I Liked Avenue Q Until I Saw it Onstage

For those of you who love quoting Avenue Q and singing along to the soundtrack, don't make the same stupid mistake I did and pay money to watch a musical called Avenue Q. I was excited for Avenue Q until I saw it.

Listening to the music was fun. Watching the show was fun. But once I did both, the $1,000,000 question remains, WHAT ELSE IS THERE?

Most other musicals/plays enable each new performance the chance of a new cast bringing in new talent and new interpretations of the musical/play. Even though I may hate the material, I've always looked forward to seeing each new tour of Evita or The Sound Of Music because I end up seeing something different. There really isn't anything new to enhance the original material of Avenue Q.

Whether a causal fan reciting a scene or an official actor performing, every person I saw doing a bit from Avenue Q used the exact same pitch, tone, sarcasm, and interpretation. For all I know, every performance is a recording of the first guy who did the show, and I didn't even like the first guy who did it. A joke can be added, a new song sung, but it's still the same old routine. If I wanted to see something that stagnant, I'd watch a TV rerun or worse, a film starring Keanu Reeves.

At least there are a few good TV reruns are worth watching again because the show was so awesome (Check your local TV lsitings for Sledge Hammer!). But why would I want to watch a rerun of a LIVE performance, where variety and variance is the POINT of being live?

The brain dead zombies at the anime and sci-fi conventions I attend who quote and/or sing Avenue Q are twice the insult to the stagnant injury because not only are they being sheep for the static Avenue Q, they're untalented sheep. And I've been itching for a new wool sweater.

I suppose the foul-mouthed childish puppets and adult lyrics may give a shocking sting. But thanks to the wonders of cable television, I was inoculated to the shock thanks to the foul-mouthed children of South Park before I even heard of Avenue Q. There goes the originality of Avenue Q's shock and lyrics except for slightly better rhythm. At least the South Park talent works to bring new plots and styles of their foul-mouthed shock.

I could try enjoying the humor and nostalgia of seeing Sesame Street (part of a normal childhood) grown up by watching Avenue Q. But I did not have the luxury of watching Sesame Street as a child. So in the end I'm stuck watching an overrated musical once its bells and whistles are removed.