Avenue Q

I trekked over to Bass Hall in Fort Worth with my good friend, Lonny, to see Avenue Q last night. We sat in the Upper Gallery Center section, and although I did have to hold onto the railing to prevent a mild case of vertigo, I must say that those "nosebleed" seats are far superior to the third balcony at the Music Hall in Dallas.

There were a few sound problems in the first few minutes (either the mics weren't set at the right level, or the actors weren't loud enough), but other than that, the acoustics were great. I know the cast recording frontward and back, so I couldn't judge based on the songs alone, but I was able to understand all of the dialog. I would have liked to have been closer to see some of the actors' facial expressions, but overall, the seats were fine.

We got a couple of the understudies (Kate Monster, Christmas Eve, & Gary Coleman), but other than one obvious flubbed line, that didn't seem to be an issue. The cast worked very well together. Being so familiar with the original cast recording, I found Nicky's voice to be a little off, but that's not to say the actor did a poor job. He just didn't sound that much like the original character. The Bad Idea Bears were also a little tough to understand at times, but that may just be the nature of the high, squeaking voice that is used. The guy who did both Nicky and Trekkie started to lose his voice late in the show. I can imagine that Trekkie Monster's voice takes it toll over time.

Two songs had been shortened, "Schadenfreude" and "The Money Song," but unless one is familiar with the cast recording, there's nothing about the changes that would stand out.

The "George Bush" line (those who know the music or have seen the show know what I'm talking about) got much bigger applause and laughs from the $24 seats around me than it did from the more expensive seats on the floor.

I wondered how the material would play around here, but there was no noticeable exodus at intermission, so people must not have been too offended. The light applause at the end of "My Girlfriend Who Lives in Canada" was the biggest indication of any audience discomfort.

My friend, Lonny, did not know anything about the show going into it. He told me at intermission that when I mentioned that the show included puppets as we walked into the building, he thought "Oh crap!" But, he ended up thoroughly enjoying the show as well.

Now that I've seen the show, it is much more understandable how it beat out Wicked for the Tony. Wicked is probably the better show, but Avenue Q is hilariously entertaining.