‘Alleluia! The Devil’s Carnival’ Road Show Invades Los Angeles

The creative team of director Darren Lynn Bousman and writer/actor Terrance Zdunich are back with the follow-up to their well-received movie musical The Devil's Carnival known as Alleluia: The Devil's Carnival. And much like its predecessor, the film features a mixture recognizable actors and an interesting blend of musicians filling out the cast.

At present, Bousman, Zdunich and some of the cast members are touring the country to screen the film and take part in audience Q&A's, but the Alleluia: The Devil's Carnival road show offers much more than just that. As the road show entered Los Angeles Saturday night (Sept. 27), many of the attendees came dressed as characters from the film and took part in a costume contest took place before the screening. There was also a dancer entertaining the crowd as the audience was let into the theater and a host for the evening who got everyone riled up before introducing Bousman and Zdunich. Audience members were also treated to a trailer for American Murder Song, Zdunich's collaboration with Saar Hendelman featuring a collection of original murder ballads.

As for the film itself, many of the characters from the original Devil's Carnival film carry over though the story varies. This time around, Heaven and Hell are at odds, with the Devil (Zdunich) beginning to set in motion his plans for God's (Paul Sorvino) comeuppance. The focal storyline of the film centers on The Agent (Adam Pascal), God's right hand man, who is tasked by the almighty with seducing one of the more inquisitive new applicants (Emilie Autumn) while also preparing to serve as God's representative in talks with Hell about their ongoing conflict.

Along with Autumn, rock fans will recognize such familiar faces as We Are Harlot's Danny Worsnop, who appears as a blacksmith toiling in hell; the Butcher Babies' Carla Harvey and Heidi Shepherd, who serve as two of the three murderous Rosy Bayonettes; Tech N9ne as the by-the-book Librarian and former Morningwood vocalist Chantal Claret and Mindless Self Indulgence's Jimmy Urine providing comic relief as the wise-cracking translators who serve as enforcers.

Speaking with Claret and Urine prior to the screening, they discussed "fanning out" after seeing who was involved with the movie. "I think everybody helped sell each other," laughs Claret. "Darren is awesome, but how can you say no when you've got Barry Bostwick [from Rocky Horror Picture Show] doing a musical when you've got the guy who made you love musicals. You're like, 'Of course, I will do that.'"

As stated, the film does star Bostwick in a key role, and much like Rocky Horror, there is an interactive element of the film for the audience. During the screening, a good portion of the crowd joined in the singing and dancing of one of the movie's musical numbers, making for an entertaining time for all attendees.

Claret and Urine, a married couple in real life, get some of the biggest laughs in the film with their slapstick antics. "It's very necessary that the people who play the translators are very in sync," says Claret as Urine finishes her thought, "I don't see how anyone who isn't in a tight relationship or going out could have played it." Having fun with their roles, the couple stated that they loosely based the behavior of their performances on the weasels from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? In addition to appearing alongside key players Pascal, Autumn and Lyndon Smith, the pair also marveled at having the opportunity to share screen time with David Hasselhoff, who plays The Designer in the film.

After the screening, Bousman and Zdunich were joined by Claret, Urine, Autumn, actress Lyndon Smith and actor Marc Senter as they fielded questions about their favorite musicals and discussed key points about their work past and present. Bousman revealed that an announcement concerning the film's DVD will likely be delivered around Black Friday.

The director also spoke to the nature of the series, revealing that it was a really small group of people who put together the project in a completely "independent and punk rock" manner. "It's awesome because we get to do what we want to do and we get to cast who we want to cast and we get to do things out of the box," said the director. "As for Part 3, that's something we really want to do." He added that they initially envisioned the series as counter-programming to TV's Glee, something dark and grungy and opposite of the poppy style of the recent FOX hit. But instead of a series, it's turned into this series of films and it's still the hope that not only will there be a Part 3, but also multiple chapters beyond.

For an entertaining and enjoyable night out, dress up, treat yourself and come ready to participate when Alleluia: The Devil's Carnival rolls through your town. See the remaining dates on the current road show run at this location. To learn more about the film and the road show screenings, click here. And check out some of our photos from the Los Angeles stop of Alleluia: The Devil's Carnival above.