Avenue Q

We went to see Avenue Q, the other night at the Cadillac Palace in Chicago. For those who don’t know, this is a Broadway musical that’s basically an adult-themed Sesame Street, with puppets and actors teaching “lessons” about sex, racism, etc. We knew the songs and they are hilarious, but the show hadn’t toured yet so we hadn’t seen it. It was SO FUNNY. Better than I expected. Even though we knew all the jokes in the songs, the script was really good and there were some surprises that kept it interesting. My favorite parts - which were not on the album so they were totally suprising - were when the “Bad Idea Bears” showed up – two cute puppets who encourage characters to make bad decisions – “You could buy beer!” "Why buy a 6-pack if you can save money buying bulk? Yaaaaaaaaaaay!” “You could play a drinking game!” “Take her home – she’s wasted!” Very fun.

Quick NYC Trip February 2008

I had a quick trip to NYC this month. We applied for a grant from The Commonwealth Fund and after it receives one level of approval, they fly you out to “present” it to their executive team, which includes their President Karen Davis (VIP) and other important people. I was pretty terrified but I think it went well and feedback from the CWF VP who is shepherding the proposal through their process, Dr. Schor, was good – so keep your fingers crossed (I think we’ll get it). But the most important thing is I found time to squeeze in a show – Curtains, which is the “last” Kander & Ebb musical and stars among others David Hyde Pierce. It was good, actually – better than I expected.

And I also snagged two very rare vinyl showtunes – the London casts of Valmouth (a flop starring Cleo Laine) and Little Mary Sunshine (a 50’s parody of the Canadian Mountie musicals – “when I’m calling you-ooo-ooo-ooo, ooo-ooo” etc.). The off-Broadway version starred a very young Eileen Brennan, and the London version starred Patricia Routledge, who some people might know from “Keeping Up Appearances” which we see on BBC or local public television. Score!

Shows in NYC

Steven and I went to NYC for the first time in a while – we would like to make annual trips to see shows but it’s too expensive. This time we stayed in Soho, which was interesting – grittier but less touristy than the theatre district or upper E/W sides. Highlights included celebrity sightings: Alec Baldwin at Tribeca Grill, the bleached blond from America’s Next Top Model hailing a cab, the young kid from Queer as Folk (Showtime) – probably looking for work – and Ty Pennington at a restaurant (not obviously drunk, as his recent admission might suggest). I guess it’s not very special if the “celebrities” are of such a caliber that you only know half their names.

We were incredibly lucky – the stagehands were on strike so nearly all shows were closed, but the three we bought tickets for were not! They were Xanadu (very silly and fun), and Young Frankenstein (pretty awful except one number by Megan Mullaly).