Actors perform a premiere concert for “Romero and Juliet” at the Cutting Room last year in New York City. Submitted photo

Musical a spin in ‘Night of the Living Dead,’ shot in Evans City

After years of building up his new horror-romance musical, Scott Logsdon will finally see his script come to life. The production features a cast of 11, underscored by a five-piece rock band, performing on a Pittsburgh stage near the setting where the story takes place.

“Romero and Juliet” smashes two stories defined by two different genres into a rock musical. And it opens at the Greer Cabaret Theater in Pittsburgh on none other than Friday the 13th.

“We’re opening the show Friday the 13th. The fact that the next day is Valentine’s Day, that sums up our show between the romance and the horror,” said Logsdon, the musical’s writer and director. “The production in Pittsburgh will be the first full-fledged production.”

The musical tells the story of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” but with a zombified twist inspired by George Romero’s 1968 film, “Night of the Living Dead,” which was made primarily in Evans City.

The show centers on Romero, who meets zombie Juliet at Deadstock, a music festival in September 1985. It fuses the tale of star-crossed lovers with the zombie lore of Pittsburgh’s own George Romero, according to the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

“Romero and Juliet” has had a few stage readings and concerts where actors read and sang along to the script. However, this will be its full-production premiere. Logsdon said a performance at the Cutting Room in New York City last year helped the show get to the point where it could become a full production.

“It sold out and went over like gangbusters. We had a terrific cast of Broadway veterans and up-and-coming young people,” Logsdon said. “It’s a show primarily about young people. It was very important to us that we cast with young talent.”

People who saw the reading there or in Latrobe in May are up for a new experience with the full production, Logsdon said. He added that the full production has many veteran actors and even the special effects team working on it.

“We had a great turnout for the auditions and a majority of the cast are Pittsburgh-based,” Logsdon said. “The nonactor creative part of our team — it’s like our Super Bowl — we have some of the best artists there could be.”

One of the actors in the show is Ben Sheedy, who portrays Uncle Larry. He said he recently moved to the Pittsburgh area after being a working actor in New York City. He’s excited to originate a role by being in a debut production. He said originating roles is a fulfilling experience.

“To be able to make that contribution has been the most fulfilling endeavor that I have been able to experience,” Sheedy said. “I am excited to do that with ‘Romero and Juliet.’”

Logsdon said the recent success of “Evil Dead the Musical,” which played at the West End Canopy in October, paved the way for “Romero and Juliet.” Audiences who enjoyed those shows will likely enjoy this new musical, he said. He also referenced “Little Shop of Horrors” as a touchstone for the new show.

“We’re using it as a template,” Logsdon said of “Little Shop.” “It’s a small cast, based on a B-movie. Where ‘Little Shop’ used the music of the ’60s, we’re using the music of the ’80s. It’s crazy exciting.”

Tickets and more information for “Romero and Juliet” are available online at trustarts.org.