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Asbury Park is about to get Toxic.
Troma Entertainment, the independent film studio which gave the world 1984's "The Toxic Avenger" along with many other cult classics, will be bringing Tromapalooza, an evening of music, burlesque and other underground-friendly activities, to the Asbury Lanes in Asbury Park on Saturday (Aug. 1).
On hand for the event will be "Toxic Avenger" creator and Troma president Lloyd Kaufman, as well as with the Tromettes (female Troma devotees) and the Toxic Avenger himself. The evening will also feature musical performances by NaNunchKa's Yula Be'eri, Belmar-based composer Mike Black and rock quartet the Hipshots, as well as an appearance by the Rigor Mortis Revue Burlesque Troupe.
Explaining the decision to hold Tromapalooza in Jersey, event producer and director of Troma team video and distribution Matthew Manjourides said, "I live in Jersey and thought, ‘Well Tromaville -- the center of all Troma movies -- is in New Jersey, why have we never done a Troma event in Jersey?' So, I started to put it together and with the help of (local promoter) Michael Lawrence and his team; it should be pretty good."
Metromix Jersey Shore recently spoke with Kaufman, who will be releasing his latest book, "Produce Your Own Damn Movie," on Aug. 28.
What can the folks coming out to Tromapalooza expect at that event?
Well, it'll be a Tromapalooza; it'll have all sorts of exotic acts, a lot of bands, New Jersey bands, the Toxic Avenger, Tromettes. Tromapalooza is a fundraiser for the Tromadance Film Festival. ... There, it's all free, it's a free festival. We started it about 10 years ago in Park City, Utah, and there have been other Tromadance Festivals. There's going to be one in Indiana going into its third year, that will be on Sept. 28. The Tromadances are all free and you don't have to pay to submit your movie to Tromadance, the tickets are free, everything's free, so we have to try to raise money for it.
For the past 10 years, you've been holding Tromadance in Park City where Sundance is also held. How has the Park City community responded to you guys being in town at the same time?
Oh, Park City loves us, Park City loves Tromadance. The people love Troma and Tromadance because it's genuinely independent.
("South Park" creators) Trey Parker and Matt Stone had a movie called "Cannibal! The Musical," which is a Troma film, and they wanted to go to Sundance and we all went there about 12 years ago and we were very disappointed in how Sundance did not have any sympathy for the independent filmmaker and the fact that you have to pay money to submit your movie; Trey and Matt paid money to submit "Cannibal! The Musical" and they never even got a "Fuck you" letter. Well, they went to Park City and had their own one-movie film festival, they created their own film festival called the "Cannibal! The Musical" Festival and it was very successful. They rented a place and they showed the movie and everybody loved it, it was mobbed.
So, that kind of got me thinking about, "Well, why don't we do this for other filmmakers and try to do something that goes back to the roots of Sundance, which is worshiping at the knee of genuinely independent art?" So, that's what we did, and now there's a Tromadance in Albuquerque, New Mexico, I think it's going into its sixth year, there's a Tromadance Film Festival in Indiana going into its third year and there have been Tromadance Festivals in Berlin, there were three years of Tromanale, it took place during the Berlin Film Festival in Berlin.
And has there ever been any thought of having a Tromadance on the east coast, like in New York or somewhere else on this side of the country?
Yes, it's just very hard to find a venue because everything's so expensive in New York, and we just haven't been able to do it. So maybe New Jersey, if we had one it would probably be in New Jersey. I think we're kind of feeling our way with Tromapalooza. All of the bands are donating their services and there's a burlesque group and ... there's a group that puts nails in their heads, stuff like that, and they're all donating their services to support Tromadance. So my guess is, if we did the Tromadance, it would probably be somewhere in New Jersey. As you know, the Toxic Avenger was born in New Jersey.
You have filmed in New Jersey before. Have you ever considered coming down to shoot in Asbury Park?
We've shot all over New Jersey. Most of the "Toxic Avenger" movies, there have been four of them, most of them have been shot in New Jersey. "Class of Nuke ‘Em High" (1986) was shot in New Jersey. We have not shot in Asbury Park, but we've shot just about everywhere else: Boonton, Paramus, Leonia, Newark, Hoboken, we've been all over the map, but we've not shot in Asbury Park. I think Bruce Springsteen wants us to film there, but we just haven't had a location that worked out.
The last time we talked was in advance of "The Toxic Avenger Musical" opening in New Brunswick. That show had a very successful run in New Brunswick and was met with critical acclaim when it opened in New York. I think it's about to start a run in Canada.
The company that produces "Jersey Boys" is going to produce it in Toronto, they are producing it in Toronto, and it's opening on Halloween and it's huge, a much bigger production than the New York production. So, the New York production is still going and the one in Toronto is going to be at the Music Box Cinema, which is a 1,000-seat venue, so it sounds like a big deal.
How does it feel to see this show based on one of your creations going so far and doing so well, both with critics and audiences?
Well, it's pure luck. The luckiest part of it is our fans have supported and embraced "The Toxic Avenger" for 25 years. But, the second luckiest part is that Joe DiPietro and David Bryan wrote this musical that is hilarious and the tunes are great. Actually, the CD is out, Time Life is distributing "The Toxic Avenger Musical" CD and it's a huge success because it's more of a rock album than a musical, and so people love it. I've just been lucky that the right team was put together to bring the Troma sense of humor to the mainstream. It was just luck; it could have been anybody, right? ... How lucky am I?
Well, when I saw "The Toxic Avenger Musical" in New Brunswick during its run there, one thing I noticed is that it maintains that Troma sensibility. Obviously it's been toned down for mass audiences a bit, but it does maintain the spirit of the thing.
Well, it's all of Troma. I think that Joe and David kind of looked at other Troma movies and the humor of Troma and the worshiping of the underdog and the spirit of not just Toxic Avneger but the whole Troma body of work. There are jokes in there that are kind of Troma jokes but they're made mainstream, and I think that's wonderful, they did a great job. There's no way I could have done that, and again, I think it was just pure good fortune that these two guys wrote this great show. Lucky me, lucky Troma.
