Can scary be empowering? Can horror inspire courage? Can the frightful produce emotional growth? If it’s a tale from R.L. Stine’s wildly successful children’s series Goosebumps, the answer is yes.
And that makes a theatrical production of Goosebumps just the right fit for Orlando Family Stage. And an even better one if it’s a musical. Jeff Revels, artistic director, says he has had Goosebumps The Musical on his radar for several seasons.
But when Disney+ relaunched the franchise as a TV series in 2023, the stars seemed aligned to bring the production to Orlando. Adds Revels: “This year became perfect timing to bring some Goosebumpy Halloween fun (and spookiness) to our community.”
Goosebumps The Musical premiered in 2016 in Wisconsin and Oregon and has been staged in local theaters across the country ever since. The book and lyrics are by John Maclay with music and lyrics by Danny Abosch. The story is based on Phantom of the Auditorium, book 24 of Stine’s original 62 books published by Scholastic between 1992 and 1997.
In the story, middle schoolers Brooke and Zeke are cast as leads in a play called The Phantom, which, indeed, very much reflects the narrative in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera. But there are unsettling rumors about the play.
It’s said that a boy playing the title role in the play’s first production 73 years before vanished and now haunts the venue. Sure enough, that’s the case, and the plot evolves with ghostly surprises and, as always, works its way toward a positive ending.
Stine’s ability to engage children with chills and thrills is legendary. More than 400 million Goosebumps books have reportedly been sold. Besides this musical, the stories have been reimagined as TV shows, movies, and more. The secret? Stine says his work is “horror with heart.”
