The Muppets Take the O2
Jul. 22nd, 2018 03:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daibhidcIt was over a week ago, but I was there, and it was brilliant!
Some of the skits were the same as I'd seen on YouTube clips of The Muppets Take the Bowl, but it was still awesome seeing them live. And some of them were entirely new, like the "Pigs in Space" Doctor Who parody GUEST STARRING PETER DAVISON!!!
(The Friday performance had David Tennant, who would also have been cool - and probably have gotten a bigger laugh when, as Scooter pointedly hinted that the sketch was over and he should consider leaving the stage, he said "But ... I don't want to go." I found it funny, but I think a casual audience would have been more likely to make the connection if it had been the right Doctor.)
The main guest star was someone called Bobby Moynihan, who was also the guest star on the Hollywood Bowl version, which is the only thing I know him from. Which is fine, a central part of The Muppet Show was that sometimes the guest stars were Americans I'd never heard of before (and sometimes they were Brits I'm sure the American audience had never heard of before, especially in Season One when they were mostly people who owed Lord Lew a favour), and he was very good and clearly enthusiastic (a subtle running gag was that every time he appeared and wasn't in costume for something, he was wearing a different Muppets t-shirt). And there were lots of secondary guests I had heard of, including Anthony Head (Pepe: "Don't I know you from somewheres? Buzzy the Umpire!") and Adam Hills, getting to meet the Swedish Chef for the second time. (I think the Friday show had Kevin Bishop for this, who also has a bit of Muppets history which I hope they played on.) The Chef was making haggis, which of course involved stuffing a sheep's stomach with oatmeal. The sheep wasn't happy.
The rest of it was excellent too; it started with Sam the Eagle giving a few words about how much he admired the UK (and, despite Scooter's efforts to stop him, his thoughts on the American Revolution), then the opening titles (done with two full bodied arches at either side of the stage, containing Sweetums, Doglion and two Mutations, then a row of regular arches between them for the main cast, then further rows of arches on the screen above them). There was then Kermit welcoming us, saying how great it was to be at the O2, and panicking when being told by Scooter that a regular half-hour show with the guests picking up the slack wasn't going to cut it.
(Quick sidenote here: despite being cancelled over two years ago, it appears the muppets is still canonish; the fictional bios of the characters in the programme said they were all currently working on Up Late with Miss Piggy and this scene had Scooter refer to his mom and her boyfriend Ken. So that's interesting.)
(Another sidenote: I don't know if I'm getting used to Matt Vogel or he's getting better at it, but at no point did I think Kermit sounded like Constantine had slightly improved his impression.)
Then the first skit was a travelling medley, starting with Fozzie and Kermit singing "Movin' Right Along" in a cardboard Studabeker (with "hitchhike, bus, or yellow cab it" changed to "hansom cab it" and Fozzie asking if they should be driving on the other side of the stage), as the backdrop showed London landmarks, UK road signs and Muppet injokes (the fork in the road, and a sign for Happiness Hotel). Then they descended into the Underground and Rowlf sang "I've Been Everywhere" with Tube stations, which was very impressive. And then they finished off with Moynihan, Walter and Muppet wildlife singing "On the Road".
(As the above suggests, there was a lot of London-specific stuff, like Waldorf being amazed they were in a box in the O2, and Statler replying "I'm amazed we're not in boxes at Highgate!")
Then there was a between-sketches-bit in which Kermit tried to introduce the next act, but was interrupted by Miss Piggy making her entrance in a litter carried by two guys, with Moynihan throwing rose-petals and singing the Piggy Water Ballet song from Great Muppet Caper. Between them, Kermit and Moynihan persuaded her to save her big number for near the end, so people would want it more. There were two video bits previewing Piggy's big number over the course of the show, the second of which revealed that she hadn't gone to rehearsals because she was too important. So you can imagine how that went - basically human dancers do a big elaborate routine that involves her getting swept (and eventually thrown) across the stage, and she's totally unprepared for this. (Another Funny British Moment: when the whole thing collapses into slapstick, Piggy demands "Who choreographed this, The Beano?")
The first act ended with the Electric Mayhem singing "Can You Picture That?", "Ho Hey" and "Suffragette City", and the second act continued the rock motif by opening with "Bohemian Rhapsody", based loosely on the YouTube video,but with a few alterations for a live show, and a gospel choir. (I've just realised I haven't mentioned yet that the solution they found to "How do we keep the puppeteers hidden during big complicated scenes?" was "What if we just didn't worry about it much?" They're wearing those puppeteer ninja-suits, and if there's something to hide behind, they will, but if they can't, they can't. It actually worked better than I expected.)
There was also a Muppet Labs sketch with Bunsen sending Beaker physically into the Cloud, and Rowlf singing "Maybe it's Because I'm a Londoner", which he described as a song about what it was like to "have a couple of pints and take myself for a walk round Hyde Park"
Another fun thing video bit was a preview of upcoming shows on MuppStream (keeping Vetrinarian's Hospital and the Swedish Chef's The Walking Bread from the Bowl version, but replacing Pepe's Keeping Up With the Crustaceans with Frogglebox, enabling them to do three separate British TV parodies just with Muppets on couches (Kermit and Robin watching Green Planet, Bunsen and Beaker watching Black Meeper, and Big Mean Carl and the bunnies watching Monsterchef).
There was also a Parade of Obscure Muppets (including Beautiful Day Monster and Miss Poogy) and Fozzie attempting the most jokes in one minute, except he fails to even reach the stage in one minute, with the video screen showing him getting hopelessly lost backstage, and at one point rushing into the wardrobe room and ending up in a snowy landscape talking to a faun.
Oh and somewhere in there was Mahna Mahna. In this version, after Mahna Mahna leaves, Scooter asks if there are any singers in the audience, and Steps, er, step up. Apparently the Friday performance had Kylie, but it was the same idea.
After Piggy's big number went wrong, Kermit appeared on a log, with a banjo to sing -- of course -- "Rainbow Connection". He's interrupted by Bobo, but managed it eventually, and was joined by all the Muppets, and then all the guest stars for "Magic Store", the closing number of The Muppet Movie. And then thanks to everyone and lights out.
And after considerable applause, lights on for the encore, "With a Little Help From My Friends" featuring everybody - all the Muppets, all the guest stars, Miss Piggy's dancers, and the choir. And then the puppeteers pull off their ninja masks and are introduced by Moynihan as they take a bow. Even more applause.
Still not over! The closing theme plays as the house lights come up, and the screens fade out to show one last Newsman sketch, where he's electrocuted backstage, Mr Tumnus discovering Fozzie's jokebook ("What did C.S. Lewis say when people asked him what he was writing? Narnia business.") a final comment from Statler and Waldorf (Waldorf quotes Churchill's "never surrender" speech, Statler says "Who are we kidding? We surrender!") and then the Newsman is slowly getting up from being electrocuted when Zoot plays the final note right behind him.
So, that was the show. There may be another post about my London trip in general.
Some of the skits were the same as I'd seen on YouTube clips of The Muppets Take the Bowl, but it was still awesome seeing them live. And some of them were entirely new, like the "Pigs in Space" Doctor Who parody GUEST STARRING PETER DAVISON!!!
(The Friday performance had David Tennant, who would also have been cool - and probably have gotten a bigger laugh when, as Scooter pointedly hinted that the sketch was over and he should consider leaving the stage, he said "But ... I don't want to go." I found it funny, but I think a casual audience would have been more likely to make the connection if it had been the right Doctor.)
The main guest star was someone called Bobby Moynihan, who was also the guest star on the Hollywood Bowl version, which is the only thing I know him from. Which is fine, a central part of The Muppet Show was that sometimes the guest stars were Americans I'd never heard of before (and sometimes they were Brits I'm sure the American audience had never heard of before, especially in Season One when they were mostly people who owed Lord Lew a favour), and he was very good and clearly enthusiastic (a subtle running gag was that every time he appeared and wasn't in costume for something, he was wearing a different Muppets t-shirt). And there were lots of secondary guests I had heard of, including Anthony Head (Pepe: "Don't I know you from somewheres? Buzzy the Umpire!") and Adam Hills, getting to meet the Swedish Chef for the second time. (I think the Friday show had Kevin Bishop for this, who also has a bit of Muppets history which I hope they played on.) The Chef was making haggis, which of course involved stuffing a sheep's stomach with oatmeal. The sheep wasn't happy.
The rest of it was excellent too; it started with Sam the Eagle giving a few words about how much he admired the UK (and, despite Scooter's efforts to stop him, his thoughts on the American Revolution), then the opening titles (done with two full bodied arches at either side of the stage, containing Sweetums, Doglion and two Mutations, then a row of regular arches between them for the main cast, then further rows of arches on the screen above them). There was then Kermit welcoming us, saying how great it was to be at the O2, and panicking when being told by Scooter that a regular half-hour show with the guests picking up the slack wasn't going to cut it.
(Quick sidenote here: despite being cancelled over two years ago, it appears the muppets is still canonish; the fictional bios of the characters in the programme said they were all currently working on Up Late with Miss Piggy and this scene had Scooter refer to his mom and her boyfriend Ken. So that's interesting.)
(Another sidenote: I don't know if I'm getting used to Matt Vogel or he's getting better at it, but at no point did I think Kermit sounded like Constantine had slightly improved his impression.)
Then the first skit was a travelling medley, starting with Fozzie and Kermit singing "Movin' Right Along" in a cardboard Studabeker (with "hitchhike, bus, or yellow cab it" changed to "hansom cab it" and Fozzie asking if they should be driving on the other side of the stage), as the backdrop showed London landmarks, UK road signs and Muppet injokes (the fork in the road, and a sign for Happiness Hotel). Then they descended into the Underground and Rowlf sang "I've Been Everywhere" with Tube stations, which was very impressive. And then they finished off with Moynihan, Walter and Muppet wildlife singing "On the Road".
(As the above suggests, there was a lot of London-specific stuff, like Waldorf being amazed they were in a box in the O2, and Statler replying "I'm amazed we're not in boxes at Highgate!")
Then there was a between-sketches-bit in which Kermit tried to introduce the next act, but was interrupted by Miss Piggy making her entrance in a litter carried by two guys, with Moynihan throwing rose-petals and singing the Piggy Water Ballet song from Great Muppet Caper. Between them, Kermit and Moynihan persuaded her to save her big number for near the end, so people would want it more. There were two video bits previewing Piggy's big number over the course of the show, the second of which revealed that she hadn't gone to rehearsals because she was too important. So you can imagine how that went - basically human dancers do a big elaborate routine that involves her getting swept (and eventually thrown) across the stage, and she's totally unprepared for this. (Another Funny British Moment: when the whole thing collapses into slapstick, Piggy demands "Who choreographed this, The Beano?")
The first act ended with the Electric Mayhem singing "Can You Picture That?", "Ho Hey" and "Suffragette City", and the second act continued the rock motif by opening with "Bohemian Rhapsody", based loosely on the YouTube video,but with a few alterations for a live show, and a gospel choir. (I've just realised I haven't mentioned yet that the solution they found to "How do we keep the puppeteers hidden during big complicated scenes?" was "What if we just didn't worry about it much?" They're wearing those puppeteer ninja-suits, and if there's something to hide behind, they will, but if they can't, they can't. It actually worked better than I expected.)
There was also a Muppet Labs sketch with Bunsen sending Beaker physically into the Cloud, and Rowlf singing "Maybe it's Because I'm a Londoner", which he described as a song about what it was like to "have a couple of pints and take myself for a walk round Hyde Park"
Another fun thing video bit was a preview of upcoming shows on MuppStream (keeping Vetrinarian's Hospital and the Swedish Chef's The Walking Bread from the Bowl version, but replacing Pepe's Keeping Up With the Crustaceans with Frogglebox, enabling them to do three separate British TV parodies just with Muppets on couches (Kermit and Robin watching Green Planet, Bunsen and Beaker watching Black Meeper, and Big Mean Carl and the bunnies watching Monsterchef).
There was also a Parade of Obscure Muppets (including Beautiful Day Monster and Miss Poogy) and Fozzie attempting the most jokes in one minute, except he fails to even reach the stage in one minute, with the video screen showing him getting hopelessly lost backstage, and at one point rushing into the wardrobe room and ending up in a snowy landscape talking to a faun.
Oh and somewhere in there was Mahna Mahna. In this version, after Mahna Mahna leaves, Scooter asks if there are any singers in the audience, and Steps, er, step up. Apparently the Friday performance had Kylie, but it was the same idea.
After Piggy's big number went wrong, Kermit appeared on a log, with a banjo to sing -- of course -- "Rainbow Connection". He's interrupted by Bobo, but managed it eventually, and was joined by all the Muppets, and then all the guest stars for "Magic Store", the closing number of The Muppet Movie. And then thanks to everyone and lights out.
And after considerable applause, lights on for the encore, "With a Little Help From My Friends" featuring everybody - all the Muppets, all the guest stars, Miss Piggy's dancers, and the choir. And then the puppeteers pull off their ninja masks and are introduced by Moynihan as they take a bow. Even more applause.
Still not over! The closing theme plays as the house lights come up, and the screens fade out to show one last Newsman sketch, where he's electrocuted backstage, Mr Tumnus discovering Fozzie's jokebook ("What did C.S. Lewis say when people asked him what he was writing? Narnia business.") a final comment from Statler and Waldorf (Waldorf quotes Churchill's "never surrender" speech, Statler says "Who are we kidding? We surrender!") and then the Newsman is slowly getting up from being electrocuted when Zoot plays the final note right behind him.
So, that was the show. There may be another post about my London trip in general.
