Is Avenue Q Over rated??

[kasim]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 10:32am

I am just curious.

You guys bash a lot of the popular shows on here like wicked or producers or whatever. But i dont hear much on avenue Q. NOW granted i have NEVER seen the show. Seen previews. I have the soundtrack and i admit i LOVE the soundtrack.

BUT it doesnt seem like the songs are tremendously hard to sing (at least compared to some other shows), the set looks very boring, ok they have puppets but from what i have seen, not much in terms of dancing. Heck how can you with puppets.

I admit its kind of unique, but i am just suprised i figured a lot of you would attack it for those reasons.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 10:36am

I still haven't seen the show, so I don't really want to make a comment.

I think that the success of the show depended more on the uniqueness of the production - aka puppets. While the music isn't extraordinary, the lyrics are. It really is that after-college life for a lot of people, I've been told.

[wendy72]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 10:44am

I think Avenue Q deserves every accolade it received--including the Tony. It is unique, fun, fresh and brought a whole new theatre audience to Broadway.

[kasim]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 10:51am

"I think Avenue Q deserves every accolade it received--including the Tony. It is unique, fun, fresh and brought a whole new theatre audience to Broadway."

--- a whole new theatre audience???

So wicked and spamalot bring a new theatre audience (albeit more annoying) thats bad. Avenue Q does it, and its good. And i am not quite sure what the new audience would be except guys who dont mind getting dragged to a show.


I really am just curious how a show like spam/wicked get bashed yet avenue Q doesnt. I mean its good, and i love the soundtrack, but a tony??? I've heard people complain about the lack of good choreography in wicked, not much dancing. FROM what i have seen in perviews avenue Q has virtually no choreography. The sets in the pics look dull as anything, gratned i have only seen the one.

i dont know ...

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 10:56am

"It is unique, fun, fresh and brought a whole new theatre audience to Broadway. "

I couldn't agree more! I saw it for the 3rd time on Friday and its just different than anything else out there. It doesn't take itself tooo seriously, its a show that has alot of heart and while the melody might be simple, its unbelievably effective!

People might say its a simple show but thats only if you take it for what it is. You have to look into the deeper aspects of the show to trully understand it. The stories of these people (not puppets) are so relatable, its impossible not to love!

I *heart* this show so much!

Anyone that wants to talk about it, PM me.

[mesmerized24601]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 11:00am

personally I like both of them. Do I think Avenue Q deserved a Tony, not really but it is a great and entertaining few hours of theatre.

I am however confused by your post are you really curious about Avenue Q or are you trieng to defend Wicked in some wierd reverse psycology method?

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 11:05am

Avenue Q doesn't get bashed because there are not numerous, ridiculous and incessant threads about the show; unlike another show which shall remain nameless.

I saw Avenue Q before it won the Tony and I appreciate the talent behind the show, but it didn't do a thing for me.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 11:07am

"Avenue Q doesn't get bashed because there are not numerous, ridiculous and incessant threads about the show; unlike another show which shall remain nameless. "


Yes. Thank you!

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 11:08am

re: Is Avenue Q Over rated??

...Yes.

EDIT: It's like the old cliché about Chinese food. It tastes good while you're eating it, but a few hours later you're hungry again.

Updated On: 10/18/05 at 11:08 AM

[wendy72]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 11:09am

Kasim-I think you're reading into my note or adding your own spin to it...I and many others who like both shows have never bashed anyone who likes Wicked. I am not sure why you're trying to create controversy.

[Urban]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 11:15am

The songs are not as easy to sing as some people think.

"The Money Song" for instant changes register 2/3rds of the way through, going up several notes. Not that easy to do in the space of a couple of breaths.

[kasim]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 11:15am

no not trying to create controversy.

Just really curious, i see you guys and its not just wicked or spam or whatever. A lot of shows i see bashed for lack of "hard" singing, dancing, etc.

heck people have said before broadway IS acting, dancing, and singing. This show, while i admit is VERY fresh and VERY entertaining in CD alone. I do listen to it often. I just am suprised and heck maybe i have missed threads.

Is it really enough that it should have got the TONY????

again, i am not saying i am wrong. Just wanna hear some justification to win a tony and yet seem to lack those other areas.

[kasim]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 11:16am

"The songs are not as easy to sing as some people think."

Fair enough, i was never a singer, i played the violin instead. It just SEEMED to me, and if i am wrong, sobeit.

[kyle33nyc]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 11:23am

The show is not overrated.

I also believe that the success of the show has little to do with the puppets. 1) The composer/lyricist team have generated truly fun and enjoyable theater songs. 2) Many people under the age of 40 have fond memories of Sesame Street, and the show has a strong connection to that source material. 3) There is a very clever and wicked sense of humor that meshes well with the genuine warmth and humanity that underscores the show.

Now, I'd like to know why you are kissing a melon...

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 11:24am

Q rules.
Steph is a hoot.
John is so nice.
I won the lottery once.
Do you like Forbidden Broadway?

Updated On: 10/18/05 at 11:24 AM

[Conor]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 11:26am

didn't like it, it's not that funny, very overrated. Shouldn't have won the Tony, and I'm not a die hard you know what fan, but I honestly did feel that you know what should have won the Tony.

[nydirector2]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 11:27am

How can a show that doesn't claim to be more than it is be overrated? The way a show gets overrated is by the consistancy of the marketing, etc. claiming that the show is the best thing since sliced bread. Wicked, Spamelot, the Producers, etc. are all like this. Avenue Q's campaign the entire time has basically been, "Can you believe we're on Broadway?"

How can a show be determined overrated by the dancing and strength of music. Some shows don't require a lot of dancing nor loud music, nor a huge set, three things that basically take away form the show instead of adding to it, in my oppinion. I've always believed that a good show is just as good in the rehearsal hall as it is on stage. Meaning, you don't have to have all the added extras to make it good. So..yes, the music, set, and choreography is overly simplistic. But Q is so good and enjoyable that it doesn't need any of the extra Broadway pzaz.

Frankly, I think that the 80's pretty much ruined Broadway by turning it into a place for spectacle rather than a place for enjoyable shows. There's hope, though, with shows like Avenue Q, Spelling Bee, and Light in the Piazza. All three are shows that base everything on the material, not the extras.

[kasim]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 11:27am

"Now, I'd like to know why you are kissing a melon..."

My friends friend didnt like me so he called me "watermellon", in an attempt to make fun of me.

I thought it was funny so i sent her pics of me kissing a watermellon and me looking psycho with a melon.

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 11:33am

The show that most of the people who say the things you are claiming about "hard singing, acting" and better scores, etc. are not usually huge Q fans. The show most of those people would have prefered to see win the TONY was Caroline or Change, that was the ARTSY show, with TABOO probably very close to Q still over Wicked.

Q is still prefered by many over Wicked because it os experiemental and in many ways redefines what you expect to see on stage.

Is Q overrated? I enjoyed it immensely, but I would probably say yes but just in terms of it not being quite as "different" as the adds claim.

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 11:35am

How can a show that doesn't claim to be more than it is be overrated?

That's a silly question. A show can't rate itself. It's overrated by what others think with either praise or criticism... not by how it feels about itself.

You feel it's unassuming or unpretentious, but that has nothing to do with its kudos and laurels heaped on it by others.

I think it's had way too much "heaping" for a show that's mildly entertaining and good for a couple of hours of laughs, at best. That can be said of a Munsters TV marathon.

Posted: 10/18/05 at 11:53am

". . . a show that's mildly entertaining and good for a couple of hours of laughs, at best"

To my mind, this might fall into the category of under-rating. I think the truth lies somewhere in between.

[Corine2]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 12:37pm

I will go out on a limb and say it is my favorite show of all time.

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 12:53pm

My problem isn't that Q won the Tony...it's that, if there had to be a big upset, I would have wanted Wicked to win and Q to upset SPAMALOT--I know they were different years, but it's kindof sad to me that Wicked will obviously have such a lasting impact on Broadway and yet can't claim that...I think Spamalot will die sooner than Wicked and I just don't like it as much as Wicked or Q.

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 12:56pm

I'm not criticizing others who think it's great. I can see why... if it speaks to them. It just didn't speak to me beyond the hours I was at the theatre enjoying it.

But the "is it overrated" question can only be answered in relation to your own personal opinion of the show. If you love it to death, then it's not overrated. If you think it's merely fine & enjoyable (or perhaps even less than that), then it's overrated.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 12:58pm

The material resonates strongly with a generation for whom SESAME STREET and other knowing, progressive childrens' entertainment was a daily connection to the world, ideas, identity. I think the creators tapped into the lexicon of SS and its ilk, and found a way to serve up nostalgia and gentle satire on the earnest tropes of childhood and children's TV, and the universal themes re the pain/thrill of growing up. Its success for any given audience member perhaps relates to that.