I’ve said it before but I’m not the most experimental of theatre critics. While I can appreciate seeing something in different phases I don’t know if I’m the best person to capture the vision of what a project is going for. That’s why I am often hesitant to critique a new work like the new musical Possessive: The Musical. In the case of this musical, however, they invited me, my friend Dylan had seen and loved it and it did well over at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. So I drove up to Heber to see Possessive: The Musical performed at Timpanogos Valley Theatre, and I’m so glad I did. What a fresh, exciting, unhinged evening at the theatre!

The story behind this musical is quite diabolical. A family in the early 2000s led by parents Carl and Hannah (David Thorpe, Kaushay Ford) are stressed-out dealing with an unruly child named Darian. Then one day Darian starts behaving better but also in very strange ways. It turns out he has been possessed by a devil which of course is very concerning but the parents are tempted to keep their child behaving well for as long as possible. This is made even more complicated when their relationship also improves with their rebellious daughter Lisa (Yasamin Marashi) and she becomes friendly with the demon’s minion (Connor Thompson.) It’s all as ridiculous and off-the-wall as that premise sounds and even more so!

It’s hard to not compare Possessive to Beetlejuice. They even make a joke about that comparison themselves but I have to be honest I found Beetlejuice to be much more annoying than what we get in Possessive, so I prefer this. Beetlejuice I feel like the characters are constantly shouting at me where this has a variety of expressions along with the big over-the-top laughs. Jessica Wall, who plays Darian, deserves much of the credit. She lip-syncs her demon dialogue who is standing behind her as played by Derek Wayman. The two of them work seamlessly together and seeing Wayman’s big booming voice coming out of Wall’s petite frame is hilarious.

Everything the night I saw the production was directed by David Thorpe with sound design by Emily Wayman, and like I said it’s the coordination between the different elements to make Darian become a demon that worked so well. Plus, other characters switch places or are inhabited by other characters. It brings the biggest laughs of the night. Plus, the dialogue is very funny with a lot of nods to the early 2000s and things like dial up modems and bands like Blink 182.

I also really enjoyed how the scenic design they used making the background look like a giant book and each scene change looks like the moving of a page in said book. This is a smart way to make transitions fast and add a bit of whimsy into the low budget production.

Even though I liked the songs better than Beetlejuice I do wonder if it actually needs to be a musical? The songs are fine but it’s really the dialogue and the effect with Darian/demon that makes the show work. I think I’d like it just as well as a straight play, but I understand those aren’t as marketable especially for comedies. I do think it would be fun for Darian/demon to get a real showstopper introducing themselves in the vein of “Sweet Transvestite” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The parents have most the memorable songs in this current version of the show.

If they were going to ask me for advice going forward I’d suggest adding some interactivity to the show. It has a cult-following feel to it and something like the splash zone in Evil Dead: The Musical might really work. Especially towards the end when you have blood and windex and other that could potentially be brought into the audience.

Obviously the most important aspect of any comedy is did it make me laugh and with Possessive: The Musical it definitely did. It has loads of potential and I can’t wait to see how it evolves and grows over the years. If you do get a chance to see it it’s a great ghoulish good time.

Possessive: The Musical has book, music and lyrics by Spencer Ford with orchestrations by Alec Lowe. It was first performed in 2023 at a Hart Theatre Company production and there is a cast album available to listen to from 2023 on Spotify.

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