The Toxic Avenger

by Claire Pienaar

Having lived in New York City my whole life, I have developed a mix of disgust and humor regarding the state of New Jersey. I’ve often traveled through our industrial neighbor and inhaled the toxic fumes—probably more than I should have. This is one of the reasons that I loved the musical The Toxic Avenger.

Melvin Ferd the Third is a nerd who hopes to clean up the harmful toxic waste that plagues the state of New Jersey to win the heart of Sara, the ditzy, blind librarian. The Republican mayor makes profit in the piling waste, and she sends her goons to end Melvin. They drop him in a vat of toxic goo, but instead of dying, Melvin gains superhuman strength, some frightening new looks, and a compulsive loud roar. He becomes a hero with the mayor still out to kill him.

The humor is very crude and at times very gory; at one point, toxic Melvin (a.k.a. Toxie) squirts some brain juice into the audience. The five actors play many roles, sometimes with half-and-half costumes, which brings more humor out of their performances.

The Toxic Avenger is a love story with some misplaced eyeballs, appendectomies and French toast. If you live in New York City and are a fan of gory, physical and unsophisticated humor, you will enjoy this play.

HOW TO SEE THE SHOW: $25 Tickets thru Nov. 24th with the code TOPBP909. Visit www.broadwayoffers.com to buy tickets or visit box office at New World Stages, 340 W. 50th St.

Avenue Q

By Claire Pienaar

What do you get when you combine a story that takes place on the wrong side of the tracks, a (literally) colorful cast of characters and some very crude and immature humor?

Nope, not Adult Swim. I’m talking about Avenue Q, a musical collaboration of puppets and humans and monsters alike.

Though it was initially confusing to distinguish between humans and puppets, the puppets soon had enough life to be actors on their own. The human puppeteers handled their inanimate counterparts very well, while showing identical expressions in their own faces and body language. Some characters did not wield puppets and instead interacted with the puppets as they would with each other.

Most of the performance was composed of comedy, a type that rings with honesty and lets people make light of their own moral flaws (maybe everyone is a little bit racist…sometimes…) Parts of the play were meant to cause the audience discomfort, including the gratuitous puppet sex scene, and Rod the Republican’s tune about his “girlfriend that lives in Canada”. However, the use of puppets is what made all of the near-blasphemy in the musical more acceptable.

Avenue Q has been running since 2003 and has been very popular among our generation. Since many teenagers in New York City have already seen the musical, bits of humor and lessons from the musical have influenced our culture. Never having seen the show before, I sat through it once and recognized almost half of the jokes as ones my friends have been telling me about for years.

Avenue Q is wonderful for teenagers and adults alike. The continuous humor and brutal honesty will keep you laughing and cringing throughout the entire show!

Garden of Earthly Delights

by Claire Pienaar

Have you ever…felt good and evil in the same day?

Garden of Earthly Delights combines dance and theatre to interpret a triptych (three-section painting) painted by Hieronymus Bosch. The abstract choreography has deep biblical symbolism as the characters travel between heaven, earth and hell.


Dancers were lifted into the air, sometimes high above the audience. Musicians wove in and out among the dancers shrouded in monk robes, at points even dancing themselves. In one instance, the spotlight was focused on a dancer attempting to seduce a cellist in order to take his bow. The cellist impaled the girl in the stomach with his bow and continued to play.

At times, the movement was hard to follow. When all fourteen cast members were on stage doing something different, it was difficult to know where to look.


I recommend Garden of Earthly Delights to people who appreciate modern dance, complex symbolism, or just something distinctive and strange. If you have conflicts with simulated nudity and sexuality, or find it hard to comprehend conceptual performances, then this might not be the best show to see.

How to see the show: $30 student rush tickets • Minetta Lane Theatre, 18 Minetta Lane. Visit www.gardenofearthlydelightsnyc.com for schedule and more information.