AN INTERVIEW WITH KRISTIN STORLA

Kristin Storla stars as Annie/Shelly in Out of Box's upcoming production of Evil Dead the Musical by George Reinblatt. Evil Dead the Musical brings Sam Raimi’s cult classic franchise to the stage, and Out of Box Theatre brings it home for its Atlanta premiere. This “All Guts, All Glory” musical interpretation of Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, andArmy of Darkness features songs like “All the Men in MY Life Keep Getting Killed by Kandarian Demons,” “Ode to an Accidental Stabbing,” and “Do the Necronomicon.” This musical is not for the faint of heart, but is sure to leave your screaming with laughter. Evil Dead the Musical runs October 7-30, 2016 at Out of Box Theatre in Marietta, GA, and tickets are available at outofboxtheatre.com.

OOB: How did you first get into acting?

KS: I remember going to see a childhood friend in a local, community theatre production when I was about 10 and just remember thinking "YOU CAN DO THIS?!?" It was the coolest thing! I jumped into the upcoming production and haven't been able to stop since.

OOB: What are some of your favorite roles to date?

KS: Some favorite and memorable roles have been Joan La Pucelle, Henry the Sixth Part 1, Atlanta Shakespeare Company; Thea Elvstead, Hedda Gabler, The Seedling Project; and Rudolph (swing), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Center for Puppetry Arts.

OOB: What made you want to work with Out of Box?

KS: As a growing artist, I jump at the opportunity to work with a new company. The appeal of Out of Box was their willingness to toe the line. You could say I don't enjoy coloring inside the lines with my work so why not get out of the box as well?

OOB: Why did you want to audition for Evil Dead the Musical?

KS: I've been itching to audition for OOB for awhile but always had some kind of conflict. I hadn't seen Evil Dead before, nor really knew the cult following it's grown to have, so you could say I didn't really know what I was getting myself into! After I got a sneak peek at the script I was dying (ba-dum tsss) to be a part of this production. Coming from a strong Shakespeare background, I haven't gotten the chance to lay on the cheese factor as much as I'd like so this came at a perfect time for me to get in the door and ham it up.

OOB: What or who has inspired your portrayal of Annie/Shelly?

KS: All roles in this script are boiled down to modern archetypes (the jock, the nerd, the slut, etc.) so I took on the challenge of peppering in a little spunk to give my characters some depth. Shelly is that girl we all went to school with, annoying as anything but you'd hang on to her every word just to see what she'd come up with next. I know I've got a particular person in mind, but we'll let that remain my little secret. Annie is a mix of a bawdy 40's go-get-'em kind of gal and your stereotypical female horror lead.

OOB: What has the rehearsal process been like?

KS: With spewing blood, severed hands and attacking trees, we need all the time we can get! Our process started with hammering out all the music, making sure that was spot on. We moved into choreography for a week and promptly jumped to blocking the show. Didn't take long before we were at the point to add weapons, blood rigs, etc so the whole process has moved pretty quickly.

OOB: Without giving away too many spoilers, what are you most excited for the audience to see?

KS: The blood. ALL the blood. (*insert evil laugh here*)

OOB: What kind of challenges has this show presented for you?

KS: This show has (excitedly) challenged me in being my first non-TYA musical in Atlanta to date. I was worried I wouldn't have the chops to keep up with the rest of this talented cast but so far I believe I'm holding my own!

OOB: What's your favorite song in the show and why?

KS: My favorite song would have to be "Look Who's Evil Now." I've grown to be a BIG fan of MK and she's really made that song her own. Its hard to keep a straight face on stage with her.

OOB: Would you take on this role again, if you had the opportunity?

KS: YES! Let me know when the remount is :)