Eating Raoul

Eating Raoul is a 1982 black comedy film about a married couple living in Hollywood who resort to killing swingers for their money. It was directed by Paul Bartel and written by Bartel and Richard Blackburn. The writers also commissioned a single-issue comic book based on the film for promotion; it was created by underground comics creator Kim Deitch.

Plot

Paul and Mary Bland are a wine dealer and a nurse, respectively, who bemoan their low status in life and dream of opening a restaurant. An exceptionally prudish couple, they sleep in separate beds and disapprove of sex, except for "a little hugging and kissing". After Paul is fired from his job at a wine shop, the couple are left relatively penniless and the chances that they will ever realize their dream quickly diminish. Their plight is exacerbated by the fact that they live in an apartment building that is a regular site of swinger parties.

After a drunk swinger wanders into their apartment and tries to rape Mary, Paul kills him by hitting him with a heavy frying pan. They take his money and put him in the trash compactor. Later, they kill another swinger in a similar fashion, and realize that they could make money by killing "rich perverts", and proceed to do so, getting advice on infiltrating the swinging lifestyle from one of the building's orgy regulars, Doris the Dominatrix.

Eating Raoul (musical)

Eating Raoul is a musical with music by Jed Feuer, lyrics by Boyd Graham, and a book by Paul Bartel and Richard Blackburn. It is based on the 1982 movie of the same name.

The story focuses on Mary and Paul Bland, a couple of "squares", in the late 1960s, who want to raise money to open a restaurant. They decide to kill swingers for profit by hitting them on the head with a frying pan. They become involved with a partner, Raoul, their swarthy, sexy janitor, who helps them to dispose of the bodies. However, they soon feel trapped by Raoul and dispatch him too; he becomes the main course.

The musical opened Off-Broadway at the Union Square Theatre on May 13, 1992, starring Courtenay Collins, Eddie Korbich and Adrian Zmed. It was directed by Toni Kortite and choreographed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett. Since then it has received numerous regional productions.

Roles and original cast