Posts Tagged ‘musicals’

Avenue Q at the Cobb Energy Centre

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

Avenue Q.  Where else would you get lyrical gems like this?

“It sucks to be me”

“If you were gay, that’d be okay”

“The Internet is for porn”

“I’m Gary Coleman!”

avenue q

Avenue Q at the Cobb Energy Centre

If the sheer hilarity of these quotes didn’t convince to you check out the show at the Cobb Energy Centre before it leaves town Sunday night, you need to check your pulse.

The Tony-winning show (which somehow survived closing on Broadway and managed to swing a majorly successful tour AND a rebirth Off-Broadway) features puppets with attitude.  It’s as if Atlanta’s Lucky Yates developed and produced a puppet show ready for a prime-time audience of teens and adults seeking their own “purposes.”

Other than both being entertaining, Avenue Q and Spring Awakening are similar in only one way: neither is for kids.  You may see the Sesame Street-style puppets (although I need to mention, for legal reasons, that these are NOT Sesame Street puppets) and think it’s a good idea to bring your 5-year-old, but you’ll need to leave the kids at home for this show.  My brother just turned 14 and had been waiting 4 years to be old enough to see the show.  I finally convinced my mother to allow me to take him this round, and some of it was still a little raunchy for him.

Narrative nutshell: Puppet Princeton moves to Avenue Q, a Skid Row-y street in New York, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and fresh out of college.  (“What DO you do with a B.A. in English?”)  Soon, stone-cold reality slaps him in his furry face as he finds himself jobless, single, broke, and depressed.  Seeking his purpose in life, Princeton runs across a whole host of different but oddly similar folks from the neighborhood, who initially argue about who’s life sucks most but end up discovering that they are all in the same shitty, sinking boat, so they might as well enjoy themselves.

Recommend, recommend, recommend this show.  The cast is stellar and lots of fun, and the songs really can’t be beat.  You don’t have to be a musical theater buff to love this show – you just have to identify with life’s average struggles.  And puppets.  That helps.

Get your tickets here and use TravelZoo code MACYS (under Promotions and Specials) to BOGO free.  Don’t say I never gave you anything! 

Get there before it closes May 23rd.

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South Pacific Shocks and Awes

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

south pacific

It’s amazing how a small change can affect your whole perception of a show.

Seeing Nellie Forbush as a reformed racist in “South Pacific” at the Fox is an experience like no other.  For those used to the family-friendly movie with only a few hints at prejudice, seeing a nod to the real feelings of the era brings the audience shudders, shock, and surprises that made for some awkward but necessary moments in the show.

Watching your heroine, Nellie, devolve into a bigot in Act II is disturbing, to say the least.  This woman you’ve watched with awe, identifying her motives with yours, exposes a dirty little secret about herself that is difficult to reconcile.  Seeing the “cock-eyed optimist” fall deeply in love feels almost like you’re watching a stereotypical musical full of smiles.

However, darker elements emerge.  Elements of war always play quietly in the foreground, like Taps at a soldier’s funeral.  The song “You’ve Got to be Carefully Taught” explores the nature of prejudice and the effect it has on people.  However, light shines through at the end, as the girl in which you’ve questioned your faith turns a new leaf, proving that acceptance, too, can be carefully taught.

I’ve never been a particularly big fan of “South Pacific” as a show, but there are lessons to take from this production.  Adding to the thought-provoking nature of the show, the cast is absolutely stellar in every way: there are no weak links.  Carmen Cusack could easily be considered a standout (and I’m not just saying that because I interviewed her, although it doesn’t hurt).  Her voice is as clear as a bell and as beautiful as you’d imagine a former Elphaba’s should be.  Cusack also knows her character on an intimate level, and really allows Nellie’s likable qualities to shine, even in the light of a terrible one.

All in all, I’d recommend this show, if you have a chance to get to the Fox this week.  Definitely more for the 60+ generation, but everyone can take something away from it.  See it before it heads out of town 4/11.

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‘Cause Everything is Rent

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

rent charleston sc music hall

Although this blog is meant primarily for Atlantans, I have to give credit where it’s due.  And oh, brother, is it due in Charleston, SC, where White Tuxedo Productions recently brought down the house with its production of “Rent.”

I’d tell you to run out and purchase tickets for your upcoming summer vacays, but the show had a short run that ended in mid-February.  I was one of the lucky few to catch it sweep through the city like the whirlwind that “Rent” is: dancing, singing, loving, humping, writhing, and beating like a big bass drum the whole way through.

Now, full disclosure: I took the weekend trip to Atlanta’s sister city to see my friend Rori Nogee perform as Maureen.  Friendship aside (because I wouldn’t let it taint my opinion of theater), Rori must descend from her steel table to claim her rightful crown among the Maureens of Broadway fame.  You can’t beat talent like this, folks.  She sang as though her life would end any moment, laughed from her toes through her dreads, and absolutely brought the house down.

But I’m not suggesting that Rori and her beautiful ass stole the show alone.  The amazing cast was chock-full of undiscovered New York talent just waiting to be plucked for Broadway.  Scottie McLaughlin as Collins made even the hard-hearted cry during his reprise of “I’ll Cover You,” while Jennifer Fogarty’s “Out Tonight” could turn a straight girl gay.  Every member of the cast sang with passion, enthusiasm, and a genuine love for their craft, and this kind of performance is what live entertainment is all about.

I won’t go into the plot of “Rent,” because many have tried to (and most have failed at) explaining its intricacies without the show sounding like one big teary show about AIDS with an overriding message of love (aw, shucks).

To understand “Rent,” one must experience it for oneself, from its highs (oh, its many highs) to its gut-wrenching lows.  A decade-bridging classic, “Rent” isn’t just for the freaks who stagedoor.  It’s for the artist in all of us.

Kudos to the Charleston cast for staying true to its beauty, power, and magic.

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