Queen St terrorized by zombies (16 photos)

Participants in the YMCA Rocks Program staged a real-live rock opera last night at the Grand Theatre.

Sort of.

Yes, it was a rock opera.

But not everyone in it was "alive," per se.

First off, the production was cleverly emceed by three very funny, but definitely not alive, rocks.

Then there were bloody zombies.

Singing, dancing, ugly, bloody zombies.

The group of undead partook in a musical battle royale with three bored teen boys who ultimately defeated the zombies.

Exactly how that occurred is a bit unclear, but it's comforting to know that the youth of Sault Ste. Marie have the ability to rid our streets of the walking dead.

The 20-minute production, while a bit rough around the edges, was an amusing experience with well-written original music and solid acting.

"I thought the songs were very well written," said Tim Murphy, YMCA Rocks program coordinator. "It was a bit of a train wreck, but no one got hurt."

Although Murphy had a role in the production, he had no part in writing, organizing or staging the rock opera.

The production's roughness can be forgiven considering the eight YMCA Rocks students wrote it in just 12 hours and had only four hours to rehearse.

"A very crucial part of the process was for them to realize how important it is to learn how to budget their time," said Murphy. "I was there to offer guidance, but for the most part I sat back and just let it happen."

"What they did do exceptionally well was target their audience," he continued. "They knew that a group of eighteen-year-olds would never stick around to watch a four-hour rock opera. That's why they made it a short twenty-minute production followed by a battle of the bands."

Said battle included local bands Train Junkie, Glass Statues, Dirty Virgin, Waterslide, Killdozer, Sue Inside and Undead Warriors.

Winning a variety of prizes donated by Stereo Soul Sound, YMCA, Music Depot, Northland Music, Thomas Walls School of Music, CD Plus and Case's Music were:

First Place - Undead Warriors

Second Place - Dirty Virgin

Third Place - Glass Statues

Fourth Place - Killdozer

So it would seem that although the undead fell in battle during the rock opera, they came out on top in the final musical showdown.

Will there be a tie-breaker?