For the past three weeks, I have seen and listened to a barrage of reviews, blogs, photos and soundtrack uploads of Avenue Q. My interest in this musical started when my brother invited me to watch the local run of Avenue Q by Atlantis Productions. At first, I really didn't know what Avenue Q was all about. My brother simply explained to me that this show is similar to Rent with puppets playing the roles of the major characters. I was intrigued with my brother's description that I had to surf Avenue Q's website to know more about the musical. After looking it up and saw that the concept was Sesame Street gone wrong...I definitely ate everything up hook, line and sinker! I downloaded the soundtrack and was instantly impressed with the contemporary relevance of the lyrics coupled with the witty and humorous execution of the songs. The tunes had a lot of recall and I believe that anyone who grew up watching Sesame Street would instantly relate to the nostalgic melodies. Hearing and reading great reviews, from friends, of this Tony Award Winning Musical further increased my anticipation for the local run.

After receiving a lot of hype, I was so pumped-up when I finally got to see Avenue Q on September 22. I tried so hard not to over-expect because, based on experience, too much anticipation on my end often leaves me raising the bar so high that I get to become too critical and oftentimes fail to see the beauty of things. But finally seeing and experiencing Atlantis Productions' Avenue Q was such a pleasing experience that I could personally say that it deserves all the raves and hype its been getting.

If you've read my past reviews, here at Multiply, you'd notice that I'd always have a Thumbs Up and a Thumbs Down section where I write all my raves and rants accordingly. This time however, there will be No Thumbs Down section simply because I have no rants against Avenue Q! Read on below to know why I think this musical is a must-see!


• Phenomenally Inventive. Avenue Q uses a satirical approach to ironically comment and poke on very sensitive issues that are prevalent in society. The use of puppets definitely helps lighten the atmosphere and totally justifies the whimsical parodies of human follies, abuses and shortcomings featured in the story line. Topics on racism, unemployment, gay-relationships and internet pornography were dealt with by means of ridicule, derision and irony with the intent of making the audience aware of basic solutions to deal with these issues and simply get along. From a moralist's POV, the profanity and vulgarity may not be an acceptable means to relay any positive values but it would really take a totally naive person not to find some truth in the humorous situations in Avenue Q. The musical parodies may seem light and childish but the issues tackled head-on in Avenue Q are very real and contemporary.

• Pitch Perfect Cast. Felix Rivera, Rachel Alejandro and Joel Trinidad were simply fantastic. I've heard the original Avenue Q Cast's Soundtrack a Gazillion times but these three local actors I mentioned are way much better than their foreign counter-parts. The vocal affectations were superb and the singing was soulfully divine. Other cast members Frenchie Dy and Aiza Seguerra also did a great job with their roles as Christmas Eve and Gary Coleman respectively. Kudos to Stage Directors Bobby Garcia and Chari Arespacochaga for making a great show and perfectly casting Avenue Q.

• Hilariously Self-Reflective. The basic premise of Avenue Q's novelty has been countlessly explained as a cross between Rent and Sesame Street. But if you go much deeper than the Visual and Aural experience of the entire show, I'd bet you'd see a reflection of yourself being played out by one or two of the characters in this musical. It's hard not to relate to at least one situation presented in this show. But the best part is the humor...I laughed so much my cheeks hurt.... and I just can't seem to stop thinking who among my online friends will be a "Trekkie Monster" after reading this review! - LOL



It's too sad that the local run is over "For Now" (I'm singing the Avenue Q song as I'm typing F-o-r N-o-w, haha!). It may seem as though this review will no longer be able to help entice other people to watch the local run, but a friend of mine, who is close to people from Atlantis Productions disclosed to me there may be a possible re-run in December, so let's keep our finger's crossed.


I am confident to say that Avenue Q is the best stage musical I've seen so far. Atlantis Productions and the cast should get awards for staging this magnificently Based on performances I've seen of foreign counterparts over at YouTube, I'm proud to say that our local talents are at par and at times way much better. Five Bottlecaps on My book!