wednesday in review: avenue q
Have you heard of the Broadway show Avenue Q? If you haven’t, put it on your list to see. It’s won countless Tony Awards and is a laugh out loud show that covers all sorts of controversial topics- with puppets.
Yep, this show has been called the “Sesame Street for adults” show with characters like Trekky Monster, Rod and Nicky (who resemble Cookie Monster and Bert and Ernie, by the way). There is even a Gary Coleman character who is the superintendent of a run-down neighborhood in New York city called Avenue Q. The story revolves around Princeton, a recent college grad looking to find his purpose in life. The songs cover racism, life mishaps and homosexuality all in good fun.
Justin and I saw the play a couple of years ago at the Majestic Theater and loved it. I had never heard of it until my theater-loving sister Vanessa kept playing songs like “It Sucks to be Me” and “If You Were Gay”. I was hooked.
When I found out that the show was running again here in Dallas at Theater Three on a much smaller scale, with a different cast, I was intrigued. At $30 a ticket Justin, Vanessa and I went this past Sunday. Since Vanessa hadn’t seen it before I was excited to enjoy the show with her.
The theater was tiny and with our seats right up in the front row, we got to see everything (and by everything, I mean naked puppets doing it in front of us). The script was exactly the same as the big production set, but I have to admit I liked seeing it the first time better. The stage was bigger, there was a live band playing the musical numbers and there was an actor for each character. In this show, the same actor did the voices for multiple characters which made it a bit distracting and the actors weren’t in the all-black uniform, making it difficult for me to keep my focus on the puppet.
I have to give special props to Olivia de Guzman Emile who played Christmas Eve. Her voice is amazing. My favorite character was Trekky, played by Michael Robinson- so funny.
If you haven’t seen this show, GO SEE IT. It’s hilarious and for $30 a ticket (use discount code AVEQ13), it’s a cheap night out. You’ll laugh and get the opportunity to see an award-winning musical. The show is running until July 28th with evening and Sunday matinée times available.
