The Toxic Avenger

Found this article in my alerts this morning. It seems anyone going to opening night, April 6, should keep an eye out. Jon and Richie are supposedly going to be in attendance.

'Toxic Avenger: The Musical,' a haz-mat valentine to Jersey

12:29 PM PT, Mar 27 2009

Nicholas White, a new contributor to Hero Complex, has a report on a New York stage production of the cult-classic film ... you can see footage from the production below as well.

"The Toxic Avenger," that gloriously ripe camp-horror film in 1984, never really disappeared, but who would have expected it to reach the stage as an off-Broadway musical 25 years after it first made a haz-mat splash?

After several months at New Jersey’s George Street Playhouse last fall, the kitschy "Toxic Avenger: The Musical" gets its opening night in Manhattan on April 6 (following previews that began March 18) at New York’s New World Stages.

“I think the people in the show give it some validity," says star Nick Cordero, who plays the Avenger and his nerdy alter ego, Melvin Ferd. "With the Broadway climate nowadays, there is no shortage of theaters wanting shows. It wasn’t as hard to find a theater as it was finding the right one.”

Tony-winning director John Rando ("Urinetown") leads the show’s creative team, which includes Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan, who co-wrote the loopy rock-opera with songwriter Joe DiPietro.

Conceived in the spring of 2008, the "Avenger" musical is set in aromatic (and fictitious) Tromaville, N.J., which holds the dubious honor of being the world’s most polluted city. “It’s poking fun of New Jersey in a good way,” Bryan says. “We [Bon Jovi] are from there, and we are not mocking ourselves out … everywhere on earth since 'The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson,' it’s always the Jersey joke.”

Some of the tunes in the show: "It's a Brand New Day in New Jersey," "Evil Is Hot" and "Hot Toxic Love." Just as Hollywood mines old TV shows for high-concept ideas and name recognition, stage productions are looking to fanboy faves as unexpected source material, with high-profile ventures such as "The Fly" at the L.A. Opera and the big-budget Spider-Man show planned. So it's no surprise that "Avenger" has the familiar beats of the old film, but also some 21st century messages stirred in with the vintage sludge.

You can read the rest of the article here and there is also a video to sneak a peek at.

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Jon Bon Jovi Going Gospel?

I found this interesting tidbit in my alerts this morning.

There's nothing like gospel music. Born of struggle, fueled by faith and driven by a desire to see love come to this world of pain, gospel music has the unique power to reach into the depths of despair and darkness and lift people up to the absolute heights of glory.

In 1969 The Edwin Hawkins Singers scored a major pop hit with a rousing R&B flavored single called "Oh Happy Day." The song dominated multiple radio formats and would go on to become the first RIAA certified Gold Record in gospel music history. Featured on mainstream radio alongside other pop, rock and R&B hits of the day, "Oh Happy Day" reflected a new era of cross pollination between the Church and the world of popular music.

Now, forty years later, "Oh Happy Day," and other classic songs from hard-core gospel to feel-good pop are gathered together and celebrated by multiple generations of gospel music fans and practitioners, blurring all lines and celebrating the spirit of the songs. This special collection of brand new recordings of pop and gospel favorites by artists of multiple racial, denominational and stylistic backgrounds simultaneously celebrates gospel's roots, shines a light on its influence on the music of today, and points a faithful finger towards a future of continued and expanded influence on contemporary culture.

Set your preconceptions aside and revel in the glorious diversity of Oh Happy Day.

Apparently Jon recorded a version of Keep the Faith for this little project. You can listen to a snippet here.

Is there anything this man won't do??

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