A worldwide outbreak of a brain virus has created zombies that attack their fellow humans. It even reaches the small Midwest town of Sidie Hollow in the new musical Losing Your Humanity at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Riley (Rachel Yoffe) encounters them at school while waiting to be picked up by her older brother Kyle (Sam Intrater) who is too hung thinking his girlfriend has ghosted him to notice much of anything else. Their mother Michelle (Samantha Barrios) is in denial about her husband’s absence after three months and thinks Riley is just obsessing over social media and the ever-growing homeless problem. During a visit to her local store for supplies, Michelle is told by the gung-ho zombie hunters Donovan (Michael German) and Hank (Jare Noren) that the zombies are for real.
SPOILER ALERT
Spencer Johnson and Ariella Fiore’s book seems to be more about mother/daughter misunderstandings and family togetherness than about a zombie apocalypse. There is nearly a happy ending for this fractured family until a surprising last second twist and blackout, curtain, applause. Johnson wrote the lyrics for 10 songs with music by Jeff Thumson and Esin Aydingoz. The final song, “A Way Back”, is their best. The cast could use stronger voices to put across the numbers. Fiore directs and keeps the action interesting for the most part. The zombies of Losing Your Humanity are a mite different from the norm. They not only talk, they sing and dance. Their big production number, “Free of Heartbreak”, features a soft shoe with bones and well chewed limbs replacing the standard cane.
https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/6630