A BLUEGRASS TALL TALE ABOUT THE JERSEY DEVIL

Time to get Dirty, folks! You still have a dozen (+) opportunities to see the show before our  "Farewell to the Devil" performance at NBPAC in November. Even if you've already seen it, we hope you'll consider attending this final show. Come give the Devil its due, then join us next door as we hoist a Dirty Martini to the monster that made us. Tickets HERE. 

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Click HERE to sample the soundtrack by Arlan Feiles.

Photo credit: Mike Dolan.

"There is no one remotely like Alex Dawson in Gothic New Jersey or anywhere else. A riveting, one-of-a-kind storyteller." Joyce Carol Oates, The Gravedigger's Daughter 

 "Stunning. With a muscular, train chugging lyricism. Boom chicka boom. Jim Henson meets Johnny Cash. Their Devil mixes the Wendigo with Gossamer from Bugs Bunny and the titular animal from your favorite boy and dog or girl and horse book. A hairy, humped, knuckle dragger with black, unblinking eyes that somehow convey a wealth of emotion. This story will break your heart." Lev Grossman, The Magicians, The Bright Sword

"A BADASS (caps theirs) bluegrass vaudeville show that marries music, theater, and gnarly monster effects [and] ultimately moves toward societal messages that are bigger than the Jersey Devil monster. A Garden State Gothic good time!" - Aaron Von Lupton, Rue Morgue Magazine

Photo credit: Nina Westervelt.

"We live in England and haven't been able to see The Devil and Daisy Dirt. But the puppet looks fantastic! With real presence! Definitely not something you want to meet on a dark night. Or come to think of it, maybe you do. See this show if you can! We sure wish we could!" - Brian & Wendy "Mother of Yoda" Froud, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth

 "Even in this diner at the end of the world, someone's still got to ferry the coffee out to the morning customers. Meet Daisy Dirt, the one who keeps this strange world turning. Lightning flashes, the Devil smiles, and Daisy, the hero we need, grins back. Very cool and all kinds of fun." - Stephen Graham Jones, The Only Good Indians

"Dawson is the Chuck Norris of storytelling. He can blow bubbles with beef jerky. The Devil and Daisy Dirt has the dense graininess of a piece of dried muscle meat. With all the wonder and whimsy of a bubble blown heavenward. Leathery and magical." - Clay McLeod Chapman, Ghost Eaters, What Kind of Mother

Photo credit: Nina Westervelt.

"'The SWAMP! Sinister, mysterious! It shaped the lives and loves and hates of the people who lived round its edges!' This is the tagline on the poster for Jean Renoir’s 1941 Southern Gothic American debut, Swamp Water. Change swamp to pines and throw in a big boss of a buck with bat wings and you have something close to The Devil and Daisy Dirt, an impressively muscular achievement by Alex Dawson. The title screams “Horror!” and indeed it’s a concept based on the legend of the Jersey Devil. But Dawson’s yarn, half creature feature, half country song, narrated onstage by Dawson himself, is poignant and moving. You feel for the Devil like you do Karloff’s monster or King Kong. Without being preachy, this brisk campfire tale addresses issues of acceptance and intolerance. All of it set to a highly effective original score played live by folk singer Arlan Fieles in a hat that would look at home on Lee Van Cleef. Daisy is winningly portrayed by Devon Borkowski. But it’s her titular teammate, the 'Devil,' a brute of a beast whose hulking hairiness brings to mind the Baker/Bottin bear-wolves in The Howling, brought to brilliant and vulnerable life by designer Dan Diana, that breaks your heart (even as it quickens your pulse)." - Lee Pfeiffer, Cinema Retro Magazine

Photo credit: Nina Westervelt.

"A singular achievement that seamlessly draws together elements that, on paper, feel unlikely – bluegrass and puppetry, horror and honky tonk, diner culture and the dark fantastic – but onstage, delivered in Alex Dawson's mesmerizing performance as raconteur, ringmaster, and resident hellbilly, combine to create a tale of adventure, playful horror and unexpected pathos, a meditation on loneliness, compassion, and empowerment. Wildly inventive staging creates a rich and textured world. We journey from the dumpsters of a diner, through a grotesque counter-side eating contest, down a country highway, and eventually into the wilderness, all within the confines of an intimate space no bigger than a bedroom. It's a feat of imagination, a fever dream, a nightmare, and totally unmissable." - Sophie White, Where I End

Photo credit: Mike Dolan

 "Awesome. Amazing. Goth. Fun. [With] really great live music. The Jersey Devil puppet will absolutely blow your mind. I’m talking George Lucas first Star Wars level of special effects. Incredible, incredible, like larger than life. I would definitely check this out." New Jersey is the World

"2024 saw the debut performance of what surely must be one of the most original, Jersey-centric and downright weird presentations in our state's theatrical history. Very WEIRD. Very JERSEY. Our kind of show. See it to believe it!" Weird New Jersey

"The Devil and Daisy Dirt sits on the border of legends and tall tales [and] the overall effect is somewhere between a DIY show and Kneehigh’s production of The Wild Bride. The result is absolutely stunning." Tobias Carroll, Reactor

Photo credit: Nina Westervelt

"Be afraid — or not — because the Jersey Devil is coming to your town...[and] there's plenty of buzz...[but] this is a demon of a different stripe, and may not be the harbinger of terror he's been known as for centuries. A mesmerizing, Pine Barrens fever dream. By Alex Dawson, who is something of a Jersey legend himself." Chris Jordan, Asbury Park Press

"Is Garden State Gothic a thing? It should be. Daisy Dirt is the literary daughter of Carson McCullers and The Boss. Born to Run by way of Sad Cafe. The devil is real, folks. And it lives in New Jersey." Jason Rekulak, Hidden Pictures, The Impossible Fortress

 "There's always a bit of a Frankenstein in the desire to build a creature. To make it move, live and feel. Dan has done an incredible job bringing this Devil to life. It's beautiful to see a puppet convey such emotion." Adrien Beau, The Vourdalak

Photo credit: Mike Dolan.

"Diners, piners, and devils, plus a knot of dried up meat that makes Pork Roll feel like filet mignon. OG Jersey Devil Dawson puts the Dirt in Dirty Jerz with a twisted yarn that could only happen in my home state." Mike Edison, Raunch Hands, I Have Fun Everywhere I Go

 "Like its namesake state, the Jersey Devil is feared, maligned & misunderstood. But Dawson & company seat us around their gothic Pine Barrens campfire and burn down everything you thought you knew about this foundational mythology and NJ itself. I loved it." Chris Tsakis, NPR, SiriusXM Outlaw Country, WFMU; Nihilistics.

 

Photo credit: Nina Westervelt.

 "Dawson cracks that cryp with a whip-smart tall tale that leaves a mark. They're touring with this thing, so even if you missed the premiere, 'it's not too late to cryptid, cryptid good.' You'll be glad you did. Powerful, poetic, and incredibly strange. I can't stop thinking about it." Will Rogers, Blackwood, Earth Break, Guide to the Unknown

"New Jersey's wildest stage show! Part horror, part heart… totally unforgettable. Brilliant. (And yes, tickets do sell out.)" Lost in Jersey

Photo credit: Nina Westervelt.

"Brilliant. Chucky would be jealous. Oh, wait. But seriously. I'm a big fan of practical effects, animatronics, puppetry, and this looks incredible. Chucky was only 29 inches tall and he took nine puppeteers. This puppet is almost eight feet and operated by just one man. And the whole concept sounds absolutely amazing. Congrats to Alex, Dan, and the rest of the crew." Tom Holland, Fright Night, Child's Play

 "A gripping narration reminiscent of Shel Silverstein’s epic poems, vibrant and melodious ballads, and an awe-inspiring creature design reminiscent of the Audrey II from “The Little Shop of Horrors." [Dawson] masterfully intertwines Jersey folklore with a classic fairy tale, creating a captivating tale of a maiden and a monster. He introduces a vibrant cast of characters, bringing their unique voices to life. Arlan Feiles’ musical compositions infuse the production with energy [providing] Dawson with an opportunity to regroup and recharge, allowing him to continue his manic level of storytelling. Dawson’s captivating charisma carries the tale forward like a skilled ringmaster or carnival barker. An atmosphere reminiscent of a campfire tale. The creature’s stunning appearance left the audience gasping in awe. A haunting theatrical experience." Joseph B Mauceri, Fears Mag

Photo credit: Nina Westervelt.

 "On a blustery spring night, up in a barn loft in the New Jersey Pinelands, Alex Dawson conjured up the devil for a rapt audience. Standing to the side of the stage, swilling moonshine, with cutoff sleeves, his deep, raspy voice is rough as pine bark. The star of the show is Daisy Dirt, played by Jackie Fogel, a downtrodden waitress at a Pine Barrens greasy spoon where boorish regulars cackle and harass her. [When Daisy sings] a song to express her frustrations and fantasies, like sticking knives in the worst customers, the women in the audience cheered. In this show, the creature is more mythical than monstrous. “The monsters are human,” Dawson said. The creature in question punches up for a small production, an 8-foot puppet suit that combines classic elements of the Jersey Devil in a jarring way. It was created and manned by Dan Diana. It’s not for children. Country/Americana musician Arlan Feiles is [also] off to the side; his haunting music is the backbone of the show." Jason Nark, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Photo credit: Mike Dolan.

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SUMMARY: On the night of an annual appetite contest called "I 8 the Devil," Daisy Dirt finds something strange - winged and antlered, wounded but alive - in the dumpster behind Lucille's Luncheonette (aka the Devil's Diner). With the help of a Piney palm reader named Effie and a piece of magic muscle meat from the basement game locker, Daisy evades a villainous poacher named Tasty (Murder) and risks everything to save it.

Think Pine Barrens “Our Town” meets E.T., with a shoulder-shot cryptid instead of a stranded extraterrestrial, deer hunters instead of federal agents, and a portal that opens above the Apple Pie Hill fire tower after a midnight lightening strike instead of an alien mothership shaped like a Christmas tree ornament. All backed by a high lonesome sound.

Photo credit: Peiche Waite.