2009.11.06
Any thoughts about "Avenue Q"?
I went with my wife to see "Avenue Q" last night at the Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre. I had a good time, although, sitting up in the balcony, I found myself at times wishing I'd brought binoculars and an ear trumpet.
Audience-wise, it looked like a good turnout to me. Feel free to share what you thought if you went.
I had a good time at the show. The sound system at the Roanoke Civic Center is dreadful--I was fortunate to have a seat down low.
The show is stronger in the first act. I was familiar with virtually all the music (The roars of laughter at some of the shock punch lines tells me that much of the audience was hearing it for the first time), so I didn't have as much difficulty following the show. For those in the balconly having trouble hearing, I would guess that it is hard to "lip read" a puppet, even with binoculars.
Subject matter is a bit crude at times, but that may be my age showing. I noted that in the final song "For Now," instead of enduring George Bush they now endure "Fox News."
I found myself weirdly looking at both the puppet and the puppeteer as they were performing--almost like I couldn't really view the puppet as the real character.
Comment by Ken — November 7, 2009 @ 11:10 am
. Sunny Day Sweepin' the clouds away. On my way to where the air is sweet. Can you tell me how to get, How to get to Sesame Street ...Wrong turn, I ended up on Ave Q. Great show. The puppeteers handled the puppets fantastically, sometimes you forgot they were there. Best song...Internet is for Porn, cute number.
Comment by laurie — November 8, 2009 @ 7:23 am
I was one of the ones seeing it for the first time that Ken mentioned and was in the Balcony. Show was great and very funny. I can see that some might find the subject matter crude at times, but it felt very appropriate to the show. Mature Audiences only was indicated in multiple places so it wasn't something unexpected. Unlike Ken, both my wife and I found it easy to ignore the puppeteer and only look at the puppet. I felt they did relatively good at staying in the background.
Only negative comment I have about the whole show is that after seeing more than 20 performances at the Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre this is the WORST the audio has been for any of those. We've never had this much difficulty with hearing what was going on on stage. There's quite a few jokes we missed entirely during the performance that we've since caught after purchasing the soundtrack. It didn't ruin our experience, but it did detract from it.
Comment by Bryan — November 9, 2009 @ 11:08 am
Bryan, I think my experience was similar to yours. I really enjoyed the show, would have enjoyed it more if I didn't have to keep cupping my ears with my hands.
Regarding the subject matter, to me it actually felt rather tame. I imagine "Avenue Q" was much more cutting edge when it debuted six years ago.
Comment by mikeallen — November 9, 2009 @ 11:42 am