You are perhaps familiar with Plan 9 From Outer Space, the 1959 "so bad it's good" science-fiction movie written, produced, directed, and edited by Ed Wood. The film starred Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Tor Johnson, Vampira and some posthumous silent footage of Bela Lugosi, who otherwise wouldn't have been caught dead in a movie like that. I'm not a particular fan of the flick and I'm not sure I've made ever made it all the way through, which I suspect puts me with the majority of those who've tried to watch it.
Still, a few nights ago, I did enjoy — greatly — a live, staged reading of the screenplay done under the auspices of the fine comedian, Dana Gould. At least, he seemed to be in charge. There was no program book, and the poster didn't say who produced, directed, adapted or any of that but he's helmed other performances with many of the same cast members. This particular ensemble included Mr. Gould plus Bobcat Goldthwait, David Koechner, Paul F. Tompkins, Ron Lynch, Jonah Ray, Janet Varney, Matt Braunger, Pam Severns, G. Charles Wright, Deborah Baker, Jr. and Nate Mooney, and there was music by Eban Schletter and puppetry and effects by Pam Severns.
The "puppetry and effects" consisted of manipulating cutouts and transparencies on an overhead projector, thereby maintaining the proper budgetary aspect of the original. The music was underscore and sound effects, and Mr. Schletter got the proceedings off to a grand start with a dynamite overture played mainly on a Theremin. You don't hear a lot of good Theremin music these days.
The reading was very funny, in some cases just because they read the lines as written, in some cases because of way-over-the-top theatrics, and in some cases because of snide comments injected into the stage directions. The performances were all excellent and if you forced me to pick a standout, I'd say Paul F. Tomkins as Eros, the alien commander who institutes Plan 9, which involves waking Earth's dead. It was especially odd to see Bobcat Goldthwait inherit the role written for and originally performed by Tor Johnson.
I liked that the whole reading was done with a certain respect 'n' affection for the source material. It would have been easy to slip into a kind of snotty contempt for it but that, they did not do. The audience howled with laughter throughout the proceedings but — I always seem to have to throw a "but" into these things — doing the entire script made for a long presentation and you could sense the loss of energy in the last twenty-or-so minutes. I am not suggesting they trim it because then they wouldn't be as faithful to the movie. I'm just saying it went on a little long.
Word is that Mr. Gould will be mounting productions in other theaters in other towns. If one is anywhere near you, I recommend you get tickets. Unlike the film on which it is based, this is not "so bad it's good." It's just plain good.