Anna and the Apocalypse

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ella Hunt stars in Anna and the Apocalypse

Christmas means joyful livin'

Christmas means family

Christmas means present givin'

Beneath the Christmas tree

Christmas means white snow fallin', but all I see is blue

Because Christmas means nothin' without you

--- Shonagh Murray

My husband is a fan of musicals. Sunday in the Park with George, by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim, is one of his favorites. He has attempted to make me watch that movie a lot. I've yet to make it through to the end. But this isn't because I don't like musicals. Give me angst. Give me a revolution or a maimed opera singer. A dead son, friend, or girlfriend is always welcome. Give me zombies, and I'm all in.

Luckily, we have Anna and the Apocalypse (a yearly Christmas tradition in our house) that meets us in the middle. Ella Hunt plays Anna in this 2017 zombie Christmas musical, directed by John McPhail and written by Alan McDonald and Ryan McHenry. An ensemble cast of relatively new talent (at that time) includes Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, and Marli Siu.

Anna and her best friend John (Malcolm Cumming) are in their last days of high school. On the night of the school's Christmas Show, where Siu gives a sultry vocal titled It's That Time of Year, a zombie infestation is taking place. Unaware of the apocalypse, Anna and John wake in the morning and sing and dance their way to school as buildings explode in the background and neighbors fight and die between air guitar riffs and jazz hands.

It's silly, funny-gross, and really well written and acted, with great vocals from everyone except for Paul Kay, who plays Arthur Savage a bit too over the top.

It's a fun tradition for us, and if you haven't seen it, I think you'll enjoy it. Three out of five stars.

Cast

Ella Hunt - Anna

Malcolm Cumming - John

Sarah Swire - Steph

Christopher Leveaux - Chris

Ben Wiggins - Nick

Marli Siu - Lisa

Mark Benton - Tony

Paul Kaye - Arthur Savage

Calum Cormack - Zombie Santa

Euan Bennet - Jake

Sean Connor - Graham

John Winchester - Tibbsy

Janet Lawson - Mrs Hinzmann

Kirsty Strain - Ms. Wright

Jackie Bird - herself

Production

John McPhail - director

Alan McDonald - writer

Ryan McHenry - creator

Naysun Alae-Carew - producer

Nicholas Crum - producer

Tracy Jarvis - producer

Sara Deane - cinematography

Mark Hermida - editor

Roddy Hart - music

Tommy Reilly - music

Running time 98 minutes