Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

"The Toxic Avenger" directed by John Rando and brought to life by the lyrics and music of David Bryan is the new musical to Broadway. Based on the novel by Lloyd Kaufman that spawned four movie releases and a giant underground fan base, "The Toxic Avenger" takes place in Tromaville following the life of Melvin Ferd the Third (played by Nick Codero) a uber geeky little man aspiring to end global warming and make the earth a better place working as a scientist. When the nerdy Melvin finds that the Mayor of Tromaville (Played by Nancy Opel) has been dumping toxic sludge into the trash yards of the town he has to do something about it only to tragically get contaminated by a vat of chemical goo turning the once Coke glasses Melvin into A large Seven foot tall monster that will stop at nothing to fight evil doers and win the heart of the fair blind librarian Sarah (Diana DeGarmo). First taking the New World Stage in Manhattan in the beginning of April this year, Avenger is a new play fighting amongst giants such as 'Wicked' which is right up the street from it, But with interesting Rock Ballads made from music and lyrics by David Bryan keyboardist and founding member of Bon Jovi like,"Get the Geek", "Choose My Oprah." and "Kick your a**." It's hard not to fall in love with something that reminds me of a mix of 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show" And "Repo:the Genetic Oprah." Out there and brutally silly Toxic Avenger is also heart warming with an underlying love story with Melvin and Sarah. A Beauty and the Beast of the new millennium, only with radioactive superheros and blind librarians. This is a none stop show of laughs and fun for most audiences,preferably over the age of ten. 'The Toxic Avenger' is a great new musical that speaks to a new fast paced audience of the 21st century sporting a positive message about life and how one action can change all of it.

"Joe Turner's Come Home" directed by Barlett Sher and written by August Wilson is a revival from the 1988 release of the play, which won several best play nominations as well as New York Drama Critics Circle Award for best play. Set in 1911, the tale follows Herald Loomis and his daughter that, after years of serving hard labor, travels North ending up in a Pittsburgh boarding house full of drama. Being three hours long, the play is not recommended for children or anyone with a short attention span. Overall the play's revival didn't do as well as the original did, confusing audiences with a complex character plot and being just plain long. Considering all other aspects,all the actors did an amazing job keeping in character and staying perfectly in tune with one another particularly Ernie Hudson (Known for his Role in 'Ghost Busters') and Roger Robinson who stole the show with their roles as Seth and Bynum the Voodoo doctor. A story that focuses on finding yourself and where you fit into the cogs of life, the play does a decent job as being entertaining. I as well as Audiences agree though, The play was just plain long and drawn out. Wonderful characters and a plot....somewhere in there,It's hard to understand and lacks a driving force behind all of the drama. Besides Bynum, who drives the family keeping them together through the conflicts, there was nothing really interesting in the play that would keep an interest for modern audiences. The side jokes and drama too outdated and prehistoric to keep up with a automated world used to Plays made Movies such as 'Rent' and 'Phantom of the Oprah.' The glitz and jazz of today's favorites easily drowning out the old favorite due to not only a deeper meaning you have to sit down and think about to understand but also a time issue. I would have to say that,while the revival was a good idea, in this day an age it would not be a very good mainstream play. An amazing cast can only go so far with a script that is outdated for the new text happy faster generation and thus the show died only after a few weeks of opening.