Leigh Whannell

Saw, The Musical: The Unauthorized Parody of Saw is a significant win for the queer horror loving community. The creative forces behind it have taken this very hetero normative film series and created a filthy, tuneful gay romance out of it. Concentrating on the first entry’s easily producible setting and the chemistry exhibited between Cary Elwes and Leigh Whannell there, playwright Zoe Ann Jordan has devised a super silly show containing a filthily erotic romance between Dr. Lawrence Gordon and his fellow captive Adam. The lyrics & music by Anthony DeAngelis and Patrick Spencer, meanwhile, perfectly echo Jordan’s outrageously constructed scenarios. Thus, amid the male leads’ lustful duets, brilliantly fun songs such as Just a Pig (in a Fucking Wig) are also offered up.

While this Chicago cast of the National Tour is headlined by Blake Friedman, a talented and very game opera singer, as Gordon and the squeakily enthusiastic Anthony Chavers as Adam, special attention must be paid to the divine Janey Elliot. Elliot superbly portrays everyone else in the cast, with a special emphasis on Jigsaw himself and the franchise’s runaway character, the tortured and troubled Amanda.

Indeed, while most of the show is played for laughs, Elliot and the rest of the team often find the emotional heart in Amanda, offering up a plethora of poignant moments and a couple of emotionally effective power ballads. Thus, amidst the expected blood and purebred giggling, we get the essence of what draws us to these stories and themes – the beating, eternally bruised heart of those who find themselves forever just a bit outside the mainstream crowd.

More information on the production, which heads out of Chicago on 8/11/24 for the next spot in its tour, can be found at http://www.sawthemusical.com.

Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan

On Tuesday, March 17th, the same day that the Insidious Chapter 3 trailer dropped online, a handful of lucky Chicago residents got to see this preview launch at the historic Vic Theatre.

Local haunting expert Ursula Bielski warmed the audience up by introducing participants to the ghosts, including one named (aptly enough) Victoria, that have been rumored to linger along the arches of the well known establishment’s halls. She, also, enthusiastically asserted that the Insidious films contain accurate representations of astral projection, something that she and her brother have experienced in her own investigations into the mysterious and unknown.

The primary treat of the night, though, was the presence of actress Hayley Kiyoko. Kiyoko, currently appearing as a regular on CSI: Cyber, portrays Maggie, the best friend of the lead character, Quinn (Stefanie Scott). In addition to the nice adjustment of the series focusing on a young woman, Kiyoko also revealed that her character is Quinn’s primary source of support during the ghostly occurrences in the film, hinting that the feature will have some increasingly strong femme overtones.

BGHF & Kiyoko

The friendly Kiyoko, admittedly not a fan of the horror genre due to being easily frightened, also maintained that making the feature was just as scary as watching it. While she and the other actors knew the circumstances behind the scares in each scene, director Leigh Whannell would often vary the rhythm in which the shocks where delivered when filming, allowing for maximum fright among the cast.

You can view some of the results here:

Keep up with Insidious Chapter 3 as it makes its way toward theaters at https://www.facebook.com/InsidiousMovie.

More information on Bielski and her Chicago Hauntings Tours is available at http://www.chicagohauntings.com, as well.

Until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan

Big Gay Horror Fan

All posts tagged Leigh Whannell

Review: Saw, the Musical: The Unauthorized Parody of Saw

The Feminine Focus of Insidious Chapter 3