Monday, September 24, 2007
Avenue Q
Finally after a year or so of learning about the famous play, and playing its soundtrack over and over in my CD player and then iPod, Avenue Q has come to life! The first time I heard about it, they were holding auditions for puppeteers and actors last February and back then, the play date was rumored to be August. I was so excited I had to text my friends about it, friends who shared the same fascination I had on the play. And around summer time, we heard that Rachel Alejandro, Frenchie Dy and Aiza Seguerra were to top-bill the show. I was a bit skeptical, thinking the producers were just milking on the famous names, but boy was I in for a surprise!
After more than a year of singing with Kate and Princeton and the rest of the Avenue Q gang, I was more than eager to see “faces”, visuals to bring to life what I have only heard in my head. And there it was, right in front of me, Avenue Q with its 3-building, 2 storey façade. I was mesmerized. Despite the fact that we were far up in the balcony, the excitement couldn’t have been lesser than those who afforded the orchestra seats. We were in for the experience, and the Philippine cast delivered wonderful.
I have to say that Rachel Alejandro has never surprised me this much. I was astounded beyond my wits. Oh yes, she was a great singer back in her days. And she was a great Mimi in Rent, some few years ago. But the way she brought Kate to life and then switched flawlessly to Lucy the Slut was beyond me! She was truly fascinating, as both characters. Her voice was truly beautiful, soft and “innocent” Kate to domineering and woman-of-the-world Lucy. The shifts were seamless.
I would have to laud Joel Trinidad who played numerous characters, all so convincingly: Trekky Monster (he was truly hilarious); Nikky (who couldn’t forgive him with that cute naivete?); and the male Bad Idea Bear (I’d drink to that!).
And for the slightly newbie theatre actor (I say slightly because I’ve read in the book that he has performed in many other plays, but I’ve only heard of him for the first time here in Avenue Q), Felix Rivera , I’m totally amused! The boy has great talent! Not that I’m an expert, but he does a really awesome Princeton, the wide-eyed new grad to Rod, the closet gay Republican. He’s amazing as both but he made me guffaw more in his puppeteering of Rod. He’s just a total riot.
I don’t know if this is the first play for Ms. Aiza Seguerra, but he does a good Gary Coleman. Sometimes though she’s just all-grins and on her arms-on-hips poses. It gets a little awkward.
My gosh, Frenchie Dy is a wonderful soprano. She makes a mean Christmas Eve, I tell you! But my sister did notice though that she had to distinguish between just consciously switching her l’s and r’s and getting the accent right. It wasn’t too convincing at times.
Of course, I couldn’t help but hum along. Every song I knew by heart, yes, even the raunchy ones. Cringe in slight embarrassment at the full puppet nudity of “You can be as loud as the hell you want when your making love…” or cry at “You gotta go after the things you want while you’re still in your prime. There’s a fine fine line…” or reminisce with “I wish I could go back to college…”. Even decide whether to be hopeful or fearful that things are only “For now.” And it was such a beautiful feeling to see and not just hear being played and sung. That made it more than special! It was a dream come true!
All in all, I would say that the Philippine run was a success. I should say so because the theatre was packed, the audience was reeling in uncontrollable laughter, the cast was great! Even the 15-minute intermission announcement came as a funny surprise. The effort! Gotta love the show, really! Whether down at the orchestra to way up in the balcony, it was an experience to remember.
Labels: theatre
tweenkies_1106 at 8:26 PM