Review: AVENUE Q BY HAPPILY EVER AFTER PRODUCTIONS at Het Amsterdams Theaterhuis!
What did our critic think of AVENUE Q BY HAPPILY EVER AFTER PRODUCTIONS at Het Amsterdams Theaterhuis?
Avenue Q. A world-wide hit, a super fun show with puppets,but definitely not for children. Happily Ever After Productions finally brings this musical to Amsterdam, in English, in a direction of Sara Watts.
It's a classic coming-of-age story mixed with witty songs about racism, purpose and loud sex. Thumbs up for the excellent live band. Nothing beats live music, especially in musical theatre.
The cast is passionate and their enthusiasm is palpable and yet... the level of skill of the performers vary. A lot. Too much. So much that it's painfully obvious who's helping whom through a scene or song.
Both 'Gary Coleman' and 'Christmas Eve' don't match up with the rest, neither vocally nor in acting abilities, which honestly is a pity. Both these characters should be full of color and spunk, but they're vanilla at best. Schadenfreude, the anthem of Gary Coleman, fell flat. Such a waste. When done properly, it's a guaranteed laugh. Would have loved to see this song being smashed out of the park.
On the other side of the spectrum, outstanding are Camilla Gribbons as Kate Monster, Ed Simmons as Princeton and Arvid van Kasteel as Nicky. It should not come as a surprise that their trio in the end of act 2 "I Wish I Could Go Back to College" was touching.
However, the biggest surprise of the evening is Marc de Wolf as Trekkie Monster. He may not be an actor by profession (by day he's a animator/cartoonist) he sure is an actor at heart. And one with a great voice as well. He makes Trekkie extra chuckle-worthy.
Short and sweet (or... not so sweet), two words for Anna Murton as Lucy T. Slut... wickedly fun.
It is to be applauded that this producer took on the challenge that is Avenue Q. Not only did they design the puppets themselves, as outside the US and UK the original puppets are not rented out, a cast made of puppets mixed with real humans has its challenges. Some of the times the humans disappear in a scene, and blend in the background.
But if you're in for a laugh and an unexpected night out, Avenue Q is for you. Which is still not suitable for children.
For more info & tickets: https://heaproductions.nl/avenue-q/
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