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This was a review I made October last year after I watched the first run of Avenue Q.
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image courtesy of Atlantis Productions
Music and Lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx
Book by Jeff Whitty
Directed by Bobby Garcia and Chari Arespacochaga
RUN: September 7 - 23, 2007
WHERE: Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati
It has been quite some time since I last saw a musical production here in Manila. When I heard that Atlantis is going to produce Avenue Q and will be staged here in Manila, I didn’t hesitate and reserved my ticket. I’ve heard a lot of raves for Avenue Q since its Broadway debut. It was the 2004 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, so I was sure that I wasn’t going to regret watching this one.
Avenue Q is a musical about real life. Its setting is in an outer borough of New York City at the present time. The place is far from being Park Avenue (where most well-off people of New York City resides), but it is home to some unusual people and puppets. It is about graduating from a course that one doesn't know what to do with (What Do You Do With a B.A. in English); it is about finding a job and losing a job; it is about finding an apartment to live in and getting kicked out of your apartment; it is about racism (Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist), promiscuity, falling in love, avoiding commitment, finding one's purpose (Purpose), wishing to go back to one’s security blanket (I Wish I Could Go Back to College) and discovering one’s self in the process.
Princeton, a bright-eyed college graduate, came to New York City filled with big dreams and a tiny bank account. Looking for a place to live in, he found out that Avenue Q was the place that is within his budget. He met people from all walks of life and race in this neighborhood which led him on a hilarious journey of self-discovery.
While watching the show, I could see myself in Princeton’s shoes a few years back (and sometimes in the present when life seems so tough on me). I guess we all went through the stage when we were fresh out of college, trying to find our niche in the real world, knowing that we’re out of college’s security blanket. “I wish I could go back to college. Life was so simple back then.” As we grow older, it seems like life gets more and more complicated. Don’t you just wish that we could go back to college, or high school? But then, as the show also says…”everything in life is only for now”.
Unconventional to the usual musicals I’ve seen from the past, Avenue Q made use of both real people and puppets to portray different characters. At first, I couldn’t imagine how this was going to be staged. I thought of Sesame Street when I heard that puppets were going to be used in the play, and imagined having a waist high wall all the time to keep the audience from seeing the puppeteers. But this show is far from being Sesame Street. First of all, the puppeteers didn’t have to hide behind a wall while they performed. If you watched you would see that Rachel Alejandro performed for two puppets, and that Joel Trinidad performed for at least four puppets. Secondly, I wouldn’t recommend kids to watch this show. We usually associate Sesame Street and puppets to kids. But Avenue Q is advertised to have “full puppet nudity”. In my opinion, adults and teenagers would love this show. But since Avenue Q addresses issues like sex, racism, drinking, and surfing the web for porn, parents should use their discretion based on the maturity level of their kids before letting them watch this show.
The performance of the main cast was amazing. Frenchie Dy, Rycharde Everly and Aiza Seguerra who portrayed real people’s characters were fantastic. Frenchie, who was discovered from Star In a Million proved to have the voice of a winner. She was able to belt out the high notes of The More You Ruv Someone and carry out the role of a Japanese migrant complete with speaking and singing voice Japanese accent. Rycharde was so funny. And Aiza, whom we knew as the kid who won the hearts of many in Eat Bulaga, proved to have great talent. She played Gary Coleman in the show. Yes, the child actor from Different Strokes. Although Aiza played a male character, she played it convincingly.
Rachel Alejandro, Felix Rivera and Joel Trinidad all portrayed the characters of puppets. In short, they were the puppeteers of the show’s main characters. Although they were hiding behind the character of their puppets, you could still see that their facial expressions match the lines that they deliver and the songs that they sing. There were some puppeteers, however, that are expressionless, which doesn’t give much impact to their performances. They also had to adjust their voices to make their speaking voices sound like a puppet. I know it was hard to make it consistent for the duration of the whole show, but they were able to pull it off. There were also times that I noticed that the puppets were talking or singing but the puppeteers’ mouth isn’t moving. One would think that they are great ventriloquists. But I was told beforehand that there are guest voices in the show. Among them are Lea Salonga, Rob Chien (Lea’s husband), Jet Pangan, KC Concepcion, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo and Bobby Lopez (co-creator of Avenue Q). However, I couldn’t quite point a finger whose voice was talking or singing during those times.
I really enjoyed watching this show. I give it a “two thumbs” up. To those who missed the October run of Avenue Q, and to those who would want to watch it again, Atlantis Productions decided to do a repeat performance on December. The run will be from December 14 – 23, 2007. Venue will still be at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati City.
And as Rachel Alejandro said after their curtain call, let’s support Philippine theater. =)
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