing.”
Their first endeavor into writing about zombies and composing the music for an opera about them—Reimer is the composer for the production—is pulled off with sheer chutzpah.
That is not to say that the performers aren’t good. They are, although, as is the catch-22 with a lot of theatrical opera, the performers are far better singers than actors. The direction is solid, and the effects are wonderful. But the fact that it is the brainchild of these two men is what really makes it a sensation. They are too humble to admit it though,
“We are really grateful to everyone who is involved in the show. Everybody who is working on the show is a volunteer.”
Maelstrom: The Zombie Opera won’t leave that bad taste in your mouth you might get from dropping loads of money and three hours on a performance of Aida. At $5 for students and an hour-and-a-half run time without intermission, it isn’t even comparable. Nor will it leave you unsatisfied in your bloodlust, as some zombie movies tend to do. It combines the best of both worlds. And in Reimer and Larson’s world, that’s not a bad place to be.