Who is the voice of ("character") and how is it recorded?
    It's no surprise that Eric Boucher (writer/director) is the voice of a few characters in this show. He does the voice of Count Nosefuratoo, Frank, and the pre-show/post-show announcements.  This is also Eric's first professional recording of him "singing".
    LMASM original cast alum Josh Placido came back to not only help star in the Monster Mash debut cast, but also lended his voice to the character of SarcastiGus!
    Helping add singing credibility to our scary voices was RadioActive/DMP alum, Mike Antico as the voice of Wolfie.
    Also making cameos in this show is PSP alumni  Kate Chaconas and Jeff Tingley as the "radio dial clips"

    The way the show is recorded is sorta tedious, but works thanks to the efforts and talents of PSP audio engineer Greg Boucher.  For this project, Greg mostly used a computer and professional software (an upgrade PSP made in 2001 for our spiel recordings).  In essence, this show was our "Episode 2" as it was our first fully digitally produced stage production.
    First, Eric gave a list of songs that were expected to be in the show and Greg hunted down the originals to be parodied.  Next Eric gave Greg the new sample lyrics and Greg assembled and created "Karaoke" tracks himself to be used in the show. With these tracks, we tweaked more lyrics and the voice talent rehearsed their characters.
    Over the next few days, we laid down the majority of voiceovers. For some pieces, all 3 actors would sing/act live and for some pieces just a scratch track was recorded for reference as the others laid in their masters.  Once all of Nosfuratoo's, Gus's, and Wolfie's lines were down, Eric went in thru the whole track to lay in Frank's lines and grunts.
    Soon after, Greg laid in the sound effects and during the blocking rehearsal process, the track was constantly tweaked and detailed. Overall this was quite an experience for us as it was really PSP's first "musical" production.
 

What exactly comes over Franks frequencies when they are crossed?
This great effect created by Greg was almost too realistic as many people thought something was really wrong with the sound system when Franks "wires get crossed" and other "stations" start to come in.
First we snuck the infamous Jeff Tingley in to mention "Air Rick Dees and today's Top40" (a reference to writer "Air-Rick" Boucher) Later our own Kate Chaconas makes a cameo warning people to "be wary of strange farm animals" (obviously a direct reference to the Phantom Sheep and the PuppetWorks SpookTacular). Between all that and the static,  there are clips to "Walk Like an Egyptian" (reference to Gus) and "Werewolf in London" (reference to Wolfie and a song once considered for the show).
 
 

What other inside jokes are in the show/developed into bits for the show?
Part of being an comedy troupe means that our interaction as friends often ends up as new material.  Some examples:

What is the difference between this and the other Monster Mash seen before at SFNE and other parks?
Almost EVERYTHING!  The only thing alike is 3 of the costumes...that we also even customized and altered (the characters' names and identity changed too!). The concept, the script, the music, the voices, the dancing, the talent, etc.  is All original PSP and brand new!  When PSP was asked to create a new show for this stage with these characters....we totally scrapped and tossed everything used before and created a show based on what we personally like in musicals. We also tried to make the show strong enough to be done by face characters if necessary. And of course, the PSP philosophy meant that this family show had to appreciate the intelligence of children and create a show that is equally enjoyable for each member of the family.

Where did you choose "song" for music?
Our first goal was to make a show that appealed to the whole family and represent a genre from a variety of major demographics. Therefore, we made sure to include everything from 80's music, disco, and current pop.  We also tried to make a point of using timeless music to show how timeless these characters are and their need to make a comeback.  The other goal we set was to avoid doing "cliche Halloween songs" and to instead create new Halloween parodies based on other songs. Even though  the initial concept and plot of the show was first created, we then tried to pick out good songs before we actually designed the plot structure.

• "California Ghouls" was written by PSP alum Tommy Lynch as soon as he found out what the show concept was. Eric later took his lyrics and adapted them to fit the script. All the other songs and lyrics came soon afterwards.
• Our parody of Green Days' "When I come Around" ("down in Movietown") was in the original script and a kareoke track was even created. Right before recording, we decided to cut it because of pace and tone and its purpose was repetitive of "Dancing in the Dark" and only a unlikely medley would make it work right.
• "Dancing in the Dark" is the one song that Eric had from the initial pitch (yes, the big wigs looked at us like we were crazy at first) that stayed with the project. However the lyrics "Gun for Hire" change to "I'm just one vampire", which to us sells the point of the piece, hit Eric at the very last minute as he wrote the final draft.
• As for unlikely medleys, there was lots of disagreement amongst tech and writer with the Disco Medley and the "Stronger/Right Round Reprise" medley at first (yes Eric's passion for a funny lyric "suck a lil blood" and the passion for thematic bookending for "Stronger" was battled Greg's talent for actual musical agreement)  It took lots of experimenting during voice-over rehearsals till Greg finally invented a cut that worked perfect. Leave it to PSP to take two songs that dont belong together and make them work awesome!
• As for "Right Round", it was like a fluke to be found.  One late night, it was on the car radio and for whatever reason, Eric got hooked on the chorus and this great movement imagery that came with it. He quickly knew it'd be a great intro to each characters and then Greg looped, pitch shifted, and did his other audio magic to make the song fit Eric's lyrics and direction. Ironically, the Monster Mash version is actually longer than the original song as it has an extra verse.  Even though this song has also appeared in "The Wedding Singer" and a recent commercial, it is the single song that identifies the show and sets the tone for us.

How Long is the show/How long did it take to produce/When and Where can I see it?
The show lasts approximately 22 minutes.  It is performed 4 times a day on weekends thru October at Six Flags New England.(Click Here for Show Times) On an average day, each show is usually played to a full house of almost 350 people.
It is also expected to be back for several Frightfests to come, including other parks in the Six Flags chain!
 

• Although the show was originally concieved and pitched in July 2001, it was actually produced over the following month of September.  The schedule was extrememely tight as we were writing, recording, mixing, and blocking often within days of each other.  Over the month, Jeff adapted costumes, Tommy decorated sets, Eric painted pieces and built props, Kate choreographed between rehearsals of our other directing gigs, and so forth. The PSP team worked together on many different aspects to bring this to life.  Of course, we had the rewarding challenge of creating this new show as we also were restaging PWS3, LMASM, and Mort for the same opening day.
• To Restage the show in 2002, We were lucky enough to have most of the original cast who still knew most of the show.  The set, even with a few improvements went back very quickly and thanks to a professional ensemble, the show came back easily for another successful season.  Good thing too...because PSP was also busy creating FOUR other brand new original shows (PWP, Mayhem Mission, VOS, SGT) at the same time to open the same day!
• In 2003, to keep the show fresh...we added significant set and design pieces to the stage and brought in Nickie Fuller to sharpen and add new choreography.  3/4 of the cast members were also new; although original cast members Keon Ruiter and Emily Skrodzki stayed involved as swings and Erin Greene switched roles to Gus along with becoming show captain. (past "Franks" Deanna Congo and Josh Placido moved away to school to study performance and broadcast arts)
• In 2004, an investment was made to create a brand new awesome set thanks to our friends at Chimera Scenic (also built the new DLL set and parts of Scalleywags set)
• In 2005, originating cast member Keon Ruiter returned as choreographer to help re-install the show.