“Club Ded owner C.D. Rom Dos (David Licastro), back right, and his sinister assistant Wolfbane (Halim Dunsky), back left, discuss their new blood drive while Ophelia Fellini (Shannon Licastro), front left, and Midge Lamaar (Michele LaRue) get a bit squeamish at the prospect.Joan Soltys, staff photosClub Ded — A Chilling MusicalA world premiere presented by Island TheatreProduced and directed by Richard EvansBook and lyrics by Richard EvansOriginal music by Michael LicastroChoreography by Shannon LicastroOrchestration & adaptation by Keith Bowers and Dave DraperOn stage at The Clyde Theatre, First Street, LangleyMarch 2-5, and 9-12, 8 p.m. curtainTickets: $15 adults, $12 seniors and ages 12 and under, in advance at Joe’s Island Music in Langley; Langley Liquor Store; Saucy’s Pizza in ClintonRefreshments available in the lobby prior to each performance and during the 15-minute intermission.Evans returns to The Clyde with musical productionOddbod, Wolfbane, Kvork. Names from an obscure ancient text? Perhaps muttered incantations for casting spells.No, only a few of the outward manifestations of Richard Evans’ fertile — if fantastic — theatrical imagination.They’re the names of some of the major characters in Evans’ newest and extravagantly rich dramatic concoction, Club Ded. And while the characters sound far out and full of noir whimsy (an Evans trademark), the names that pair with them are familiar to and welcomed back by the theatre-loving community of South Whidbey.They include Michele LaRue, David Licastro, Dave Draper, Shannon Licastro, Ken Church, Emily Day, Jim Scullin, Beno Kennedy, Shelly Hartle, Martha Furey and a host of others — a cast of thousands, maybe more, who have come together for what Evans says is the swan song of his big productions. I’m very grateful to Lynn and Blake Willeford (owners of The Clyde Theatre) for allowing this nostalgic return of Island Theater, Evans said. It’s a sentimental moment.Island Theater itself is again going out on a limb, Evans said. They deserve so much credit. I have very warm feeling for Nancy White, Ken Church, David Gignac, Candace Colburn and the rest of the Island Theater crew. For those new to the South Whidbey dramatic scene, Island Theatre has been producing plays — musicals, dramas, comedies– for more than 20 years, and many of those were staged at The Clyde. They included some of Richard Evans’ own, Wings of the Termite among them. Most recently Island Theatre produced Evans hard-driven Glengarry Glen Ross, by David Mamet, at the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts.This new musical comedy (with a name like Club Ded?) fits The Clyde venue well, Evans said. It’s really really funny, he said. David (Licastro) is light years away from his role in ‘Glengarry.’ And it’s G-rated, for all the family. Very innocent. The playwright does draw on the tradition of the vampire legend and some rather morbid comedic concepts, including an onstage coffin for the vampire club owner.But really, Evans said, It’s life on Casket Island pretty much as it is [in reverse black and white] on our own island. There’s a combination of the ridiculous and the poignant and the absurd. It also puts resonance and meaning into our lives through a fantasy setting. The plot revolves around the resort destination called Club Ded and its employees, guests and familiars (some of whom are the living dead). It’s partly a parody of H.G. Wells’ ‘Island of Dr. Moreau,’ updated and twisted, Evans said. But he also invokes the spirit of silent film director F. W. Murnau, whose Nosferatu is a vampire legend classic and the centerpiece of the recent movie Shadow of the Vampire, starring John Malkovich as the frenetic director and Willem Dafoe as a real vampire hired to play the fictional one.But it’s also a send-up of Club Med and health spas that do less to improve health than Club Ded, Evans said.Written shortly after his well-received Wings of the Termite, also performed at The Clyde, but held for production until now, Club Ded brings in an even greater cast — both onstage and off.The music by Michael Licastro is fantastic, Evans said. He also had raves for the adaptation and orchestration by Dave Draper and Keith Bowers.The play is in two acts, and there is music, singing and dancing — but no dismemberment, Evans said. The set is a multi-level creation, much of it constructed by Jim Scullin, Evans added.There’s a dark passageway, an all-consuming lava pit, a jungle cave, Evans said. There is also the quintessential sound of silent movies, the dramatic and stirring pipe organ; then on a different level is a mainframe computer.But, Evans noted, there is also a prosaic and ever-present vacuum cleaner in the hands of the fastidious Martha parody, Emily Day, who expresses her definite opinions on the state of Club Ded, its guests and the island in general as she keeps everything clean and picked up.So what will happen to the fading Club Ded and its boring stage acts, its lack of excitement, its slide into the nearby sea of nothingness?Ah. Fear not, there are those who will tell us: Les ghouls, voodoo enthusiasts, zombies, even a tap-dancing Frankenstein (in a brief but scandalous appearance) and various musicians (including a surprise musical guest) to liven up the scene. It’s funny and ridiculous and amusing, with unexpected poignancy, Evans said. It’s a high energy production, elaborate sets and and at least 25 people you know and love. Acting as counterpoint to the play’s songs of love and longing are pieces such as Blood Drive, Big Voodoo and Fandango from Durango. Touching heartstrings (particularly on South Whidbey) will be environmental songs — Down by the Tidepools and Hello Swampland (sure to strike a chord with most of its audience).Evans is effusive in his appreciation for the technical experts, production staff and backsgtage crew. The show wouldn’t have been possible without them — Dave Malony, Tod Ackley, Kris Schriker, the huge construction crew and so many others. Island Theatre has dedicated the production to the memory of their dear friend and fellow thespian, Dawn Daper. “