After a successful Halfway to Halloween celebration, Dayton-band the Creep Crawlers are moving ahead full steam towards their next big project, Shock Theatre Live, a multimedia rock and roll theatrical piece set to be onstage at the PNC Arts Annex May 15 and 16, 2026.
For the band, this production has meant further extending their rock and roll stage personas for the theater.
"Going from Cory to "Gory Cory," there's like a little bit of a process you go through kind of getting into that headspace," said guitar player Cory Ryherd. "I'll listen to some different tunes or whatever so I can get gory. He's kind of a little neurotic. But also, sometimes he's a little like free and easy, like a surfer or like a skater or something. But when you're up there on the stage and stuff, you gotta like go a little more over the top I guess. Cause you know, Gory is like a dead punk rocker guy that's been resurrected."
"When you're in a band and you're on stage, you may take on a persona that's a little different than you are from day to day. But when you are doing things at the level we are, it's like, what's our motivation?" said Rev. Chad Wells. "And so we have this fantasy world built into the show where we are essentially revenants. We keep dying and coming back. One of my favorite tropes is that you play the record backwards and you open a gate, demons come out, or somebody comes back to life, or you get possessed, or all of those good things that happened in the 1980s. And so that's sort of the palette that we're painting this with."
Alongside the band, the production features a cast of young actors who portray a group of rock fans on a quest to see their favorite band. Themes of belonging and community are threaded throughout the production.
"I definitely love getting to just project being who you are, no matter if you're weird or not, or what you're like or what YOU like. Just be you," said Lillian Wells. "I like getting to be in a show that really projects that a lot."
