Archived News On NY Premiere 2009

Reviews On the Web Blogs Forum
New York Premiere Announced in New York Times
You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not gag at the misshapen sight of a scientist who’s been tossed into a tank of radioactive goo, I’m telling you why: the “Toxic Avenger” musical is coming to town.
Read the full story here.

Green and Freaky!
This rockin' rock musical addresses both adult and all-ages issues such as bullying, political corruption (embodied by a sassy, albeit red pansuit-clad (wink, wink!) mayor) and pollution. New Jersey's first superhero, The Toxic Avenger, delivered a wallop of entertainment and a WHAM! of satire and a BAM! of originality. I instantly thought of The Toxic Avenger as a sophisticated, multitasking sibling to the Touring Theater on which I'm concentrating as an intern.
Read the full story here

'Toxic Avenger' rises again, this time with tunes
Friday, October 24, 2008
By TED OTTEN
Trenton Time/NJ.com

The trailer for the 1985 cult film set in the mythical New Jersey town of Tromaville promises "the first superhero made from toxic waste," and George Street Playhouse thought it appropriate to open its new season with the world premiere of that film's stage version: "The Toxic Avenger: The Musical."
Read full feature here

Watch a story about The Toxic Avenger on NJN TV - New Jersey's PBS Channel
Watch Here!

Avenger oozes with Garden State talent
By CHARLES PAOLINO
Gannett New Jersey
October 13, 2008

So what if John Dods is surrounded by gore? It's his gore and he likes it. He likes it so much, in fact, that it has occupied him for 20 years in a career that now brings him to New Brunswick's George Street Playhouse and a new musical version of "The Toxic Avenger."
Full Story

Toxic Avenger Rock Musical Opens Cult Movie.
Cult News Network - http://cultnews.net 10/10/08 AM
Online Sources By Andy Propst

DiPietro &Bryan's Toxic Avenger Rock Musical Opens at George Street
Additional Details of BAM's 2009 Season Unveiled; Braun, Parry, Powell, Smith Join Cherry Orchard & Winter's Tale * Film Star Everett Will Join Ebersole in Blithe ... AmericanTheaterWeb - http://www.americantheaterweb.com/index.php/atwclips/

DiPietro & Bryan's Toxic Avenger Rock Musical Opens at George Street
BroadwayStars News Report - http://www.broadwaystars.com/

DiPietro & Bryan's Toxic Avenger Rock Musical Opens at George Street
Playbill

TheatreMania Features Toxie!
October 1, 2008

When Joe DiPietro decided to adapt The Toxic Avenger, the independent film favorite about a mutant with his sights on cleaning up New Jersey’s most heinous polluters, into a musical — now getting its world premiere at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey — he turned to his former Memphis collaborator and Bon Jovi guitarist David Bryan. “David is one of the funniest people I know, but he also writes real rock-n-roll songs you could play on the radio and he puts them in a theatrical context,” says DiPietro. In keeping with the movie’s plot, the musical centers around a love story between the avenger — once Melvin and now Toxie — and a blind librarian he saves from the hands of criminals. “My first thought was that I wanted the play to be as low-budget as the movie,” says DiPietro. “So we wrote a five-character piece with two actors as the lovers, a woman playing the dual role of the evil mayor and Toxie’s mother, and two guys playing 20 other roles.” DiPietro, who is best known as the author of I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, made sure he and Bryan wove a more serious layer into their musical. “It’s an out-and-out comedy, but there’s also a message of global warming underneath,” he says. “We really tried to keep the spirit of The Toxic Avenger alive.”
Read it here


Playbill Premiere Article October
1st Permiere! Begins in NJ; Broadway's Opel Stars
By Kenneth Jones 01 Oct 2008

Following the summer California bow of their musical, Memphis, at the La Jolla Playhouse, Joe DiPietro and David Bryan now look east to the Oct. 1 first preview of their other musical, The Toxic Avenger.
Read full story here

B-movie turns new hot musical
Sunday, September 28, 2008
By JIM BECKERMAN
“PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS” COLUMNIST

Not all monsters come from Transylvania. Some monsters come from New Jersey. In fact, no monster called the Toxic Avenger could really come from anywhere else. “I like to think of this as an offbeat valentine to New Jersey,” says Joe DiPietro, the Oradell-born playwright who has collaborated with Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan on the unlikeliest musical comedy premise since the man-eating plant from “Little Shop of Horrors” sang for his supper. That’s right – an all-singing, all-dancing, all-toxic musical version of the 1985 cult-movie classic “The Toxic Avenger.”
Read the Full Story Here

Toxic Takes a Musical Spin!
A Monster of a New Musical!
Asbury Park Press

Still Toxic After All These Years!
Interview with Lloyd Kaufman — Creator of THE TOXIC AVENGER

This month, the character affectionately known as “Toxie” will move to his most startling medium yet: musical theater. Running from Sept. 30 to Nov. 2 and featuring music by Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan and a book and lyrics from “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” author Joe DiPietro, “The Toxic Avenger Musical” takes the story of an outcast transformed by toxic waste to the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick. Check Out the Full Interview

Sludge Fun!

Any movie in which a seeing-eye dog is killed with a shotgun blast at close range — and it’s played for laughs — is probably not mainstream fare. And yet, the 1985 gross-out sci-fi parody “The Toxic Avenger” spawned a kiddie cartoon series (”Toxic Crusaders”) and will soon debut as a stage musical. “The Toxic Avenger Musical” is scheduled to world-premiere on Tuesday at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, with a score composed by Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan.
More Sludge Here

Toxie in Variety!
Toxic Variety

From Classics to a ‘Toxic’ Premiere - The NY Times

By CARLA BARANAUCKAS
Published: September 5, 2008
FOR those who appreciate economy of words, the coming New Jersey theater season can be summed up in five: Shakespeare meets the Toxic Avenger.

That’s not to say that Toxie, a New Jersey superhero, has taken to speaking in iambic pentameter couplets. But it does reflect the range of interests the state’s professional theaters are tackling in the 2008-9 season — from treasured classics to world premieres, from emotional dramas to lighthearted musicals.

The world premiere of “The Toxic Avenger,” a rock musical based on the cult film about a green mutant righter of environmental wrongs, opens the 35th season of the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, running Sept. 30 through Nov. 2. The production is New Jersey through and through, set in the fictional town of Troma just off the turnpike and written by the New Jersey natives Joe DiPietro, who wrote “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” and David Bryan, a founding member of the rock band Bon Jovi.

Toxic Avenger Musical Cast!
‘Toxic Avenger’ Musical Cast
By Peter Filichia/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday September 03, 2008

The George Street Playhouse has found “The Toxic Avenger.” After many rounds of auditions, director John Rando has selected Nick Cordero to play Melvin Ferd the Third in the new musical soon to premiere at the New Brunswick theater. Melvin is the hapless soul who encounters some nuclear waste, and becomes the new musical’s eponymous hero. Cordero is a newcomer from Canada. His roles in his native land include leading roles in “The Last 5 Years” and “Evita.” Also starring in the show, based on the 1985 cult film, is Nancy Opel, who was directed by Rando in the Broadway production of “Urinetown.” She plays the mayor of Tromaville, a fictitious New Jersey town. Audra Blaser, David Josefsberg, and Demond Green round out the cast of the show with a book by Joe (”I Love You! You’re Pertfect! Now Change!”) DiPietro. The music is by David Bryan, a Bon Jovi founding member and keyboardist; both collaborated on the lyrics.

Toxie on Feoamante.com!

From Marissa Coronado
IN TROMA WE TRUST
The Toxic Avenger lives in a junkyard, mops up crime in his city, made sushi of the evil Fish Man and even battled the Devil. Can he survive musical theater?

George Street Playhouse is betting he can. "The Toxic Avenger," a new musical based on the 1986 cult film by Lloyd Kaufman, will open the New Brunswick theater's 2008-2009 season this fall. Read the Full Store Here

Horror Musicals on the Horizon!
Read about it here on AMC TV's blog

Read about Toxie on Broadwayworld.com
Toxie hits BroadwayWorld -- talk about it!

Star Ledger article on Toxie!
Premieres on George Street
New works by Laurents, DiPietro on playhouse's slate for 2008-09
Monday, July 14, 2008
BY PETER FILICHIA Star-Ledger Staff

In announcing the George Street Playhouse's 2008-09 season, artistic director David Saint included a nice birthday present for Arthur Laurents. Laurents, who wrote the book for "West Side Story" in 1957 and "Gypsy" in 1959, turns 90 today . However, he's never stopped writing, and Saint will stage the playwright's newest work, "New Year's Eve," at the New Brunswick theater. The world premiere will conclude a five-production season.

"I've worked hard to pick shows that will appeal to all kinds of theatergoers," says Saint, who is about to start his 11th season. "I'm so glad when not only long-time subscribers are telling me what their favorite productions have been, but the waiters and bartenders in town tell me theirs -- and that they're always completely different shows." Saint starts 2008-09 with a world premiere, too. As previously announced, "The Toxic Avenger" will play Sept. 30-Nov. 2. It's a musical based on the 1985 movie of the same name in which a green mutant superhero finds love in a small Jersey town. The book and lyrics are by Joe DiPietro, whose musical "I Love You! You're Perfect! Now Change!" finishes a 12-year off-Broadway run at the end of this month. The music is by David Bryan, keyboardist and founding member of Bon Jovi.

"They're both Jersey boys," says Saint, "and the show does have a Jersey sense of humor. It's the funniest script of a new musical that I have ever read," he says, before stressing again, "Ever. Once I read it and heard the songs, I immediately sent it to John Rando, who directed 'Urinetown,' because it has the same sensibility. I'm happy to say he loved it and signed on to do it."

"When I arrived 10 years ago," Saint says, "I didn't know if the kind of theater I wanted to do would be possible or viable. It certainly has, partly because New Brunswick has become even more vibrant. On the nights when I leave my office at midnight, people are still on the streets and cabs are pulling up to the new hotel across the way." Saint hopes that some of them will drop into the George Street Playhouse during 2008-09.

George Street anounces season premiere with The Toxic Avenger


By: Brian Scott Lipton Jul 14, 2008

The George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick has announced four of its five selections for its 2008-2009 season. Up first will be Joe DiPietro and David Bryan's new musical The Toxic Avenger, based on the 1980 film of the same name, to run September 30-November 2. The production, which will officially open on October 10, will be directed by John Rando. The musical focuses on Melvin Ferd the Third. After being tossed into a vat of radioactive goo, he becomes The Toxic Avenger, a New Jersey superhero who is determined to right wrongs, beat up bullies, and seduce his lady love, Sarah the Blind Librarian.