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Universal Studios Hollywood Creature from the Black Lagoon


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June 30th, marked the premier of Universal Studios Hollywood's Broadway style musical adaptation of Creature from the Black Lagoon. The Creature from the Black Lagoon himself, made an entrance to the theme park in an enormous aquarium on a flat bed truck direct from the rainforest.

 

The theater which formerly housed Fear Factor Live, has been transformed into a rainforest complete with hanging vines and green light ropes.

 

The show is 25 minutes in length, and the storyline has been updated from the original movie which debuted in 1954. USH describes the musical as "outrageous, bizarrely romantic, melodic, and outlandishly comedic".

 

This new show is geared toward a more mature audience, as it contains innuendo and a la Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure, the cast lacks an adequate amount of clothing for most of the show.

 

Sitting in the front section will provide a look into the detail of the Creature's costume and insight into the technical elements of the show, where as a seat in the upper section will allow for a more comfortable view of the incredible overhead acrobatic sequence.

 

In the days leading up to the premier, many guests were able to preview the show. Audience reaction has been greatly mixed. Some shows have full houses and are met with thunderous applause. Other shows start full, and halfway through people leave in large numbers.

 

The 7 members of the cast do a nice job bringing the story to the stage. The lighting is phenomenal, and the sound goes unnoticed (as is the goal of a sound mixer). The music is interesting and reminiscent of Spiderman Rocks.

 

If you plan on seeing the show, go in with the mindset that the show is "outrageous, bizarrely romantic, melodic, and outlandishly comedic", and you won't be surprised or let down. It is in an air conditioned building, so there is nothing to complain about! It is certainly worth seeing at least once, and depending on your taste you may or may not be a repeat audience member.

 

Thank you to USH and Trana Pittam for inviting Theme Park Review to attend this event!

 

 

Media Day Video

[coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=creature_final_skwi[/coastertube]

 

Photos by Frank (fls32224).

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If you enter the black, than you'll never come back!

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Don't go toward that big green thing!

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Is every show in this theater required to always have half naked people?

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Water, water everywhere, were gonna get wet!

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Everything the light touches...is mine!

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The theater was transformed into an amazon rainforest.

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Well, I guess I would know what was going on if that camera man wasn't in the way. I guess they captured the Creature and wanted us to go into the theater.

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Oh...the Creature was supposed to be in there, but he was probably pigging out at the brunch buffet.

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Is the hole in that cage supposed to be there?

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The creepy tank of mysterious mysteries approaches.

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Last week was the new HD Trams and the "almost" reopening of the Court House Square. This week it is the new Creature of the Black Lagoon musical.

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Welcome to USH for the 2nd media event in the past two weeks.

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USH describes the musical as "outrageous, bizarrely romantic, melodic, and outlandishly comedic".

Sounds like my kind of show! I'm all up for shows/movies that don't take themselves seriously.

 

I wasn't too sure of this when it was announced, but after seeing these pictures and the video, I have faith. Not a huge fan of movies turned into musicals, but the show looks intriguing, to say the least. The whole concept is pretty 'different'. If it doesn't have the story going for it, at least the sets and acrobatics looks impressive, and that huge creature is pretty darn cool.

 

Still not too sure about this, guess I'll have to see it in person. It actually gives me a reason to finally head back down to USH!

 

Thanks for the media day report!

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There IS something very "Rocky Horror" and "Little Shop of Horrors" abotu this that I think looks pretty cool. Not sure if it's something I'd do every time I go to the park, but I'm more intrigued to check this out than I was Spiderman Rocks or Fear Factor.

 

--Robb

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^

I never got a good picture of her, but Julie Adams was there for the media coverage. She was taking pictures outside, and doing news interviews. She also got special recongniction before the show started.

 

Overall the show was extermly good, and enjoyable to watch. The wire work and fly sequences were truly great.

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Saw it just today. As a gay man, having the the male cast half-naked for over 2/3 of the show is a big +. The "fag hag" gypsy woman is great too... this show is so queer!

 

But while I am a great lover of camp and innuendo, I have to say that overall, the show misses more than it hits. Many jokes fall flat, and the singers frequently don't enunciate enough to catch the lyrics. Many of the songs go on too long, and the ending is muddy (figuratively, not literally). The pacing seems really off, too.

 

On the plus side, the cast is enthusiastic, and there are a number of good jokes, you just have to pay attention a bit. And I did I mention the half naked men? The swimming sequence is cool, too.

 

I do think there's some really great potential here, but to make it really work, the script and songs need to be tighted up, and they (Universal) really need to know who their target audience is. If they are trying to have a more "adult" show, that's fine, but it should be explicitly stated in their program and ads. Many who left the show mid-way (and there were many) had small children, who were probably offended! Not a good business practice to offend your paying audience. I'm guessing they'll be getting a lot of complaints from parents until this is cleared up...

 

And no matter what people do think of the show, I do have to give Universal credit for trying to do something really different, and certainly not "safe" by typical theme park standards. That takes some real guts, and while it's doesn't entirely work, I give them lots of props for trying something unique.

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Why does the Creature have dreadlocks? The dreads make him look more like Predator. This isn't the Creature I remember loving.

 

The Creature was always one of my fave Universal monsters. I agree he needs to be brought forward into the new millennium and introduced to a new audience, but I'm not sure this was the right way to do it.

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Dang I would love to see this show, but I'm not paying to get into that park until after Transformers opens, or if they somehow find a new home for Bill and Ted and run this during HHN, but it looks like an excellent quality production. And as sucky as Spider man Rocks was, it had Eden Espinosa in it so this may lead to another person's fame down the road lol.

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