Toxic Audio: A Cappella with a Twist

A guest blog by Marketing & PR Intern Kelly Dolan

Last week, while on a Royal Caribbean Cruise, I had the opportunity to see many shows. I was beginning to get bored of night after night of subpar shows, when finally I saw Toxic Audio perform. I could hardly believe that they were using nothing but their own voices as the background music to some highly intricate instrumental songs. This five- person a cappella group not only sang popular songs such as Vicki Sue Robinson’s “Turn the Beat Around” and Mika’s “Grace Kelly” but they also use their own voices to supply all of the background music. When I shut my eyes for a second I felt as though there was a real trumpet, guitar, and piano being used during performance.

The singing was not the only thing that kept me entertained. The performance of each song had some type of twist to it. For example, when they sang “Paperback Writer” by the Beatles they walked around the audience and had members point to random words from a book. By the end cast member Jeremy James, known as the “Rap Master”, was able to create a rap song on the spot using all the words collected from the audience. Toxic Audio puts on a show that keeps audiences in awe throughout the entire performance. After seeing them perform, you may just be tempted to try and move your own nose at just the right angle in order to sound like a trumpet.

For more information on Toxic Audio, visit: http://www.toxicaudio.com/.

The State Theatre is located at 15 Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick, NJ. For information or to purchase tickets call 732-246-SHOW(7469) or visit http://www.statetheatrenj.org/. Check us out on Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace.

The Appeal of Old Movies - Carnegie Hall

While channel surfing the other night I stumbled across an amazing 1947 film on TCM entitled Carnegie Hall. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039244/fullcredits#cast . The movie itself, largely forgettable, (clearly forgotten in fact), centers on a contrived love story set in and around the famed concert hall. I was initially drawn in by the obviously authentic location shooting, interiors and many exterior shots of that neighborhood in which I used to work. Most remarkable though were the cameo appearances of many 20th century classical music titans: Jascha Heifetz, Artur Rubinstein, Lily Pons, Leopold Stokowski, and Jan Peerce just to name a few. Some overacted in the roles of themselves as eccentric artists, but most simply performed; long, extended, non-sound bite, montage free performances. How much has changed in 60 years. That a movie like this could get made, that a small constellation of classical music stars familiar to the general public even existed, and that their simple one or two stationary camera performances could be considered visually engaging is touchstone of aesthetics long gone. I won’t lament too much though. No doubt the appeal, for better or worse, of many performers who routinely take the stage here will astound the audiences of 2069.

-Andrew Fishman, Director of Programming

The State Theatre is located at 15 Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick, NJ. For information or to purchase tickets call 732-246-SHOW(7469) or visit http://www.statetheatrenj.org/.

Check us out on Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace.