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Sent Street for adults

» Arts Club tours Broadway hit ‘Avenue Q’

Tessa Perkins
The Peak (NUW)

asa kid? The hilarious
Broadway musical Avenue Q is
the perfect grown-up version,
complete with full puppet
nudity. The show won Best
Musical, Best Book, and Best
Original Score at the 2004 Tony
Awards, and the music and
lyrics are catchy, irreverent,
and universal. Having seen
the Broadway Across Canada
production a couple of years

Club's version would be like.

There are many parallels

: to be seen between Avenue Q
: and Sesame Street. Bert and

; : Ernie are roommates Rod and
D* you watch Sesame Street : Nicky, the Cookie Monster is
: Trekkie Monster, a grumpy,

: porn-obsessed bachelor. Some
: of the show’s familiar devices

: are also used, such as sounding
: out words one syllable at a time

: to introduce a new concept.

The other puppets in the

: show include Princeton, who is
: trying to find his purpose in life. :
: He delivers the opening line:

: “What can you do with a BA in
: English?” His love interest, Kate :
ago, I was eager to see what Arts : Monster is also trying to find

: her purpose while spending her

: days as a teaching assistant for

: Mrs. Thistletwat. Things seem

: to be going well for Princeton

: until he decides he needs some
: time alone to find his purpose

: and he gets involved with

: performer Lucy T. Slut.

The non-puppet characters

: include Gary Coleman,

: the superintendent of the

: apartment block on Avenue
: Q; the aspiring comedian

: Brian; and Brian’s Chinese

wife, Christmas Eve, who isa

: therapist without any clients.
: Christmas Eve’s strong Chinese

accent seemed a bit difficult

: to sustain throughout the
: show, but she is very funny as

: she imparts her wisdom and
: provides therapy to a few of the
: Avenue Q residents.

It can bea bit hard to

: get used to watching the

: puppets instead of the people

: manipulating them, but once

: you get into the story, this

: becomes less distracting. The

: songs are what really carry

: this show. With titles like

: “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist,”

: “I’m Not Wearing Underwear

: Today,” and “The Internet is for
: Porn,” how can you go wrong?

: “Schadenfreude” also stands out :
: as the cast sings about taking
: pleasure in the misfortune of
: others.

theotherpress.ca

 

I also loved the Bad Idea

: Bears, who coax Princeton into

: buying a case of beer when he

: has no money, and convince

: Kate Monster that she should

: chuga few Long Island Iced Teas
: ona work night. Each character

: starts out thinking that their life
: sucks, spends some time looking
: for their purpose, and ends up

: accepting themselves and taking
: control of their life.

Arts Club Theatre Company

: presents Avenue Q on tour
: until November 15, and on the

Granville Island Stage from

: November 20 to January 3, 2015.
: For more information, visit
: artsclub.com

 

Chairman of the Board: Great balls of fire!

» ‘Fireball Island’ game review

 

Ed Appleby
IHustrator
M illustrator
@theotherpress.ca
QO" ina while you find a
real treasure of a game.
Literally.
Fireball Island is a roll-

and-move game for two to
four players, designed by
Chuck Kennedy and published
by Milton Bradley in 1986.

In the game, you play as an
intrepid adventurer exploring
a mysterious tropical island in
search of a fantastic ruby. You
compete against other players
to claim the gem and find your

: are also competing against Vul-
: Kar, the ancient tiki god of the
: island, whose fiery temper is
vested upon the players.

Fireball Island is a sight

: to behold. The whole board

: isa single piece of 3-D plastic
with various winding paths the
: players can travel along. The
tiki idol sits on the top of the

: board and can rotate around to
: face various paths. Whenever

: a player rolls a one on the die,

: that person gets to roll one

: of the fireballs down a path,

: taking out any players with the
misfortune of being there.

The gameplay is made

: interesting with the existence

: : of bridges, secret paths, and
way off the island. However, you : special cards that affect other

: players. The game is similar

: to Mouse Trap, though with a

: much more mature design. I

: found the game to be fun and

: not overly complicated. Good

: for a quick game, especially for
younger or casual players.

The real treasure of the

game is finding a copy of it.

: High material costs and large

: size have prevented Fireball

: Island from being re-released

: and thus make it quite rare.

A complete version in decent

: condition on eBay will cost you
: from $200 to $425. So the next
time you hit the thrift store,

: keep an eye out for this gem

: and grab it before someone else
: does.