It Sucks To Be Me!

So I have just celebrated my birthday (yay!) and there was a particular show in town, which I found to be the perfect one to celebrate with- not only was it in Manchester at the perfect time, but neither my best friend nor my fiancé (who I went to see it with) had seen it before - and my friend was particularly excited when I suggested it as she had wanted to see it for AGES. 

In fact, this show holds a bit of a special place in my heart - when I was 16/17, I wasn't PROPERLY into that many shows; my list pretty much consisted of Les Mis, Wicked and this show: Avenue Q - in fact, Avenue Q was my favourite musical, even above Les Mis at the time; and to be honest, though it may no longer be No.1, it is still near the top to this day! 

What drew my to this show is that I have always been a huge fan of the Muppets, and so am a bit of a sucker for a show with puppets - probably why I liked War Horse and Little Shop so much.... But the thing is, it is the perfect way to tell this story, as in a way, it's as if you can get away with ruder and more brash stuff  - somehow, it's all made ok coming out of a puppet's mouth.

This was not my first time seeing the show. My first time was way back in 2010, just as I was about to got to uni, and the West End production was about to close. I kind of begged my dad to come out with me and see it - and he enjoyed it, other than one scene I forgot to warn him about..... But anyway, I digress. 

Written by Robert Lopez (who has co-written material from Book of Mormon to Frozen!) and Jeff Marx, the show had it's successful Broadway run in 2003, and won what's known as the 'Triple Crown' at the 2004 Tonys: Best Book, Best Score and Best Musical (even beating the likes to Wicked to the coveted crown!). A West End production soon followed, and it was nominated for a 2007 Olivier.

The story of Avenue Q follows a group of lively characters Princeton, Kate Monster, Trekkie Monster, Christmas Eve and more (both human and puppet alike) as they try and struggle through live and pay their bills on Avenue Q, addressing issues from relationships to racism and internet porn along the way. It is essentially Sesame Street and South Park or Family Guy mixed together. 

It is a much smaller scale show than some other shows, as the show has just the same street set and a couple of screens (providing some animated film sequences), and so rather than rely on that, the show depends on the material and the ability of the actor's portrayal to make it look effortless to make this puppet talk etc - and this really is where the show SHINES and made me fall in love with this piece all over again!
The songs are heart-warming (such as Fantasies Come True) and hilarious (eg: If You Were Gay), and the book just as much the same, with both providing many laughs a minute. And, from that, you get characters which are just as lovable and relatable as they would be if this were a Disney production (although it is MUCH ruder than any Disney film you'll encounter)! 

What's more is that the show did kind of speak to me in a way in a highlight which was completely unexpected - and that's in the song I Wish I Could Go Back To College. That song resounded with me in a way it couldn't when I was 17 - in that I have now left uni, and in some ways, face a uncertain future, compared to preparing to go to Bangor, learn more French and have a lot of fun. And while, I think about it, compared to now, while there is an abundance of works relating the 20s crisis, Avenue Q may have been one of the first to do that...! Though as the end song goes "Everything in life is only For Now" (even David Cameron), and it is comforting to know that things will get better eventually, even though we don't know when.

I don't want to say any more than I have done, because I want you to experience this for yourself - it's unfortunately finished in Manchester now but is still touring all over the country. Alternatively, get yourself a copy of the cast recording, or have a listen on Spotify - it's just brilliant.

And one final caution: as they say, this show is not suitable for little monsters =P