Theatre Review – “Avenue Q”, Rhyl Pavillion Theatre

Last night my mom and I were lucky enough to get front row seats for Avenue Q’s UK tour in the Rhyl Pavillion Theatre. I’ve known of Avenue Q for a while – I had the soundtrack for my birthday one year – but I’ve wanted to see it for a couple of years now, and it’s finally come on a tour which comes close enough and isn’t too expensive for us to go and see it! We went to the 5:30pm performance and although there was a fairly good crowd there, it was by no means packed. Our seats were almost exactly in the centre of the front row, absolutely brilliant seats, and because of the theatre’s layout, there was no craning our necks.

To be honest, I don’t think either of us knew exactly what to expect. We both knew that it was foul-mouthed puppets – Mom’s been telling everyone the past few days about how we were off to go and watch Muppet Porn, including my Nan – but I don’t think either of us realized quite how good it is. It’s like a social comment – they, uh, “tackle” issues such as racism (by concluding that everyone is a little bit racist and we should all just admit it), and education (exactly what do you do with a BA in English?) – with lots of comedy, amazing music (sung by an amazing cast who not only have to, like most musical theatre performers; act, sing and dance – they have to do it all whilst operating puppets. Some actually operate two or even three – and they do it all brilliantly) and just a dash of that essential puppet sex which makes Avenue Q what it is.

It’s not recommended for children under 12, and unless she’s got a great sense of humour, it’s not one I’d suggest taking your granny to for a “nice day out to see a show” – that said, there were some women “of an age” in the theatre last night, and they didn’t seem to be complaining as they left! – but if you want to laugh until you cry, maybe shed a tear at “Fine, Fine Line” (an amazing performance by Katharine Moraz, who has a stunning voice), and end up naming your new sat-nav “Lavinia Thistletwat-nav”… or maybe that’s just us?, book tickets to see this musical! You will not be disappointed, and, if you’re anything like us, the second you step out of that theatre you’ll be wishing you could get back in and watch it again. It’s one of those musicals you can just watch again and again and again – and you’ll almost certainly be spouting quotes and singing the songs for days afterwards!

Second time’s a charm!

So, here is another writing update! *fanfare* The second book is going much better than the first – it’s flowing better, bar a few pauses, and the word count is a bit more impressive – only thirteen chapters in, it’s the same as what I achieved during nineteen chapters in the first book (don’t worry – I’m going to iron it out during editing!). I think I’m enjoying this one more because there’s finally some interaction between some characters with others who they haven’t encountered before – the good guys are finally meeting the bad guys for the first time, whereas before it’s always been that at the start, they didn’t even know who or what they were fighting and then, they knew what they were fighting but hadn’t actually met them yet.

The chapter word counts are much higher, and yet I’m not really doing much different to what I did the first time around. The addition of a few new chapters in chapter one, which I’ll probably (maybe) get round to writing once I’ve finished the whole trilogy, should bring the first one into line with the second and the third, which I’m hoping will be the longest of all. I’m currently on around 58,000 with book two, which I think is slightly more than I achieved with book one.

This week might be a slow writing week for me – I’m doing a radio interview tomorrow afternoon, I’m at college all Thursday afternoon and evening rehearsing for my Drama practical exam and on Friday, I’m going to see Avenue Q the musical! Saving the best until the end of the week 🙂 So I probably won’t do much writing until Sunday (hopefully spending Saturday with my boyfriend, but he’s busy on Sunday so that can be my homework/writing day!). Normally I’d wish I had more time to write, but this way I can actually plan the next few chapters – I’ve been winging it since the start of the first book, so I really do think I ought to plan the last few chapters so that I actually have some kind of idea where I want it to go!