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Last week Universal Studios unveiled its newest attraction, The Creature from the Black Lagoon: A Raging Rocking Show". The show is a "Broadway-level contemporary musical adaptation" of the original Universal horror film. It features an original score and will be featured exclusively at the Hollywood Universal Studios.
LAist was there at the press event along with Julie Adams, the original "Kay" in the 1954 film to witness the arrival of The Creature. But as the giant aquarium was wheeled out, and the cage was pulled out by a giant crane, the bars of the cage turned out to be bent and the cage was empty! Members of the press jumped as The Creature lept out at them and ran wild before being contained.
The musical attraction runs about 25 minutes and adds romance and humor to the original movie's storyline, but is otherwise pretty faithful to the original. The most impressive update is the underwater effect achieved by the use of hidden wires. The monster is styled differently, with Predator-style dredlocks. The one way the story may stretch a little too far from the original from the original movie is when The Creature mysteriously grows into a giant and eventually swallows the character of Kay.
The show was created by Director and Choreographer Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Scenic Designer James Youmans, Creature & Puppet Designer Michael Curry, Fly Sequence Designer Paul Rubin, and Producer Marc Routh,
Ron Gough contributed to this post
