Avenue Q – Final Run June 2008. 5 Reasons Why You Should Not Miss the Opening Night of Avenue Q’s Final Run!
I’m still on an Avenue Q high after watching the final dress rehearsals of Avenue Q last night at RCBC. This is the best musical broadway show that I’ve ever seen since Rent in Manila. They used puppets creatively where you can see the puppeteer holding it. For some reason, it was able to create an illusion where the voice of the actors can be heard coming out of the puppet and their facial expressions were mimic by the puppets. (Or was it the other way around?).
I thought that the show would be offensive because of the vulgar language, the full puppet nudity, and graphic sex scenes. It turns out to be a hilarious and fun show. It has the dramatic theme and vocal prowess of Rent with a Bubble-Gang-like spoof of Sesame Street.
It was a Rachel Alejandro show where she played two totally opposite characters of the virgin Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut. What surprised us most was not her singing prowess (which was expected), but how she was able to bring Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut to life with her facial expressions and body movements. In the bed scene of Kate Monster and Princeton (played by Felix Rivera), I saw Rachel really having fun with the way they were playing out the puppet scene. I can still remember the small boobs of Kate Monster and the funny sound that they were making. I’ve been listening to the Avenue Q songs for a month now, and Rachel nailed the Kate Monster part and she was able to capture the audience with the allure of Lucy the Slut.
Aiza Sequerra was brilliant in her performance of Gary Coleman. She has a striking similarity with Gary since she was also a childstar. We were all amazed at the clarity of Aiza’s voice. Aiza’s best moment is when she sang Schadenfreude (pronounced as Shahd-en-froy-de) which means German for happiness in the misfortune of others. I think most Filipinos would be able to relate to this term when you mention Malu Fernandez.
You should never miss Joel Trinidad and Trekkie Monster’s Internet is For Porn sequence. Everybody was laughing in the audience and you can see the different kind of laugh coming from the male in the audience. You don’t know if they are laughing because of Trekkie’s “choreography” or if it hits a nerve somehow. Now we know why Trekkie who spoofs Oscar the grouch in Sesame Street is always in the trash can and gets grouchy whenever he is interrupted.
Frenchie Dy plays the funny Christmas Eve. Despite the fact that she sometimes forget that she should be Japanese (instead of Chinese), she still nailed the part because of how well she delivers her songs and her funny accent and look. We love you Frenchie and you should see her in her outrageous wedding dress.
The last memorable sequence for me is the Rod and Nicky’s “Fantasies come true”. Just replaced Rod and Nicky with Ernie and Bert and you’ll be dying laughing about this bed dream sequence. Rod was played by Felix Rivera and Nicky was played by Joel Trinidad. Bravo!
The final scene where the entire cast sang “For Now”, gives me a Rent like chill. The message of the song “Everthing in Life is only For Now” hits me like the “No Day But Today” theme of Rent. You should see Rachel Alejandro acts out Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut one after another by holding the puppets at the same time. I’m amazed on how she can switch with such ease and fun.
Fantastic show. There are only 12 performances starting tonight September 7 until September 23 in RCBC Auditorium.
Related Posts:
The Puppets of Avenue Q by Tennis and Conversations
Music, lights, puppets! by Mila Tan
OMG!!! FULL NUDITY in a Philippine Theater Production!!! by Manila Boy
Thanks for the full review, I’m seeing this tonight!
Anton, thank you again for gracing the show last night through Lorna’s invitation. Thank you also for this wonderful review.
For those who love the music and songs, it’ll be such a revelation to hear these with the characters’ lines as well. I was especially touched with “Everything in Life is Only For Now”, how it all brings the neighborhood together.
For those still deciding, I urge you to watch this seemingly simple but beautiful and powerful musical!
This is a must-see for all Filipinos – an outstanding musical !!! Some punch lines may not be understood by the locals. I wonder if there will be changes.
Please understand all the songs and learn from them:
We are all a little bit racist – We think that whiter skin is better than darker skin and the media exploits this perception. No homophobes, no bigotry please.
Schadenfreude – There is a little bit of Malu Fernandez in all of us. Let us admit it – everything in the Philippines is based on socio-economic status. The wannabes are the worst.
At the end of the day, let us realize that whatever prosperity (for the corrupt) or hardship (for all the OFW) that we face – This is only for now!!!
Thanks Anton for the blog.
bro,
blogged about it already,
paki-send na lang yung link kay TheBachelorGirl.
now,
we can start dreaming about…
THE LION KING!!!!
p.s.
i’ll go back to porn now.
I’m so excited, I’m watching this on Sunday! 😀
Hi Anton,
Thank you so much for this wonderful review and I’m so glad that you enjoyed yourself.
Thank you again for taking the time to watch the play and spreading the fuzz
Hi Anton,
Can I just say that I always go to your blog to update myself with what’s happening in the world. I am so busy with work (actually, busy is an understatement) that my life has been limited to the four corners of our office and thank God for you I dont have to scour the city to update myself. I just read your blog and try your recommendations, so now I will watch Avenue Q. Oh and by the way I have tried Swagat with my Indian colleagues and according to them their food is as close to authentic, that’s why they love that resto.
Hi. Does anyone have 2 spare tickets (balcony) for Sept. 22 performance?
I agree with the comment on Frenchie Dy! Japanese don’t use “L” instead of “R” because their alphabet doesn’t have “L” in the first place, so she shouldn’t have pronounced Rod’s name as “Lod” at all.
But anyway, she was funny, so I guess that kind of saves the mistakes 😛
I must watch this – I am so inggit from all the stories… 🙂
I must watch this – I am so inggit from all the stories… 🙂
hi anton! i saw ur article at the sunday inquirer magazine today! congratz!!!! 🙂
The myth busters already proved that nobody dies or gets hospitalized from a penny thrown down from the top of the empire state! 😉 hehehe. Congrats bro in hitting the sunday inquirer mag. Ave.Q the best!
This was a great musical 🙂 Completely entertaining, simple but very, very real. And the cast was just amazing! IMHO, they were even better than the original broadway version. Iba talaga ang mga Pinoy! 🙂
We caught the Sunday matinee of this show yesterday and it was the most wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon! The story is simple but we were thoroughly entertained by the actors performing with their puppet wards. I found the actors so compelling to watch that I often caught myself enthralled by their facial expressions rather than by the puppets they were manipulating. Kudos, in particular, to Rachel Alejandro for her wonderful voice work with both Kate Monster and Lucy T. Slut. Aiza Seguerra also well inhabited the Gary Coleman role. All in all, everybody in the production deserves unqualified praise for bringing this riotous gem of a musical to Manila. May it have another run! Cheers!