Gooey’s Toxic Aquatic Adventure premieres at The Bushwick Starr in February 2026.

Concept, Book & Lyrics by La Daniella
Music, Arrangements & Lyrics by Ben Langhorst
Directed by Sammy Zeisel 
Presented in association with ¡Oye! Group
Line producing by Honigman & Sons

For the last 3 years, La Daniella has been developing Gooey’s Toxic Aquatic Adventure, a new puppet musical that follows Newtown Creek’s very own orphaned sorta mermaid: Gooey, who’s making the best of the sewage-filled swamp she calls home. Amidst the backdrop of a near apocalyptic Brooklyn bought by entertainment and tech giant G’wond’rLand Inc.,  Gooey spends each day escaping her putrid reality into a world of her own creation: a world in which she’s perfect, beautiful and loved.

But when her radio sends her on a journey to G’wond’rLand Theme Park, Gooey comes face-to-face with a dozen eccentric characters including a streetwise rat, an animated suitcase, a radical socialist parakeet and a couple’a wiseguys who confront her with the truth about her dreams and how she came to be. Situated somewhere between The Little Mermaid, Frankenstein, Pee Wee’s Playhouse, and the tale of La Llorona, Gooey disgusts and delights in equal measure as it examines the difficulty of finding true belonging in a gentrifying New York City.

We’re 75% of the way to our goal, and we’re asking for your support going that last mile. The focus of our final round is to support fair rates and a 90% sustainable new musical. By using mostly recycled/rented design materials, we seek to call attention to the 150 years of pollution and designated superfund status of Newtown Creek and the Gowanus Canal.

Your donation supports green theater and empowers our audience to participate in discussions and actions surrounding climate change, gentrification, and capitalism culture.