CLO presents ‘Toxic Avenger’
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From staff reports
PITTSBURGH -- He's out to save New Jersey, end global warming and woo the town's blind librarian.
Winner of the Outer Critics Circle Award for best off-Broadway musical, "The Toxic Avenger" is an unexpected love story and musical horror-comedy running through Dec. 18 at the Pittsburgh Civic Light Theater's CLO Cabaret, 655 Penn Ave.
In an attempt to clean up New Jersey's most polluted town, Melvin Ferd the Third is dumped into a vat of radioactive toxic waste, only to re-emerge as the Toxic Avenger. The new hero turns into a 7-foot mutant with superhuman strength and a heart as big as Newark.
For tickets, go to www.pittsburghclo.org or call (412) 281-3973.
Those starring in the production include:
¯ Evan Ruggiero as Toxie, who is returning to Pittsburgh CLO in "The Toxic Avenger." Previous Pittsburgh CLO credits include "Shrek: The Musical" and "Man of La Mancha." Additional credits include appearing on "The Ellen Show," "Yes I Can," "Quelli Che il Calcio," "The Penalty" and his own one-man show, "One-Legged Song and Dance Man," which was just featured at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
¯ Caroline Nicolian, who plays Mayor/Ma. She was last seen as Casey in "First Date." Other past credits at the cabaret include "Side by Side," "Judge Jackie Justice" and "A Grand Night for Singing."
A Pittsburgh native, she has worked for numerous theater companies in the city. She was seen in "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris" with PICT Classic Theatre, "A Grand Night for Singing" at St. Vincent's Summer Theater and was the understudy for Eliza Doolittle in Pittsburgh Public Theater's "My Fair Lady."
¯ Quinn Patrick Shannon as the White Dude, who returns for his fifth production at the CLO Cabaret. He previously appeared in "The 39 Steps," "Plaid Tidings," "Judge Jackie Justice" and "A Grand Night for Singing." Most recently he played Nicely Nicely Johnson in the Pittsburgh Public Theater's production of "Guys and Dolls." Other credits include "My Fair Lady" with The Pittsburgh Public, "Forever Plaid" with the Mountain Playhouse, "Young Frankenstein" with Pittsburgh Musical Theater and "Our Class" with PICT Classic Theatre.
¯ Billy Mason as the Black Dude, who is making his CLO Cabaret debut. His theater performance background includes Pittsburgh Musical Theater, the Strand Initiative, the Lyric Stage, Split Stage, Lincoln Park and a host of others in an array of roles. Favorite roles include Shrek in "Shrek The Musical," Horton in the "Suessical the Musical," Kerchak in Disney's "Tarzan," Judas in "Jesus Christ Superstar" and Lucien P Smith in "The Boys Next Door."