Breaking News From Avenue Q
01:35 PM PT, Jan 17 2006
Just got off the phone with "Avenue Q" producer Kevin McCollum who contacted me to offer the following news about imminent changes to the show at Wynn after reading my recent post about "Avenue Q" on the Buffet.
"I did read Movable Buffet and you actually touched on a couple things that we were already looking at. We want to keep everything about 'Avenue Q' that is so special. But we have been listening to and thinking about the rhythm of Vegas. Therefore beginning on Thursday we will be performing the show without an intermission."
So, will numbers also be cut or will just the intermission go?
"It is not as easy as cutting just the intermission. We had to look at the structure. We lost a couple numbers like the Act II opener is no longer necessary if you remove the intermission. We wanted to make sure all the information could still be solid. And, the reason we are doing this is the rhythm of Vegas. Our audience wants to do many activities in one evening and as you mentioned the 6:30 start time was unusually early. So, we wanted to start at 7."
Asked how long the show now runs McCollum turns a bit coy:
"Oh, I don't know depending on the laughter anywhere from 89-96 minutes."
This, of course, would put Avenue Q right around the 90 minutes of soon to be competitors 'Hairspray' and 'Phantom of the Opera' though McCollum denies that the 90 minute mark was the goal.
"We are in there (around 90 minutes) but we are not using external issues. We wanted to make sure the show still tells the story. We are very excited about honing it to this market. In reading what you wrote you hit on everything we were anticipating so good for you."
And, good luck to you with the more streamlined experience which I really do think will now have a much better chance of fitting "Avenue Q's" quirky brilliance into the equally quirky Vegas market.
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Avenue Q is in 3 words. Awful , awful, awful.
Apparantly foul language and inane banter, are what now pass for story line , character development, meaning and Theme. This thing has no soul. If this is what constitutes good theater these days , then the theater is dead.
This fast food , cheap shot, Hollywood crap is killing the industry. Pitiful, pitiful, pitiful.I actually took some friends to see this tripe in Vegas.
What in the hell is wrong with you people?
Posted by: john howdeshell | February 12, 2006 at 11:04 AM
Avenue Q was in-your-face raunchy - I can't believe I paid (+ or -) $100 to see this trash. It may have had a story line, but I guess it got lost somewhere between the four letter words, the fornicating puppets, and the Liberal's secularist agenda. This kind of presentation will not ever be accepted by mainstream America.
Posted by: Bobbi Boyce | February 12, 2006 at 06:37 PM