Review of Avenue Q - the Raunchy Puppet Show

If you see puppets having sex or a monster teaching kindergarten, you may be seeing life on Avenue Q. I recently attended the Noel Coward Theatre production of Avenue Q in London. I found the show too funny for words. It is a very off-color, humorous parody that crosses puppet theater with real life. I highly recommend seeing it, if you get the chance.

The story is about a group of men, women, and puppets, who are all trying to find themselves upon exiting college and entering the real world. The plot touches on the various topics one might confront in a life: racism, sexual orientation, relationships, poverty, and growing up.

Avenue Q portrays the brutal reality we all face, when we realize that we are not special, but merely part of the anonymous many. The writers used comedy to smooth the edges and make the harsh reality a little less painful. Think of Avenue Q as a very twisted Sesame Street. It aims to teach the realities of life that the television, puppet show hides from its young audience. Realities like accepting racial tensions, getting drunk, one night stands, or getting fired for not showing up to work - essentially, it deals with the consequences of really bad decisions.

Every story needs characters, and like the plot, this cast is hardly normal. The characters are rather warped, but realistic at the same time, and even though most of the cast is made of puppets, you feel for them as if they were human by the end of the show.

The main character's name is Princeton, although it could be John, Joe, or Michael. This is the every-man. In other words, just about everyone in the theater could find him or herself in Princeton's shoes at one time or another in his or her life. Princeton has a BA in English and no clue what to do with it. He spends the whole of the play trying to figure out what he should be doing with his life.

Kate Monster is a naïve teacher's assistant, who takes an immediate liking to Princeton. She is rather stiff for the beginning of the play, because she is trying to be ladylike. However, she outgrows it soon enough. Her goal is to start a school for monsters (a different race), so they don't feel like freaks in school.

Kate Monster works for Mrs. Thistletwat, whose name is rather apropos. She is an ultra-conservative kindergarten teacher and a mean old lady to put it mildly. Mrs. T plays a rather limited role in the story, but her actions help Kate Monster grow up.

The antithesis of Mrs. T would be found in Lucy The Slut. Yes that is her name, and she lives up to that name throughout the play.

Next comes Kate Monster's neighbor, Rod, the closeted homosexual. He harbors "secret" feelings for his roommate, but spends the entirety of the play trying to convince the rest of the cast that he is not gay. Everyone knows his secret.

Rod's roommate is Nicky. Nicky is a mooch, generally speaking. He has no job, he has no skills, and he goes to bed late and gets up even later.

Brian, is the first human being of my list. He is a would-be comedian, who cannot seem to land a gig anywhere - probably because he isn't all that funny.

Brian's fiancée is an Asian-American woman named Christmas Eve. She is a therapist by trade, who is not afraid to share her feelings on any subject. Although she lacks tact, the Avenue Q gang seems to look to her as a sort of mother figure.

The only other human in the cast is Gary Coleman. Not the actor, but an actor playing the actor. He is portrayed as a washed-up actor, working as a handyman on the avenue.

The odd "man" out would be Trekkie Monster. He is big, hairy and a monster, who rarely leaves his apartment, preferring internet porn and his "itchy hand" to interaction with people. He does not appear often, but when he does expect some kind of sex jokes to follow.

Finally, we find the Bad News Bears. Cute, fuzzy, probably imaginary teddy bears acting as the evil consciences for the characters. Think of the shoulder angel and devil portrayed in cartoons, only make them both evil and cute. By the way, the only defense against them is a combination of common sense and will power, neither of which the characters seem to have in large quantities.

Of course the characters would be inanimate without the actors who play them. The entire cast was exceptional. I found it wonderful that Yanle Zhong (Christmas Eve) maintained her Japanese accent without a single slip throughout the performance. Also amazing to me were the abilities of Mark Goldthrop (Nicky/Trekkie Monster), Rebecca Lock (Kate Monster/Lucy the Slut), and Jacqui Sanchez (Mrs. T/Bad News Bears) to play multiple roles in such a way that the audience did not need visual cues to know which puppet was talking. In the cases of Mr. Goldthrop and Ms. Lock, there were a few instances when both of their characters were talking to each other, and they still managed to keep the voices straight.

All in all, the only complaint I had was that the orchestra was louder than the vocalists on a few numbers making it difficult to make out a few of the words, but overall it was a wonderful performance.

So go see Avenue Q, if you get the chance. Even if you have already seen the Broadway production, watch the London production. I hear, there were a few changes made between the two that would make the second viewing worth your while. So if you happen to be in the London area, and you need to experience a little "Schadenfreude," leave your kids with a sitter and enter the theater for a night you won't soon forget on Avenue Q.

Dewynters, Cast, Avenue Q - The Website