Life in the 6th Dimension is not for the faint of heart. It
is not for those who ask questions. It is not for those who care whether they
live chained to a wall in Mickey Mouse ears or die at the hands of a frog in a
tuxedo before an audience of demons in blackface.
The first few times I saw Forbidden Zone, it was in black and white.
Recently, I saw the colorized version, and each one is a spectacle in its own
right. I actually think I went about it the right way. Starting with the black
and white version, it kind of allowed me to ease into this insanity that
Richard Elfman’s brain (which I imagine is composed of something like
napalm-soaked cotton candy) bore forth in collaboration with more lethally
confectionary artists than should be able to exist in the same place at the
same time without a singularity forming around them. Make no mistake about it
– this movie, especially when colorized, is a no-holds-barred fusillade of
sensory stimulation. The only way to survive it is to just sit back, shut up,
and enjoy the ride.
Your eyes will feast on deceptively simple scenery, outrageous costumes,
cartoons, and all manner of behavior you never thought you’d encounter outside
of your most embarrassing what-the-hell-did-I-eat-before-bed dreams. For your
ears, the fledgling Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. Yes, that Oingo
Boingo. You’re welcome.
What’s it about though, you ask? Well, with no further ado, please
allow me to present your host, King Fausto (Hervé Villechaize), ruler of the
6th Dimension and eventually the rest of the universe, once he manages to
control his hormones long enough to raise his Army of Zombie. Said hormones,
as well as said delusions of grandeur, are the bane of Queen Doris’s (Susan
Tyrrell) existence. Doris could probably put up with the plots of world
domination, if only Fausto wouldn’t chase quite so much tail. Since there’s no
stopping him, however, she settles for torturing her rivals, especially
Frenchy (Marie Pascale-Elfman). Frenchy’s not afraid of Doris though, or of
the Princess (Gisele Lindley), who delights in joining her mother’s violent
catharsis. That is, at least until Squeezit Henderson (Matthew Bright) sells
her out to Satan (Danny Elfman) to help Frenchy’s brother Flash (Phil Gordon)
and their Grandpa (Hyman Diamond) rescue Frenchy and bring her back to the
real world. Level up if you kept all that straight. By the way, that’s just
the tip of the iceberg. For the rest, you’ll just have to see for yourself.
The answers to some of the questions you’re going to ask despite my advice
are:
Yes, he said that.
Yes, she is wearing that.
Yes, that’s what that is.
Yes, you heard that right.
Boobs.
Chickens.
Lots and lots of dice.
Think you can handle that?
By the way, if you answered yes to that last question and can be in Los Angeles come May of 2010, you’re in for a particular treat. Thanks to a recent labor of love by our friend Michael Holmes and more ridiculously talented people, the Sacred Fools theater will bring Holmes’ adaptation to the stage, with surprises to thrill newcomers to the 6th Dimension and those of us who have already been scarred for life alike.
-Baroness Heather
© 2010 Pop Bunker
It must be in the genes.
While Danny (Oscar-nominated composer and Richard’s brother) made his screen
debut as a musically inclined Satan, clad in white tux, brother Richard
carries the torch for his insane directorial debut, THE FORBIDDEN ZONE,
dressed as a killer clown in a baggy red suit with white-polka dots.
Oh, and then there was the real show; throw in a live band, give Richard a
drum to bang and deposit this gang of musical misfits on Hollywood Boulevard
in front of The Egyptian Theatre and you’ll end up with something that all of
those tourist busses can really gawk at. Forget The Wax Museum! Steer that bus
over to that place that looks like a P.T. Barnum nightmare on steroids.
Then there was the movie. If you’re reading this, you’re probably already
familiar with it, but for the un-initiated (and un-intimidated) it’s the story
of a doorway into another dimension in a small house in Venice, California.
Forget THE TWILIGHT ZONE, though; this is THE FORBIDDEN ZONE, the sort of
concoction that might have occurred had Max Fleisher directed THE CABINET OF
DR. CALIGARY under the influence of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW.
Originally shot in glorious black-and-white, the film has recently been given
a full-color face lift courtesy of Legend Films and producer Jack Murphy, who,
in addition to helming the colorized rerelease of ZONE, is also producing the
film’s soon to shoot sequel, THE FORBIDDEN ZONE 2: THE FORBIDDEN GALAXY (why
keep dwelling on that doorway in Venice if you can find perversion in outer
space?).
After the screening which was met by a standing ovation, Murphy introduced
Elfman who arrived center stage in front of the huge Egyptian Theatre screen,
with Michael Holmes of the Sacred Fools Theatre Company. Michael Holmes
doesn’t always dress up in a public place wearing diapers and a black panty
stocking on his head, but this is a special occasion. The Sacred Fools, he
announces, did something really foolish lately and it paid off.
“About this time last year when The American Cinematheque hosted a screening
[of THE FORBIDDEN ZONE], I got the chutzpa to contact Richard’s people and
they’re like ‘we’d like you to meet Rick’…so I did and when I walked in, the
first thing he said to me is ‘Oh, you’re full of shit, right?’”
Maybe it was the diapers, maybe it was the head gear, but the proposal
captivated Richard’s already corrupted imagination: A stage production of THE
FORBIDDEN ZONE. Hey, if it works for DIRTY DANCING and LEGALLY BLONDE, why the
hell not THE FORBIDDEN ZONE???
Yes, this May, the stage will never be the same when THE FORBIDDEN ZONE goes
live! ROCKY HORROR eat your heart out.
This announcement sent a chill throughout the auditorium (in Holmes’ case, the
chill might have been attributed to the lack of trousers). But could this be
the beginning of the end for THE FORBIDDEN ZONE? Can we soon expect FORBIDDEN
ZONE ON ICE? Not to worry, says Holmes.
“I’m very sensitive about how bad an adaptation can be and I am really not
going to do a bad adaptation,” assures Homes. “I know it was Richard’s
intention with the movie to put The Mystic Knights on screen and our goal is
to reverse engineer that and bring that sort of hellish, nightmarish Cabaret
up on stage.”
After this announcement and the latest news on the FORBIDDEN ZONE sequel,
Elfman and company opened the Q&A up to the audience. And who better to start
with than a pair of ladies dressed in black garters?
Two attractive, young ladies from the Los Angeles chapter of the ROCKY HORROR
PICTURE SHOW fan club (they’re very busy these days, thanks to The Nuart
Theatre in West LA), inquired about the possibility of generating a ROCKY
HORROR-like audience-participation cult devoted to THE FORBIDDEN ZONE. Does
anyone have a frog-waiter costume lying around? Now’s your chance to put that
sucker to use!
When asked whether we can expect a revival of the Elfman brothers’ Mystic
Knights of the Oingo Boingo performances, Elfman responded, “I have to work
that out with my brother.” Pointing to the screen behind him recently
christened with THE FORBIDDEN ZONE, Elfman added “this is the closest you can
get to a real Mystic Knights show.”
Jogging backwards and forwards in time, Elfman fronted questions to everything
from The Mystic Knights GONG SHOW stint (they were gonged in 1976) to his
current plans to produce a celebrity reality show set in Las Vegas.
But the real anticipation lays in Elfman’s FORBIDDEN future while he prepares
FORBIDDEN ZONE 2 for production. “It’s going to be every bit as wacky as this
one,” he said with a grin.
-Lee Christian
© 2009
Egyptian Theatre
It's time
for another cult classic flick to hit the stage. In 1980, the world entered the
Forbidden Zone. The cult classic was
written and directed by Richard Elfman. It marked the first appearance of '80s
band Oingo Boingo, which was led by Danny, Richard's brother. (Yes, this is the
Oscar-nominated composer Danny Elfman.) Now, in conjunction with the classic's
30th anniversary, the Zone is going live and following the film-to-stage trend.
After a lot of murmuring in the blogosphere, Hollywood's officially getting
Forbidden Zone: Live in the 6th Dimension
-- "a surreal bawdy musical" adapted by playwright and actor Michael Holmes (Det.
Miller in the online series Duck 'n Cover).
One look at the trailer for the film (you can see it after the jump, NSFW, some
nudity) shows that it's almost futile to try and describe this insane flick. At
its simplest, The Forbidden Zone is the story of a house in Venice,
California that has a door in the basement leading to an insane world where King
Fausto reigns (played by Fantasy Island icon Herve Villechaize). When
the mom of the house gets captured in the other dimension, her family and friend
strive to save her.
We've had Rocky Horror for a good long time, so are you ready to travel
to the Zone and sing along to Oingo Boingo?
The production will kick off in May 2010 at Los Angeles' Sacred Fools Theater.
-Monika Bartyzel
© 2009
Cinematical
Sacred Fools and Richard Elfman Present
a New Theatrical
Entertainment That Re-Zones The Sixth Dimension
FORBIDDEN ZONE
LIVE IN THE 6TH DIMENSION
A Surreal and Bawdy Musical Dark Ride
World Premiering on the 30th Anniversary of the
Cult Classic Film
Opening at Sacred Fools Theater in Hollywood in May 2010
Los
Angeles, CA (September 2009) – Sacred Fools has allied with renowned filmmaker
and artistic firecracker Richard Elfman (Forbidden Zone, Modern Vampires,
Shrunken Heads) to create a live theatrical performance based upon his seminal
1980 film that featured the first cinematic score from Danny Elfman. Playwright
Michael Holmes has adapted the film of Forbidden Zone for the stage so that the
manic energy and impossible happenings can be effectively portrayed in the flesh
and accompanied by a full live band that promises to deliver a wild and
energetic show every performance. Director Scott Leggett has assembled a
production team that is currently reshaping the Sixth Dimension so that it can
be contained within the confines of Sacred Fools theater.
Forbidden Zone: Live in the 6th Dimension will feature musical numbers from the
original film. The sexy and terrifying adventures of the Hercules family, Queen
Doris, King Fausto, Squeezit Henderson and Satan will unfold with new and
imaginative impact when the show opens in Hollywood in May of 2010 as the last
of the new season of theatrical presentations at Sacred Fools.
The band is currently being assembled and audition announcements will be
forthcoming in the new year. A production blog will be open to the public in Q4
of 2009. All updates related to the production, marketing and ticketing
information will be berthed at www.fz6d.com
Richard Elfman is the founder of the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, the
director of many motion pictures and music videos, loving husband, proud father,
and the Editor-In-Chief of Buzzine (www.buzzine.com). Together with his business
partner Jack F. Murphy, Richard Elfman (www.richardelfman.com) is currently
consumed by the promotion of the newly colorized version of Forbidden Zone (www.forbiddenzonethemovie.com)
and the development of Forbidden Zone 2: The Forbidden Galaxy.
The Sacred Fools Theater is dedicated to creating and fostering a dynamic,
empowered artistic community in Los Angeles. Notable previous productions
include the musical comedy
Beaverquest!, the ongoing late-night episodic
extravaganza
Serial Killers and the award-winning musical
Louis & Keely. Run
solely by the ensembled artists, the company is set to launch its 13th season,
and continues its ongoing commitment to the
development of new plays and projects which challenge traditional expectations
of the theatrical experience. Its goal is to produce work which invigorates,
enlightens and entertains.
Licensing of the stage play is by arrangement through F Z Distribution, LLC.
Contacts:
Julia Griswold
Sacred Fools Publicity
The director of the original cult film crashed Sacred Fools' annual Thursty Awards on Saturday, July 12, 2009 with several friends in tow, bringing us several minutes of chaos, as well as the first official public announcement of the Forbidden Zone stage show... and the boruhaha was covered on NBC! The first of the below videos is the official video of Richard Elfman and crew out and about in Los Angeles, promoting the then-upcoming screening of the colorized version of Forbidden Zone at the Egyptian Theater; the Fools invasion begins at 1:44. The second is the Fools' own raw footage of the event!