Avenue Q

After searching for a bunch of Opera tickets and not finding any good seats, I finally got really decent seats to this Broadway musical, 'Avenue Q' that I've been wanting to see for a while now. So, after seeing it yesterday, I can say with confidence that this is another event that did not live up to its hype. The musical elements are the usual tired broadway staple. The use of muppets, especially irreverent ones has created this unique opportunity to be creative and talented and the show clearly lives up to that. The actors working with the muppets are excellent. The concept of muppets themselves though isn't much more than a gimmick. A gimmick but a successful one because the actors or rather the 'muppet-artists' do such a fantastic job. The biggest problem is the storyline. There isn't a clear narrative element here. A bunch of what are essentially 'jokes' or 'skits' have been tied together into a rather weak story and though there are some smart comments and some very funny comments, there isn't the depth that I guess I was expecting. It's not that it isn't funny or enjoyable -- it's just that it its jokes aren't that novel -- not very different from what you see in sitcoms or in cheap Hollywood movies. Just because you show your muppets having sex, that doesn't make the show 'mature' or insightful.