Avenue Q - after thoughts

Firstly, this is not a review. I humbly confess that I have not been to enough plays & musicals to tell those worthy of a standing ovation from those who shd b spat at :p

I can't remember how I first heard of this show, but like everyone else, the "politically incorrect" slogans were nough to arouse my curiosity. KT & I are admittedly not fans of the theatre and I am sorry to say that I can count the number of plays I have seen with the fingers on 1 hand. So this play, interesting as it might seem, was not on my "must-do" list.

Plus this - as opening night draws nearer, I noticed that the people who were most excited about this play was 1. a gay friend 2. a lesbian friend.

Huh? How come I don't hear of straight people who are keen on watching this? Am I abnormal or whatt?? So, among my friends, the 2 Avenue Q supporters (on MSN & FB) I know, are of a different sexual inclination from me. While I do not agree with the lifestyle & the things they do, I do not deny their existence nor crusade for their crucifixion. I can't say I understand the oppression faced by local homosexual communities but I have eyes to see that yes, they are not the most socially accepted bunch of people as in it is unlike for a heartlander mum in her 50s to go around telling her ah-soh friends in the wet market that "eh! My son is gay, and I am damn proud of him!"... duh I am not an idiot, of cos gay people are ostracised - why else would people stay in the proverbial closet?! But then sometimes, people who are the oppressed minority, tend to "act out" and "rebel" at every chance they have, even when sometimes such actions are uncalled for, and worse, targetted at the wrong group of people.

For example, a lesbian couple holding hands in a bus end up french-kissing just to spite a little old ahpek who stare at them in the bus. Pls... ahpeks stare at any and everything, they stare at teenage couples in school uniforms, couples in office wear, straight couples, middle-aged men with Mainlander girlfriends, or tall girl in OL attire holding hands with shorter man. THEY STARE AT EVERYTHING - why even bother doing anything to spite people, and be over-sensitive that people are "tsk-ing" at what u are doing? If one is so proud of that lifestyle, is there any need to prove that it is normal?

Anyway I digress. What I am trying to say is that, this "overwhelming" support by the gay community is kinda a turn-off for me. It somehow just feels that the play has become gay propaganda. Which now after watching, I know that is barely the truth, Avenue Q is but a reflection about the real social situation, that regardless where one is straight or gay, it doesn't make them any less of a member of the community, known here as Avenue Q but known to us as everyone in our real-life facebook.

Ok, now that my gripes about the over-reaction/over-support of Avenue Q from the gay community have been voiced (hopefully without causing any potential uproars from members of that community).

I'd like to give Avenue Q my 2 thumbs up!

I loved it, we thought it was totally entertaining! And I loved how it was more broadway than Dim Sum Dollies & Phua Chu Kang! It was clever in its own cosmopolitan way, and even more impressive in its effort to merely reflect (without bothering to discuss/justify) the existence of controversies - porn, homosexuality, racism etc. I laughed & wept with the characters when Princeton, the prodigy, was seeking for a purpose in his life, when Kate Monster broke her heart over the fine line that seperated love and a complete waste of time. While their lives & hearts sang about solving identity crises & finding life's purpose, they can't escape being entwined in scandals and lusty mishaps- one-night-stands, break-ups, alcohol-induced affairs etc.

I like how, despite being wickedly direct & boldly sexual, it doesn't fail to highlight that all these are not what life is about. That Happiness is discovered when one stops looking inward to himself, but be open to give & accomplish the wishes, dreams & needs of others.

It was a coincidence that 2 nights ago, I was just chatting with KT about finding life's passion & purpose - we spoke about how life must not be lived without passion, without enthusiasm, one who allows himself to drift through life aimlessly will not find true happiness and fulfillment because an undefined space cannot be find its fill unless it becomes defined. After our conversion, I continued to contemplate, that besides finding a passion for a pastime ie. writing, photography, diving, reading etc. Life's meaning should be found in a higher purpose & a greater calling - to me, it was obvious, to fulfill God's calling - to preach the news to those who do not know, and to use my talents to see his commandment accomplished in every little way.

So in a way even a show as tongue-in-cheek & unconventional agrees that yes times have moved on, society has become more accepting towards diversity & mis-norms but the search for purpose is as important today, as it is in the days of our parents & grandparents, no matter who we're sleeping with now, men, women or whatever is in between.