Night of the Living Dead - on stage October 2, 2009

Denver, CO - Just in time for Halloween, flesh-eating zombies return to Denver’s historic Bug Theatre in the classic tale Night of the Living Dead like it was never meant to be seen: live and on stage!

To escape a horde of flesh-eating zombies, seven people hole up inside a desolate farmhouse. One has the virus…one has a gun…one has lost her mind. The ghouls increase in number outside as tensions mount between the survivors inside. Will any of them make it out alive?

Adapted from the 1968 George Romero film classic of the same name by local playwrights Kris Hipps and Duane Brown, the play is being unleashed by The Bug Theater Company and Papercat Films. A unique aspect of the show is that all the action taking place inside the farmhouse is on stage, while the action outside the house is projected onto an overhead screen, utilizing sequences re-created and shot by Papercat Films.

“I've been a zombie fan since the first time I saw the original ‘Night of the Living Dead’ as a kid and immediately started thinking about ways to barricade our house in case of a zombie attack. When I got older, some friends and I watched the film on Halloween one year and came up with the idea of doing a stage version. I eventually brought the idea to my partners in comedy, Duane Brown and Alex Weimer, and we agreed it would be a perfect choice for the Halloween season.”

Last year’s inaugural run of Night of the Living Dead played to several sold-out shows and is fast becoming a Denver ‘must-see’ for the Halloween season. The show is being produced by Alex Weimer, Kris Hipps, Duane Brown, and Donna Morrison.

“The show was such a success and so much fun last year, it just had to be resurrected for another Halloween season. Like those pesky zombies, it refuses to die,” said Hipps.

“It’s great to be back among the dead. Playing a zombie is just non-stop, pure and simple fun,” said Jessie Geesaman, who was in last year’s production and plays one of the unfortunate souls turned into a zombies (among other roles). Other cast members include local stage veterans Owen Price, Faith Rohrbacher, Joseph Graves, Matt Schultz, Colin Cooper, Nancy Cain, Deb Flomberg, Melissa Zarb-Cousin and Matt Hayes. The unique set was designed by Sean Cochrane. Kate Gibson is doing makeup and prosthetics.

The show runs Friday and Saturday nights at 8:00 p.m. from October 2 to October 31. Tickets are $15 ($12 for anyone in full zombie make up and costume and FREE for any actual zombies!). To reserve seats, please call the Bug Line at 303-477-9984. The Bug Theatre is located at 3654 Navajo Street in Denver.

The Bug Theatre is supported in part by the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD), Breckenridge Brewery and Yelp.com. For more information, please go to www.bugtheatre.org.