How to Get to Avenue Q
Certainly one of the more hysterical musical productions I have seen in quite some time is Avenue Q. Presented by Broadway Across America-Utah, the Tony award-winning show is an “adult” version of the classic children’s television series Sesame Street. Puppets, live actors, animated “educational” video clips and bouncy musical jingles are the sources used to build cognition, reasoning and stronger emotional development of the adult audiences of our modern time.
Princeton, a recent college graduate, moves into a rundown New York City borough neighborhood, on Avenue Q, to find his “purpose” in life. His neighbors include a bombed comedian Brian and his feisty girlfriend Christmas Eve; Kate Monster, a naive kindergarten teacher; Rod and Nicky, who are “roommates”; Trekkie Monster, an Internet entrepreneur; and the tenement’s superintendent Gary Coleman.
Their lives become intertwined through the realization of their similar struggles, bursting into song, “It Sucks To Be Me.” Romance ensues, sexual tensions ignite, friendships hang in the balance and questionable influences by the Bad Idea Bears snare – all of which lead to full puppet nudity, explicit puppet sex, puppets coming out of the closet, born-again virgin puppets, a wedding and ten million dollars.
The wonderfully talented cast, many of whom portray multiple puppet roles, are outstanding in the manipulation of body language, song and voice – a difficult task of puppeteers. They make it look easy, and a hell of a lot of fun, too. Special kudos to Brent Michael DiRoma, who plays both the main character Princeton as well as the closeted Rod. Beautifully depicted puppetry, DiRoma make them almost real, human. Especially in Rod’s confession to Christmas Eve of his angst and fear, the scene is truly moving.
The one flaw in Robert Lopez’s and Jeff Marx’s concept of Avenue Q is the inclusion of the character of Gary Coleman, a real life child actor turned abusive adult. Paying comic homage to Coleman’s tumultuous life is unnecessary and awkward.
As in Sesame Street‘s basic mission for children – “ <!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:”Cambria Math”; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Consolas; panose-1:2 11 6 9 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:modern; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750091 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:””; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} p.MsoPlainText, li.MsoPlainText, div.MsoPlainText {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-link:”Plain Text Char”; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.5pt; font-family:Consolas; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} span.PlainTextChar {mso-style-name:”Plain Text Char”; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-locked:yes; mso-style-link:”Plain Text”; mso-ansi-font-size:10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.5pt; font-family:Consolas; mso-ascii-font-family:Consolas; mso-hansi-font-family:Consolas;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –> if you can hold the attention of children, you can educate them,” Avenue Q quickly grabs hold of your attention, tightens it with outrageous humor, though sometimes overly crass, and it does build strong emotions (which in a sense, educates). Avenue Q is an entertainment triumph and, hopefully for many, a long-lasting education.
Avenue Q runs through Feb. 7, Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South. Tickets, $35-52, 801-355-ARTS or arttix.org.