So I was at work today and I was thinking about the state of my life until post-Thanksgiving.  So here's why I love/hate this time of year:

1)  Because I can't resist a good sale, I've bought 23 dvds or dvd sets since the beginning of the month, ONLINE ALONE.  (The prices...the prices....were amazing....)

2)  I know theres gonna be an in-store sale a coming too, but I cant tell when, and it's pissing me off because I want it to be a big Dimension Extreme sale.  But who knows.  There may be no sale...which would suck.

3)  The main reason I wrote this:  Check this out.  This is my life up until Thanksgiving, keeping in mind I work 830-430 at least every week:

Weekend of October 17-19:  I'm going to see The Toxic Avenger:  The Musical in New Brunswick on the Saturday Night among other thing

Weekend of October 24-26:  Chiller Theatre.  So I'll be there, and at least on Friday, a friend will be tagging along.

Weekend of October 31- Nov. 2:  It's Halloween.  I don't know what I'm doing, but itll be something.  I'll prolly see Saw V and Haunting of Molly Hartley.  And I usually host a minor horror fest somewhere.  Dunno.

Weekend of November 7-9:  On November 7, "REPO!  The Genetic Opera" premieres...in EIGHT THEATERS around the country.  Luckily for me, ONES IN NYC!  *thumbs up*

Weekend of November 14-16:  Sawmania.  I'll be there Saturday and Sunday.

Weekend of November 21-23:  ummm...I dunno yet.  SOMETHING will come up though.  It always does.

Tuesday November 25:  Not horror-related, but FAMILY GUY SINGS at Carnegie Hall, NYC.  Then the next day, I drive 4 and a half hours to go home, and on Black Friday, I probably buy a new laptop.

So....if I somehow SURVIVE these next few weeks without a Scanners-esque head explosion...wow.

-Well honey, what do you want to do tonight?

-We could go see that musical about the movie that most people only saw when they were REALLY stoned!

After digging around frantically for five minutes to find a digital camera I didn't even use, and then driving around New Brunswick, NJ for a place to park, I am proud to say that I did see a performance of THE TOXIC AVENGER:  THE MUSICAL at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, NJ where it will continue to play until November 2nd and then will move on probably to places currently unknown.  The play is many things.  For one thing, at least here, it's a charitable donation set up for the Edison Wetlands Assocation of Edison, NJ.  (hence the two girls in toxic waste spattered bunny outfits at the door.)  The play is also just as manic and madcap as the movie it's based on and the film company that originally believed in that movie.

I had seats far left second row.  (I couldve had front row, probably should have....I didnt know how large the stage would be.  Had I done front row, I'dve been able to interact possibly with the actors since they came off the stage a few times.)  Now then.  For those who don't know, The Toxic Avenger is the heartwarming cult classic story of a 90 pound weakling who is picked on by bullies and popular kids until he is inadvertently thrown into a bucket of toxic waste, becoming THE TOXIC AVENGER!  As such, he crusades against evil, violently murdering criminals while protecting little Tromaville, NJ from evil and falling in love with a hot blind woman named Sarah.

That's the movie anyway...Play's a bit different.  The play is the story of how Melvin Ferd the Third, the 90 pound weakling and secret admirer of blind hot librarian Sarah, attempted to save Tromaville from the evil polluting mayor and was duped by her flunkies into believing she'd help the cause.  In reality she has said goons beat him up.  They throw him in a barrel of waste, bringing the avenger to life.  He then tears them apart and rescues Sarah from danger but has to hide his mutant murderous ways from her seeing as she's a pacifist.  Meanwhile, the mayor lurks trying to take The Avenger out and pollute the planet.  Will she succeed?  Will Sarah love Toxie for who he is come what may?  Will Melvin's mother ever respect him?

The play is fantastic on every level.  Stagewise, it's performed in the midst of numerous waste barrels that open, close, and turn to form various pieces of scenery (library, science lab, barbershop, mayor's office, toxic waste dumping site, etc.)  There's also a very good house band who performs from just above the waste area as part of the stage, providing the music for the show.  No orchestra here folks.  Violence and sex are of course plentiful (no nudity, of course, just to make that clear).  We're talking arms, spleens, legs, heads, intestines being removed.  The lines are all fantastic as are numerous styles of physical comedy (example:  During a love song, Sarah walks off the stage, out the theater, around the back, and comes in through the opposite door, singing and blindly oblivious the whole way.)

Songwise, the music is great with the lyrics being hilarious.  Songs include "Who Will Save New Jersey?", "Thank God She's Blind", Hot Toxic Love", "Kick Your Ass", and the immortal classic "Bitch/Slut/Liar/Whore".  It's also impossible to single one person out for a good performance.  Nick Cordero makes a brilliant Toxie while Audra Blaser's Sarah is a great package of hotness, humor, loyalty, and kindness rolled into one.  Nancy Opel nails a minor role as a nun before knocking roles as the Mayor and Melvin's mother out of the park.  This includes the afforementioned "Bitch/Slut/Liar/Whore" in which she basically sings with and gets into a fight with herself, singing as both the Mayor and Melvin's mother ("I can't even see her coming in here and talking to me....ITD BE IMPOSSIBLE!").

And lastly but DEFINITELY not least:  David Josefsberg and Demond Green as White Dude and Black Dude.  Never have two roles been so unbelievably oversimplified in a program.  Josefsberg and Green (over the course of the play) play:  Two toxic cleanup workers, the goons Bozo and Sluggo, old ladies, a mugger, a folk singer, various cops, the citizens of Tromaville, a scientist, a doctor, Sarah's best friends, Lorenzo and Lamas the hairdressers, garbage men, and members of a lynch mob.  And I'm probably forgetting something.   They deserve a standing ovation every night.

Overall, I can't give this a higher recommendation.  Like when I first saw Evil Dead the Musical in New York City at the New World Stages, it may have been based on a previous movie, but it's original enough to feel like something totally new.  Having seen the movie beforehand just allows one to get even more out of it.  Two thumbs way up and I recommend anyone who can get to New Brunswick before the end of the month go see it.  Tickets cost roughly 55-80 dollars depending on where your seat is.  Also:  Attending on October 30ths 8PM show will get you into a special post show party with Toxic drink specials, and an appearance by Lloyd Kaufman.  Halloween night will be a Halloween performance where showing up in costume can win you FABULOUS PRIZES!  Visit either linkor link for more info (and in the case of the first link to listen to samples of six songs from the show!)

And now for a final thought, here's a word from Uncle Lloyd: