Poisoning! Stabbing! Revenge! Ghosts! Ballads! Comedy! Over Her Dead Body has it all in this 70-minute bluegrass dive into murder ballads, directed by Kevin Pace, and featuring Jordan Avellino, James Finley, Annie Graninger, Karen Lange, Toni Rae Salmi, and swing Beth Amann performing on Sunday afternoon when this reviewer was in the audience.
Over Her Dead Body, a hit at the 2016 Capital Fringe, winning Best Musical and Best of Fringe that year, makes a rollicking comeback in this year’s Capital Fringe.
It’s set as a live show at a bluegrass radio program hosted by Big Willy (played with Johnny Cash–like panache by James Finley) and featuring the Appalachian Angels. The theatrical audience is drawn into the play with a bit of engaging interactive theater as the live studio audience.
Over Her Dead Body is also an exploration into the male-female dynamics of the ever-popular murder ballads. The musical includes songs that date back to the 18th century. One standout set was a duet between Ava (Karen Lange) and Big Willy—a haunting ballad that tells us “She walks these hills in a long black veil and visits his grave…” beautifully sung and performed.
While the onstage three-piece band occasionally overpowered the voices on the stage, the four Appalachian Angeles were not only musical, but comic standouts especially when they offered an eager audience the top ten ways not to be part of a murder ballad. As Big Willy wryly adds, “There were good men but we just don’t sing about them.”
Pinky Swear Productions is a feminist theater company and Over Her Dead Body ends in a satisfying spectral feminist turn.
This troupe is on its way to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival later this summer, and this reviewer is sure that this musical will slay ’em!
Running Time: 70 minutes
Genre: Musical
Dates and Times:
- July 20 at 8:45 PM
- July 21 at 4:35 PM
Venue: Goldman Theater – Theater J, 1529 16th St NW
Tickets: $15
More Info and Tickets: Over Her Dead Body: Revival
The complete 2024 Capital Fringe Festival schedule is online here.
