What happens when a shy, charmingly aloof mortician steps out of his morgue and into the world of the living? Let's just say that everything changes. So it is in "Love is Dead," a musical comedy about Orin, a mortician who literally makes love to his dead, but soon falls for the girlfriend of a guy who recently passed. Although the story itself is both entertaining and quite original, some of the key factors—like the singing and character development—are, well, a bit off-key.
Our story takes place in Small Town, U.S.A, where everything is business as usual until a murderer begins wreaking havoc and killing people at random. Orin takes care of all these bodies, but accidentally slips his wee-wee into the ladies. But, oh well, they're dead and no one will know—or so he thinks. Orin carries on intense conversations with a few of the dead, namely "Jane Doe," his unidentified foxy lady, and a dumb surfer dude; these dialogues serve as both interesting psychological studies and incredibly funny comic relief. Orin's new live love interest, Julie, is shocked to find out about his necrophilia, but manages to overlook it. In the meantime, cops June Harvey and Deputy Don are hot on the case, trying to figure out who-dun-it.
A minimalist set, made only of the pre-existing stage and two IKEA rolling desks ,forces audience members to use their imaginations a little more than they should have to, but the costumes do aid in the development of the characters. Though the music in this show features top-notch, jazzy rock by Second City's Julie Nichols, some of the cast members can't quite carry a tune. Though some of the characters feel more like caricatures, especially the femme fatale-like Dana Strand, a forensic geneticist brought in to help solve the murder mystery, James Asmus steals the show and even wins some hearts as the neurotic Orin.
Reviewed by Centerstage!
