Avenue Q The Musical

Backdated: 15th November 2008



“Currently one of the hottest shows in London's West End and on Broadway, Avenue Q is a fabulously furry and fun-filled romp featuring an ensemble of actors and some very adult-minded puppets. It's 'Sesame Street' with a very grown up twist!”

Avenue Q is the naughtiest puppet musical to ever grace the shores of Singapore. Uncut and uncensored scenes, childlike puppets uttering profanities, outrageous puppet nudity, racy songs… all these were made possible in our police state by the Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT).

Let’s hope that Singapore would continue to be more liberal to the arts.

Even though the casts’ are not the original Broadway casts (it’s the Philippines production), their performance is quite commendable. It is a good thing I haven’t watched any Avenue Q videos on You Tube before I watched it at the Esplanade or it would spoil all the fun.


[picture credit: http://www.thebachelorgirl.com]


Since its runs have ended, I have no fear including spoilers in this post.

You can read the plot overview here.

Do visit Avenue Q (SRT version) official homepage. It’s really cute.

[WARNING: This site has embedded music from the various songs in Avenue Q. The tunes are simply catchy but make sure you turn down the volume before you click on the link.]

I spent hours watching Avenue Q clips on YouTube before typing this. I love so many of the songs.

The show opened with the Avenue Q theme song with bright and colourful pictures flashing on the screens. Sure did look like watching Sesame Street.

The Avenue Q Opening Theme (by the Manila cast who performed Singapore’s rendition of Avenue Q)



The main character Princeton emerged and sang the following song while looking for a unit to live in…

What Do You Do with a B.A. in English (Till 1:07)


“4 years of college
and plenty of knowledge
has earned me this useless degree…”

I laughed out loud when Princeton sang that line as I COULD IDENTIFY quite well with him. Do I really need a B.A for my current job of creating and editing Primary English materials as well as teaching primary subjects? Well at least, I’m not unemployed and can pay my bills, unlike Princeton.


More puppets appeared on stage and compared whose life sucked more.

It sucks to be me


This song is so cute. Kh and I just kept singing “It sucks to be me” and “It sucks to be you” over and over again. I was tempted to buy their tank top. However at $49.90 each, it is so not worth it.




The Internet is for Porn


“Normal people don’t sit at home and look at porn on the internet.”

Trekkie monster must be one of the cutest porn addict ever.


If You Were Gay


Nicky is annoyingly cute when he irritates Rod, just like how Ernie irritates Bert. Suspecting that his uptight roomie is a gay, Nicky tried to let him know that it’s perfectly okay.

“IF YOU WERE GAY
THAT'D BE OKAY.
I MEAN 'CAUSE, HEY,
I'D LIKE YOU ANYWAY.
BECAUSE YOU SEE,
IF IT WERE ME,
I WOULD FEEL FREE
TO SAY THAT I WAS GAY
(BUT I'M NOT GAY.)”

I love how Nicky added in the last line with his fingers wagging whenever he sang the chorus.


One more reason why Avenue Q rocks—It’s not everyday that you see puppet nudity and GASP!!!! Puppets making love on stage! You would never look at Sesame Street the same way again.

You Can Be As Loud As The Hell You Want (When You Are Making Love)


Under the influence of the Bad Idea Bears, Princeton and Kate monster decided to have a drinking game at the pub. After a drop too much, they were completely wasted and went home to dot dot dot.

In the movie “Mama Mia”, “dot dot dot” means… oh well, you know. *winks*


The Bad Idea Bears and their illogical logic


My favourite line from them:
“You’re wasting money in the long run if you don’t buy in bulk.”

They are really so illogical and cute la. I like them so much.


Schadenfreude


What the heck is "schadenfreude"?

The next two lines explain it pretty clearly.

“Look on the bright side. Think of all the joy you’ll bring to others when they find out how miserable you are.”

Wicked!


I wish I could Go Back to College


A touching song… till the very last line which got the audience roaring with its lame-ness.


There’s A Fine, Fine Line


A touching and meaningful song as well.


For Now


“For Now” is the closing song which summarises what all the characters were up to at that moment. For the SRT production, I like how Lucy the slut said she was reborn just like a virgin when she found Christianity. My cute Bad Idea Bears found Scientology… Hahaha… They also sang about how certain stuff is only for now (as in temporarily). When all the puppets yelled “GEORGE BUSH!” the whole hall clapped and cheered.


Oh do catch the interview with the puppets. Princeton is soooo cute!

All the people I know who watched the show looked at the puppeteers more than the puppets. I was the opposite. Myopia is probably the reason. Despite having contacts on, I’m still pretty shortsighted and could not really see the features on their faces too clearly. I concentrated more on the puppets as their faces were bigger and more colourful.

I kept asking kh if Princeton is handsome. He asked, “You mean the puppeteer for Princeton right?” and I shot back, “NO! Of course I meant Princeton the puppet.” In my shortsightedness, I seriously thought Princeton the puppet was handsome. He thought I was very funny to ask if a puppet was handsome. When I discussed Avenue Q with other people after that, they all thought I was damn weird too. Anyway, Felix Rivera aka Princeton’s puppeteer is good-looking and we all agree on that! You can see him in action in the Opening theme video.

I'm sure glad to be able to watch such an excellent musical in Singapore. I would really love to watch the version by the original cast. I heard that John Tartaglia (puppeteer for Princeton and Rod as well as puppeteer for many Sesame Street muppets) is really good.