Damon Pitcher gives a deadly and commanding performance in this epic solo show about finding success in a world that wants to eat you alive. Featuring a pop/rock score of the highest order, this is easily the most professional musical mix and pristine mastering I have heard on any Fringe stage. There are a lot of musical offerings at the festival this year, but this one has to have the slickest music producing on the scene. (My sensitive ears were extremely pleased.)

Pitcher deserves praise for holding it all together and for lifting the material up so effortlessly. Zombies, Inc. is a single-performer musical, and that is no light load to carry. Cabarets are one thing, but I can’t think of another fully produced musical that fits this particular mould. While the audience is part of his world (we are discovered as a band of survivors), there’s no backup singers or live band in sight. As the story draws us in and we forget ourselves, it can feel like he might actually be the last man on earth.

As a lover of musicals, I did question (at first) whether or not this story ‘needed’ to be a musical. But as the events unfurled into the apocalypse and our hero’s heart grew heavier, that question never again crossed my mind. There was humour, emotional devastation and a couple of left-hand turns that made my jaw drop.

For accessibility: Be aware that the theatre at Strathcona High School is up a few flights of stairs, and that all of the seating banks are composed of plastic folding chairs. Larger bodied patrons, those with mobility devices, and those burdened by seats creaking/squeaking may wish to consider their comfort level before attending.