Review: MTW presents ‘Avenue Q’

Having being lucky enough to see a preview of MTW’s Term 3 show, Avenue Q, I was excited to see how the show had developed come opening night. I sat in on a rehearsal only two weeks into the process and I was very impressed, but yesterday’s performance totally blew me away. For those of you that don’t know the musical it’s an outrageous yet heartfelt comedy puppet show, which I thought would be hard to pull off. However director Georgina Harrison did a fantastic job with it and I honestly couldn’t tell it was a student production.

The excitement was clear from the cast the minute they came on stage and their enthusiasm shone throughout the entire performance. Whilst rehearsing, the cast practiced their puppetry with rehearsal puppets, not the ones used in the performance. It was clear that the puppetry workshops ran by Ella Tebay paid off, as the puppetry was outstanding. Straight away I noticed that the cast were extremely talented, with their opening number sounding amazing. Maud Haddon’s set looked great and I also have to compliment Chris Miles’ lighting, which mesmerised me throughout the performance.

There wasn’t a single member of the cast who failed to impress me. Joe Thompson-Oubari’s enthusiasm throughout made the performance exciting whilst Sophie Thomas’ beautiful voice had me almost in tears! Josh Mann’s portrayal of Brian, the washed up comic, was simply brilliant whilst Eri Saika’s performance of the ‘Asian American’ character Christmas Eve was, quite frankly, comedy gold. But I have to credit Robin Kendall, Thomas Bulpett, Rob Madge and Johnny Scott on their ability to keep up their characters’ voices throughout, especially in the songs. As said earlier, the numbers involving the entire cast were incredible and in ‘The Money Song’ in particular, I was gobsmacked by Fiona Adu, whose voice was stood out as outstanding. Lucy Cooper was genius as Lucy The Slut and although she was seen as the villain, succeeded made me laugh a lot. It was perfect.

I laughed throughout the entire show and I left with the biggest smile on my face. The acting from each member of cast was faultless and to be able to act, sing, dance and work a puppet at the same time is absurd but each cast member managed it perfectly. I was completely shocked by this ability. The puppets composed of two people were so in sync, so massive congratulation must be given to Kelly Slade and Rachel Elfassy-Bitoun.

Harrison did a great job adding small relatable changes to the text, making the piece relevant and current. A reference to the ‘U1 bus to Leamington Spa’ was made which the audience loved as well as a reference to recent political issues too by changing a lyric to ‘Lib Dems are only for now’ causing me to cry with laughter. I also have to credit the audience in last night’s performance, as the reaction and enthusiasm was so high throughout. People were cheering, whooping, ‘aww’-ing at little moments and of course laughing very loudly.

In summary, I have to give the entire cast of Avenue Q, Georgina Harrison and the production team a 5 Star review, congratulations to the entire team. Even writing about it is making me smile, so if you haven’t already make sure you book your tickets. The show will be running at Warwick Arts Centre until Saturday evening and serves as the perfect break from revision. A brilliant, enjoyable and hilarious night, you’d be crazy to miss this one.