Pinoy Life At Large

My apologies for the unannounced blogging hiatus. December is the indeed the month of deadlines, overspending, rushes and impossible tasks. Now that we are a few days before Christmas day, I decided to give myself and Noreen a gift; a break from all the holiday spending and chaos we had to subject ourselves to. Yes, we saw Avenue Q.

A pair of ticket I bought through my friend, Khursten (thanks pala ha!) as far back as October, when the P500 seats (US$12.00) were still available. I had a good view of the musical from the balcony area. Kinda far, but wasn’t much different from the view of those from the Loge, where each seat was worth P1,000 (US$24.00).

Funny how so many people have forgotten about Gary Coleman and the TV sitcom Diff’rent Strokes. According to an interview of Aiza Seguerra, she said she didn’t know Gary Coleman until she got the role to play him in Avenue Q. Gary Coleman played this little funny kid in a hit 1970s sitcom where his dialog was a little too imaginatively tacky for a kid. Apparently, Gary Coleman had this health condition that stunted his growth, so even as an adult he could still play kid roles. Problem is, no production outfit wanted to hire him after a series of unfortunate events in his life, including his lawsuit against his own parents. Yes folks, before Macaulay Culkin, there was Gary Coleman. Sometime in the 1990s he was reported in a TV show to have been seen working as a security guard. Then Avenue Q came his way in 2005, I think. It sure takes a lot of strength (for the lack of a better word) for him to be drawing laughs at his own expense in the original Avenue Q, that is.

The Atlantis Productions version of Avenue Q with Rachel Alejandro and Aiza Seguerra surpassed my expectations. Everyone was saying how good Rachel and Aiza were and I believed none of them until I saw the show. The humor was very American. There were innately American jokes on George Bush, Gary Coleman being a washed-up actor at 15, racism and New York commuting hassles. However, most of their issues were universal and included things that we could all identify with, such as being jobless, mounting bills, becoming homeless, one-night stands, etc.

Songs that I loved include, “The Internet is for porn”, “Schadenfreude” and “Sucks to be me.” I know a famous Filipino playwright and stage director once said that he thought the production was bad, but that’s his opinion. I definitely got my money’s worth with this show. If you’re gonna see this show, whether in Manila or abroad, I suggest you have a handkerchief with you. You’ll cry laughing.