'THE TOXIC AVENGER' Begins Performances At New World 3/18

Soon there'll be another ‘Jersey Boy' in town! The Toxic Avenger, a new musical by Joe DiPietro (I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change) & David Bryan (Bon Jovi), with direction by John Rand0 (Urinetown), will begin performances on Wednesday, March 18, 2009, at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street), it was announced today by the show's producers Jean Cheever and Tom Polum. Opening Night is set for Monday, April 6th.

Based on the classic 1985 cult film by Lloyd Kaufman, The Toxic Avenger premiered this fall at The George Street Playhouse, where the show became the biggest grossing musical in the theatre's 34 year history. Wrote Peter Filichia, critic for the New Jersey Star-Ledger, "Considering the response that The Toxic Avenger received on Friday night, the building must now have many cracked walls from all the explosive applause and laughter the New Brunswick audience gave it."

The Toxic Avenger is set in the mythical town of Tromaville, Exit 13B off the New Jersey Turnpike. An aspiring earth scientist, Melvin Ferd the Third, is determined to clean up the town's burgeoning toxic waste, until he is tossed into a vat of radioactive goo and emerges as a seven-foot mutant freak and New Jersey's first superhero. Armed with superhuman strength and a heart as big as Newark, he's out to save New Jersey, end global warming and woo Sarah, the prettiest, blindest librarian in town.

The team of David Bryan (keyboardist and co-founder of the legendary band Bon Jovi) and Joe DiPietro (creator of the mega-long-running international hit I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change) have also written Memphis, which recently opened to critical raves at La Jolla Playhouse, and will next be seen in January at Seattle's Fifth Avenue Theatre. The Toxic Avenger marks Bryan and DiPietro's second collaboration.

Casting and Design team will be announced shortly.

For more information and to hear songs from the production (and for other fun stuff), visit www.TheToxicAvengerMusical.com.

Bios
Joe DiPietro (Book & Lyrics) is the author of the musical comedy hit I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, the longest running musical revue in off-Broadway history, with productions staged in over 400 cities around the world (including a Mandarin Chinese version which debuted in Beijing in June 2007). Other credits include: the Broadway musical comedy All Shook Up; the award-winning off-Broadway musical The Thing About Men; and the international comedy hit, Over the River and Through the Woods. His play, "F**king Men," is transferring to London's King's Head Theatre in January, and his play "The Last Romance," recently premiered in Kansas City. Joe was born and raised off Exit 166 of the Parkway in New Jersey and thus has been a Toxic Avenger fan for the last twenty years.

David Bryan (Music & Lyrics) is the keyboardist and a founding member of Bon Jovi. The band has sold 120+ million albums to date and performed more than 3,000 shows in 42 countries. He has won a Grammy and several American Music Awards for his work with the band. David co-wrote the Bon Jovi hit "In These Arms" with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora and continues to write with them and for other artists, including Curtis Steiger's rendition of "This Time," a major international hit. David is a board member for Only Make Believe, a non-profit organization that provides theatrical workshops free-of-charge to children living with chronic illnesses and disabilities, and Music For All which secures funding for school music programs across the country. He is a national spokesperson for VH1's Save The Music Program, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of education in America's public schools by restoring music education programs in cities across the U.S. and raising awareness of the importance of music participation for our nation's youth. A proud lifelong resident of New Jersey, David grew up off Exit 11 of the Turnpike.

Joe and David co-wrote the rock and roll musical Memphis, which was presented this season at the LaJolla Playhouse and will play next month at Seattle's Fifth Avenue, prior to its Broadway debut.

John Rando (Director) made his Broadway debut directing Neil Simon's The Dinner Party, starring Henry Winkler and John Ritter. Other Broadway credits include Urinetown: The Musical (2002 Tony Award, Best Director and Outer Critics Circle Award), the 2006 Tony nominated musical The Wedding Singer, the revival of Herb Gardner's A Thousand Clowns starring Tom Selleck, and Dance of the Vampires, starring Michael Crawford. Rando achieved prominence in New York as director of the David Ives' comedies: Mere Mortals (Primary Stages, John Houseman Theatre), Polish Joke (Manhattan Theatre Club) and Ancient History/English Made Simple (Primary Stages), as well as Lives of the Saints (Philadelphia Theatre Company and Berkshire Theatre Festival). For City Center's Encores! series, John recently directed the highly-acclaimed concert version of Irving Berlin and Moss Hart's Face The Music. Also for Encores! he directed Of Thee I Sing, The Pajama Game, Do Re Mi and Strike up the Band. Additional off-Broadway credits include Pig Farm (The Roundabout Theatre), Bright Ideas (Manhattan Class Company) Peter Ackerman's Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight (Promenade Theatre) and Comedy of Errors (The Acting Company). John has worked extensively in the regional theatre, including productions at The Old Globe Theatre, The Geffen Playhouse, and The Alley Theatre, among many others.