Musicals in London (August 2007) - Day 3

Here's the report for yesterday (11 August).

Since it was Saturday I knew in advance that it would have been quite hard to find any good ticket (if not any ticket at all) since that's the most crowded day for musicals.

I first tried with the Sound of Music, but they had really high prices and only one "cheap" available sit (very far and with restricted view). Too bad. I tried with Billy Eliott the musical. Well, there was an acceptable queue for day tickets but fortunately I found one for 25 pounds in the second row. This was intended as a restricted view, since you had to keep you are very near the stage which was a little bit high. However, it wasn't restricted at all! That was really a very good sit and I could see everything and very well!

The show started very well and looked pretty good! In particular all the kids were very good at dancing and also singing. The music was not that impressive in my opinion. The show lasts 3 hours and I found it pretty long... many numbers might also be removed without losing anything, I think. Moreover there were many kitsch parts... for instance, the one sung and "danced" by the grandmother and most of all the encore after the finale... well... I guess it might have been better... I'm not saying I hated the show, but I've surely seen better ones, and I'm sure I wouldn't want to see it again.

For the evening, I found another 25 pounds dayticket, fourth row in the stalls, for Avenue Q. I knew nothing about this show but it was suggested to me by some friends and I thought I should give it a try... Thanks a lot to those who suggested it! That's one of the most funniest show I've ever seen! I laughed and laughed and laughed till I got misty eyes, really!

The characters of the show are both "humans" and puppets (that are moved by actors that act together with the puppets themselves while they're singing) who live in Avenue Q. It's incredible how the actors moving the puppets succeed in creating such expressions in the puppets! And, both the actor's and the puppet's several face expressions are the same. The show is really meant to be funny: really, nothing serious, even though it tries to provide a moral, which is nothing new, but not even wrong.

The cast was really greeeeattt! Only six persons; 3 of them acting as "humans" and 3 of them moving the puppets (these 3 often played more parts at the same time). They were great at singing and also at acting (and at moving the puppets). Unfortunately, I missed some jokes, due to the English language, but for most of the time I laughed and had fun.

If you have the chance, please do not hesitate, and enjoy this show! :-D

By the way, without knowing it in advance, I happened to attend the 500th performance of Avenue Q :-)