Exorcistic: The Rock Musical is set to make its triumphant return Off Broadway at The Asylum NYC for a limited engagement beginning August 25th, 2025. This bold, high-octane horror-comedy has already garnered accolades, including the LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Music and Lyrics in 2023 and the Broadway World NYC Award for Best New Musical Off-Off Broadway in 2024. Audiences can expect a sensational production packed full of shocking Broadway Guest Stars, making every performance a unique experience.
Written by Michael Shaw Fisher, who serves as the book writer, composer, and lyricist, Exorcistic: The Rock Musical features the talented Emma Hunton, known for her role in Freeform’s Good Trouble. The musical is a self-aware parody that creates a chaotic, over-the-top rock musical. This original work promises to deliver a thrilling combination of horror and hilarity, accompanied by some of the most powerhouse rock tunes.
We caught up with Michael Shaw Fisher to discuss the show in more detail.
What can you tell me about Exorcistic: The Rock Musical?
It’s a wildebeest of an experience - thrusting the audience into hysterical parody, cultural deconstruction, and high-octane rock ‘n roll. I promise, you’ve never seen anything like it.
What inspired you to create this piece?
The central image in my mind was that of a possessed Regan from the Exorcist as a rockstar - or essentially, the Devil as a rockstar… yea I know, I’m demented.
How did you approach developing the book and the music for the piece?
I’ve always adored the movie. So when this idea jumped at me, I watched the film again with that in mind, and from there, I just let the songs some in hard and fast. Unfiltered. I’d be driving to work and one would pop up, lyrics and melody pretty much simultaneously. This is unique in a way because often musical ideas will be these things that exist on their own inside me without a specific context and then will eventually get assigned to a show that feels right. In this case, none of these songs would have existed without the inspiration of the film.
As for the book, it’s had the benefit of really developing over the last 13 or so years, as with each production it would be modified to fit each new cast and set of contributors.
What is your creative process like when you are writing?
It’s not so much as a laptop relationship. I believe writers write 24-7. It’s like a detective on a case - neither only works when they’re on the clock, they obsess and problem-solve relentlessly. Writing is a mental escape, an addictive pre-occupation to create something of excellence you have complete control over when the world feels out of control. Some writers are lucky enough to be paid a lot for these efforts so they can live at the laptop if they so please. The rest of writers (and certainly me at the time of creating this musical) was toiling through 2 jobs, a failing first marriage, and writing in my head full time.
Do you have songs or story in mind first or is it a mix?
Depends on the show. In this case writing a parody, the story is roughly outlined by the film, but I was actually trying for something more here as well.. Parodies at the time bored me, so I was excited when I got struck by the idea of a theatre company trying to put on a parody of The Exorcist and ending up cursing themselves. Suddenly, the actual story of the show came clear. Then is was just a matter of shaping it around the structure of the film’s plot, in parody form.
What has been the biggest creative challenge in developing the show?
I would say, just adapting the script to the specific personalities of the actors we cast, without losing its original shape. Because it’s an ensemble show, everyone is playing off of everyone else, so it’s a delicate balance.
How excited are you for the forthcoming Off-Broadway run?
I’m vibrating! Haha. With nerves, certainly. But mostly with anticipation to introduce this beast to a larger audience. It’s such a special show. And the reactions have been amazing so far. Even people who were initially afraid of the movie, all come out laughing. It seems no one knows what to expect going in, and no one can believe what they saw coming out.
The show features a rotating cast, why do you feel this works for this piece?
It’s essential! The “rotating” nature of the cast is mostly centered around one celebrity role who sings a show-stopping number. For every show we bring in a different Broadway star or TV/film star to play that part and knock that song out of the park.
Can you tell us an interesting fact about the show?
The writer and producer of The Exorcist William Peter Blatty read one of my early drafts, and ended up wanting to collaborate with me on adapting another novel of his into a musical: Demons Five Exorcists Nothing. I was so obsessed with my Exorcist parody I didn’t give that opportunity the attention it deserved. It’s one of my biggest regrets.
What is it like when you hear the music played live?
It’s like bathing in goat’s blood. I joke, of course. Honestly though, to hear it with a full band, it never fails to rouse my heart with a wonder at the thing, and gratitude. The score has got some secrets to it, something deeply compelling… and all my worship of the 1970s culture seems to have distilled in Exorcistic, making its songs feel uncannily true to that bygone era. Hearing it, I think of Georgetown where I was born, and where the movie takes place… And of course the whole twisted cabal cracks me up something fierce.
How has the collaborative process been working on the show?
Everyone has been golden. My directors Alli Miller and Chadd McMillon have been fearless in seeking out both the sacred and the profane in this snow. Camal Pough has been essential as our madcap choreographer, and Zach Spound, as our devoted musical director, has squeezed out any excellence that might exist in the score. The cast went FULL BORE to get this peace where it needs to be. Everyone is just shredding it, showing their inner-freak thoroughly spattered in split pea soup.
What was the first piece of theatre that you remember having a big impact on you?
My stepfather was a big musical theater nerd, and as a kid in the 80s and 90s, he would drag my family on these big expensive trips from Washington DC to Times Square, to see the all Broadway shows with their original casts - of those, Into the Woods and Phantom of the Opera stand out.. But for sure, Hedwig and the Angry Inch had the biggest impact on me as an artist. In the late 90s, I was living at the Jane Street Hotel when it was happening in the theatre downstairs and I would wonder why all these celebrities like David Bowie and Lou Reed were coming through this crappy hotel that I was living in…until I saw the show.. and I was like.. “Oooooh! This is what a rock musical can be? I want to do this!”
If you were stranded on a desert island, but you could have a record player and any 3 musical theatre soundtracks. Which 3 would you take with you?
Sweeney Todd
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Once on This Island
What keeps you inspired?
Hmm.. maybe knowing that this is my one chance on this earth to create something that connects with people.
What do you hope someone takes away from seeing the show?
I want them to have had an all out blast. And it would be nice if Exorcistic stayed with them in that little treasure box where they keep memories of special shows through the years…
Where and when can readers see the show?
It’s at the Asylum nyc, and previews start August 25th. Let’s do this.
For tickets and more information visit https://asylumnyc.com/exorcistic/
Post a Comment