The world needs more camp horror musicals. There’s something about the high stakes of the horror genre and the high notes of a good musical that seems to be a perfect match. We are delighted to report that The Real Housewives Of The Zombie Apocalypse is an absolute riot, and if you love musicals or zombies, this one is for you.
This show is, of course, a pastiche on the popular reality TV franchise The Real Housewives. The real-world version takes the lives of glamorous, married women and attempts to forge them into an American-style soap opera. This blend of fake authenticity, desperation for fame and rapid editing has made for addictive viewing for over 20 years. We’re surprised they haven’t added zombies to the real TV show and its spin-offs, to be honest.
The Real Housewives Of The Zombie Apocalypse opens with our heroic housewives, each of whom is glammed up. They are in the studio to be part of a retrospective finale sort of affair, during a zombie apocalypse. It’s fine; the building is sealed, and there’s a helicopter on the roof. And besides, they have to do the retrospective; the sponsor (who produces a glowing green vial of skincare stuff) demanded it. Nothing suspicious about that.
The opening number explains who the main characters are, but the short version is that they are template versions of the sort of people you see on the show. So we have the vicious business woman, the sweet but surprisingly competent one, the borderline criminal, the influencer, the lunatic, the stupid genius and the genuinely talented one. Some of those are the same character, or a blend of, but you get the drift. A good quarter of the show is spent setting up the premise, but that also includes the ‘zombie virus’, so it’s all good.
The core song is good, and it comes with a zombie dance. Which also functions as a way of telling the audience who has gotten bitten. The other songs are similarly catchy, and the biggest problem here is that there are a lot of cast on a very small stage; that’s a feature of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and the crew make up for it with some efficient props and lighting. The result is slightly ‘zombie panto’, but that’s not a bad thing.
The Real Housewives Of The Zombie Apocalypse is a lot of fun. Go catch it before it catches you.
