Avenue Q with a cold...

Yes, even with a cold, I went yesterday to see Avenue Q. The 2 PM showing at the Hobby Center was not a sell-out audience, and to be perfectly honest a lot of the people attending probably weren't the musical's target audience. Most notably, the reaction to the last line of "My Girlfriend Who Lives in Canada" was two seconds of stunned silence, with very scattered applause building as the -rest- of the audience thought, "Oh, I guess that was meant to be good."

On the other hand, spontaneous applause erupted at the line in the finale, "George Bush! Is only for now!" so the audience wasn't THAT bad.

Again I was up in the cheap seats- but, unlike my Spamalot experience, I was nearer the center rather than against the wall. I was still on the end of a row, though, which meant several stand-up-and-lemme-ins before the beginning and me just standing a couple rows away during intermission waiting on people to return.

This time I brought my binoculars with me. I don't mean opera glasses, I mean big bulky field binoculars. Attempting to focus the damn things revealed something I've suspected for a couple years now- my eyes are of different strengths. I can't tell if the headache I had most of the show was due to eyestrain or the cold I've got. They were worth it, though, even though I felt like a fool wearing the things- I can tell you that yes, indeed, female monster puppets have nipples.

As for the performance... well, none of the cast was the original Broadway cast, although several of them worked either in the later Broadway run or in the Vegas show. I can't speak to the originals, but this cast was not all that good at getting emotion out of the puppets. (Granted, I've been watching The Muppet Show on DVD lately, so I may be judging them too harshly.) Moreover- if you didn't know, the puppeteers are out in the open and visible most of the time in Avenue Q- Robert McClure (main puppeteer for Princeton and Rod) and especially Kelli Sawyer (main puppeteer for Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut) emoted so much and so strongly with their own faces that it distracted from the puppets. (Granted, I was looking through binoculars much of the time, otherwise I wouldn't have SEEN their faces, but still.) Carla Renata... the name is familiar, but I can't think of any other roles outside what Playbill lists... anyway, she didn't do all that good a job playing Gary Coleman- voice too squeaky. Cole Porter (yes, that's his name) did a good job as Brian, Angela Ai did a MAGNIFICENT (indeed sometimes scene-stealing) job as Christmas Eve, and David Benoit did the best job bringing his puppets to life (Nicky, Trekkie Monster, Bad Idea Bear #1) while at the same time making people forget he, the puppeteer, was there... which, considering his bulk, was a major accomplishment!

As for the show itself, there is a good bit you miss if you only own the Avenue Q album. The set and special effects were superb, as was the use of two monitors dropped from the overhead (for example, to spell "schadenfreude" and to show the show's opening animation). Although there isn't much plot for most of Act 1 (pretty much one song after another), Act 2 tends to lean a bit more heavily on the plot, with longer and longer gaps between songs.

(For me the high point of the show was a certain point where the puppets go out into the audience to pass the hat- and one of the understudies appeared up in the nosebleed section with a puppet, so we broke people wouldn't be left out! Being two feet away from a famous puppet Broadway star was a thrill I'll cherish for, oh, the next twenty seconds or so. }:-{D )

Anyway, yes, it was worth the thirty bucks in gas and twenty-five bucks for a ticket. starcat_jewel, you and Russ need to take time if at all possible Tuesday or Wednesday night and see this while it's still in Houston- final performance is Sunday night, when we'll all be working at one convention or another.

However, don't buy any of the official Avenue Q merchandise from the kiosk by the bar unless you just really want to support the road show; it's cheaper pretty much anyplace else, as I'm about to demonstrate by buying the official show book on Amazon...

Avenue Q with a cold...

Yes, even with a cold, I went yesterday to see Avenue Q. The 2 PM showing at the Hobby Center was not a sell-out audience, and to be perfectly honest a lot of the people attending probably weren't the musical's target audience. Most notably, the reaction to the last line of "My Girlfriend Who Lives in Canada" was two seconds of stunned silence, with very scattered applause building as the -rest- of the audience thought, "Oh, I guess that was meant to be good."

On the other hand, spontaneous applause erupted at the line in the finale, "George Bush! Is only for now!" so the audience wasn't THAT bad.

Again I was up in the cheap seats- but, unlike my Spamalot experience, I was nearer the center rather than against the wall. I was still on the end of a row, though, which meant several stand-up-and-lemme-ins before the beginning and me just standing a couple rows away during intermission waiting on people to return.

This time I brought my binoculars with me. I don't mean opera glasses, I mean big bulky field binoculars. Attempting to focus the damn things revealed something I've suspected for a couple years now- my eyes are of different strengths. I can't tell if the headache I had most of the show was due to eyestrain or the cold I've got. They were worth it, though, even though I felt like a fool wearing the things- I can tell you that yes, indeed, female monster puppets have nipples.

As for the performance... well, none of the cast was the original Broadway cast, although several of them worked either in the later Broadway run or in the Vegas show. I can't speak to the originals, but this cast was not all that good at getting emotion out of the puppets. (Granted, I've been watching The Muppet Show on DVD lately, so I may be judging them too harshly.) Moreover- if you didn't know, the puppeteers are out in the open and visible most of the time in Avenue Q- Robert McClure (main puppeteer for Princeton and Rod) and especially Kelli Sawyer (main puppeteer for Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut) emoted so much and so strongly with their own faces that it distracted from the puppets. (Granted, I was looking through binoculars much of the time, otherwise I wouldn't have SEEN their faces, but still.) Carla Renata... the name is familiar, but I can't think of any other roles outside what Playbill lists... anyway, she didn't do all that good a job playing Gary Coleman- voice too squeaky. Cole Porter (yes, that's his name) did a good job as Brian, Angela Ai did a MAGNIFICENT (indeed sometimes scene-stealing) job as Christmas Eve, and David Benoit did the best job bringing his puppets to life (Nicky, Trekkie Monster, Bad Idea Bear #1) while at the same time making people forget he, the puppeteer, was there... which, considering his bulk, was a major accomplishment!

As for the show itself, there is a good bit you miss if you only own the Avenue Q album. The set and special effects were superb, as was the use of two monitors dropped from the overhead (for example, to spell "schadenfreude" and to show the show's opening animation). Although there isn't much plot for most of Act 1 (pretty much one song after another), Act 2 tends to lean a bit more heavily on the plot, with longer and longer gaps between songs.

(For me the high point of the show was a certain point where the puppets go out into the audience to pass the hat- and one of the understudies appeared up in the nosebleed section with a puppet, so we broke people wouldn't be left out! Being two feet away from a famous puppet Broadway star was a thrill I'll cherish for, oh, the next twenty seconds or so. }:-{D )

Anyway, yes, it was worth the thirty bucks in gas and twenty-five bucks for a ticket. starcat_jewel, you and Russ need to take time if at all possible Tuesday or Wednesday night and see this while it's still in Houston- final performance is Sunday night, when we'll all be working at one convention or another.

However, don't buy any of the official Avenue Q merchandise from the kiosk by the bar unless you just really want to support the road show; it's cheaper pretty much anyplace else, as I'm about to demonstrate by buying the official show book on Amazon...