Stephen Emerick is thrilled to be directing The Toxic Avenger The Musical as his Town Players of New Canaan debut! He is a fan of all things scary, funny, campy, and weird, and this show has all of that plus some surprises he’s excited to share with audiences. Thank you to the cast, production team, crew, and everyone who brought their passion, artistry, and strong work ethic to this insane world of Tromaville! Break legs (and some arms) and burn gels! Past productions: Dir. Groundhog Day The Musical (2023), Dir. The Lobby (2022), Dir. Boeing, Boeing (2019) Curtain Call. Dir. A Piece of My Heart (2022), Asst. Dir. The Prom (2023) Stamford H.S. Stephen is a Director, Filmmaker, and Video Producer. His recent projects include the music videos Maybe We Could Be Something (2023), JFK and I Wish I Didn’t Care (2022) Charlotte Roth, Be Careful Out There (2021) and Discarded (2021) No, A Fence Productions; The Art of Longing and Belonging (2020). His short films and music videos were selected and screened at the NY Short, New Haven Int’l, Bridgeport, Norwalk, Mystic, Serbest Int’l, and Youngstown Film Festivals. stephenemerick.com

Zachary Kampler serves as Music Director of the St. Catherine's Players, the Sound Beach Community Band, and the Kolot Sinai Chorus. He has conducted for The Connecticut Little Symphony (To Kill a Mockingbird Suite, Appalachian Spring) and Nickel City Opera (The Barber Of Seville, Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, Il Tabarro), in addition to holding the position of Assistant Conductor with the Stamford Young Artists Philharmonic, Tri-Cities Opera, and Sarasota Opera. Recent engagements include work with Troupers Light Opera (), ACT of CT (Jesus Christ Superstar), and The Downtown Bridgeport Cabaret (Rent, 9-5). A graduate of the Juilliard Pre-College Program, Kampler holds a B.A. in Music from New York University and an M.M. in Orchestral Conducting with a concentration in Opera from SUNY Binghamton.

Nikki Lyn Neurohr (Nu-Roar) is an actress, model, screenwriter, producer, director - and now stage manager! The pure passion to listen, receive, and respond led her to seek out a career which emotionally moved and compelled others (entertainment, baby) . Nikki received specialized training at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (2021), Point Park University (2014) and has over 7 years experience performing professionally on stage, screen and behind the scenes. Nikki has worked hands-on network television sets (NBC Universal) and indie production crews for feature length films, comedy troupes, musical talent, as well as writing, producing and directing a wide range of projects (dark comedy feature film Baggage Claim - coming soon) (dark comedy short Butt Stuff, 2023) as the founder & executive producer of production company "Little Pinwheel Productions, LLC". Check out more Nikki Neurohr on instagram @nikneurohr or www.nikkineurohr.com.

Sophie Bardos (they/she) is a film and theatre designer, writer, and producer whose work is focused on portraying a wide array of historically excluded narratives onscreen and onstage. Her work currently focuses on issues of sustainability, food justice, and LGBTQ+ rights. This is her third time designing with the TPNC, and she is so excited to see this show come to life on our stage.

Deborah loves every aspect of theater!  She is an Actress/Producer/Director/ Set Decorator/Costume Designer/Prop Master/Acting Teacher and currently Creative Director of Town Players of New Canaan which has become her home away from home.  You may have seen the other shows she Directed and Set Decorated for this stage: Hay Fever, Gaslight, The Turn of the Screw, and her Set Decoration for On Golden Pond, The Heiress, Dixie Swim Club, Romantic Comedy, Moonlight & Magnolias, 12 Angry Men, etc. Additionally she’s performed in dozens plays at Town Players of New Canaan, Curtain Call, Westport Community Theater, Ridgefield Theatre Barn, Town Players of Newtown, Darien Arts Center, Carriage House, and Eastbound Theater. Love to Jeff Pliskin, my soulmate and cat daddy. 

Jennifer is thrilled to be choreographing this hilarious musical with such a talented cast and creative team. Jennifer teaches dance and musical theater as well as choreographs in Westchester and CT. Jennifer is also no stranger to the stage performing all over the country since the age of 13. Thanks to all for supporting the arts! Enjoy this wild ride of Toxic Avenger!

As a high school senior Miles has garnered a lot of experience in sound design throughout his short career. Previously being involved in Stamford All-School-Musical's Something Rotten. He has participated in many productions at Curtain Call Stamford as a sound engineer for Groundhog Day, Wizard of Oz, Assassins, and the Summer Youth Theatre production of The Addams Family. He's also worked on Stamford High School's productions of Curtains, A Piece of my Heart, and The Prom. Miles is the 2023 Stephen Sondheim Award winner for Achievement in Sound Design for his work on The Prom. He would like to thank his family and friends for supporting him.

Keyboard Player and Founding Member, Bon Jovi. Singer/Songwriter Composer, Lyricist and Programmer. David Bryan lives near Exit 109 off the Garden State Parkway. He was conceived, born and raised in New Jersey. As a young man, he saw The Toxic Avenger at a midnight showing in Newark, and from that day on, he dreamed of writing a musical about the first mutant superhero from his home state. This show is a fulfillment of that dream. David has accomplished some other stuff, too. He is the keyboard player, songwriter and a founding member of Bon Jovi one of the most successful bands in music history. They ve sold over 130 million records worldwide, performed more than 2,600 concerts in over 50 countries for more than 34 million fans, and were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006. They ve survived and thrived the rock and roll years, the grunge years, the rap years and everything in between. On the band s award-winning CD Have A Nice Day , David and Jon wrote the song Last Cigarette. David has also written and released a solo record, Lunar Eclipse (Rounder/Universal) an instrumental collection with a single vocal bonus track highlighting all of the aspects of his training and influences blues, classical, jazz and of course, rock & roll. In his time off from recording and touring with Jon, Richie and Tico, David began a career as a composer and lyricist of musicals. The song, Memphis Lives In Me, which he performs on Bon Jovi s recent box set, is actually from his musical, MEMPHIS which recently won four Tony Awards, including Best Musical. David also won a Tony for Best Orchestrations (with Daryl Waters) and Best Original Score (Music and Lyrics) Written for the Theatre (with Joe DiPietro). In addition to his musical theatre compositions and writing with bandmates Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, with whom he co-wrote the band s hit, In These Arms, David continues to write with and for other artists. The most successful cover of a Bryan song may be Curtis Steiger s rendition of This Time, which was a major International hit for him. David has also dedicated his time to become a National Spokesperson for VH1 s Save The Music Program, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of music education in America s schools. For more on David, visit www.DavidBryan.com.

Joe’s current Broadway hit Memphis won the Tony Award for Best Musical and two additional Tony Awards (Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score (Music and Lyrics) Written for the Theatre (with David Bryan). Joe was born and raised off Exit 166 in New Jersey and thus has been a Toxic Avenger fan for the last twenty years. Joe wrote the book & lyrics to I LoveYou, You re Perfect, Now Change , the longest running musical revue in New York history which has had hundreds of productions across the country and around the world. He also wrote the book and lyrics to the Broadway musical All Shook Up, and the award-winning musical, The Thing About Men, which has played internationally. His plays include the Edgar Award-winning mystery, The Art of Murder, as well as the long-running hit comedy Over the River and through the Woods, which has had over a hundred productions around the world and is currently being developed into a feature film. He lives in Manhattan and Connecticut, but his heart will always be in New Jersey.