As long as you have a healthy sense of humor and high tolerance for perverted and profanity-spouting puppets, you should prepare to have a pretty great time at Avenue Q. To introduce the uninitiated to the basic premise of this Tony-winning best musical—imagine an R-rated version of Sesame Street that aims to impart mature lessons on adult audiences in much the same style the beloved children’s show teaches S and such to a younger crowd.
The original production of this raucous 2003 musical enjoyed a healthy 6 year run on Broadway followed by a ten year Off-Broadway continuation. The show has remained a popular choice regionally, and is now being brought to life in South Florida in a collaboration between Entr’acte Theatrix and the Theatre of Collaborative Arts(TCA). The two Palm Beach companies have here joined forces to present their all-around excellent production of this modern comedic staple at Actor’s Rep’s intimate downtown theatre space, where it opened last weekend and will run only until this March 16th.
Avenue Q’s success seems to have begun with the pitch-perfect casting decisions of director Carlos Sabusap, who has assembled a strong ensemble of local actors whose unique talents and energies seemed incredibly suited to their respective parts. This achievement is even more remarkable considering that about ⅔ of this 9-person cast are, as opposed to embodying their characters in the traditional sense, tasked with playing their roles by operating puppets that represent these characters physically.
For structure’s sake, I’ll be starting, though, with the other third, who have a slightly easier job in portraying the human neighbors of these puppet characters. They include Greg Halmos, who gets some great moments as wannabe comedian Brian; Rose Foster, whose lovely soprano voice shines in her portrayal of Christmas Eve; and Sarah Romeo, a spunky standout of the group in her gender-bending turn as a fictionalized version of former child star Gary Coleman.
As far as the puppeteers, Elizabeth Robinson gets plenty of chances to showcase her incredible voice as sensitive aspiring teacher Kate Monster, and also brings plenty of genuine emotion to the more serious moments of her storyline. As her love interest, naive recent college grad Princeton, Esqui (credited by only that name, lest you think I forgot to specify!) proves himself her worthy opposite between his smooth vocals and his endearing take on the everymanish character.
That’s before we even get to his second role as closeted investment banker Rod, in which Esqui gets to display more of his comedic chops as the more cartoonish character. As Rod is clearly inspired by Sesame Street’s Bert, Avenue Q naturally includes a counterpart inspired by Ernie. Elijah Pestana fully succeeds in bringing this character, Nicky, to life in an energetic performance that incorporates many of his inspiration’s distinctive qualities.
Also channeling the vibe of an iconic Sesame Street character is a Q character named ”Trekkie Monster.” His growly voice and insatiable obsessiveness should call to mind the similar characteristics of a certain cookie fiend, but Trekkie’s preoccupations are of a far more adult nature. Director Sabusap takes on this role himself, channeling the character’s strange fixation and unusual speech patterns into some top-notch comedy.
Then there’s Ariel Hodgetts, whose most substantial role is as lounge singer Lucy “The Slut” and who does an admirable job of giving the pinked-up puppet a provocative attitude. Hodgetts also brings to life one of two sinister “bad idea bears,” with Sarah Kenny playing the other as well as Kate’s bitch of a boss Mrs. Thistletwat.
As a whole, the puppeteering portion of the cast proves up to the substantial challenge of physically operating their characters and making them feel as real as their flesh and blood counterparts. In an engaging touch, the performers continued to emote viscerally with their own faces and bodies even when ”inhabiting” their puppet avatars.
It still might take you a song or two to get fully used to this convention as an audience member, but its storytelling rewards are plentiful. Along with ensuring the show works as a parody by mimicking this important aspect of its source material, it allows Avenue Q to push further into racy and potentially uncomfortable humor than would likely be possible otherwise—such as in a gut-busting scene of simulated sex between two puppets.
On a technical level, I was impressed by the company’s ability to rise to the enormous challenge of integrating this element, especially when it came to the use of “live-hands” puppets which required two actors at a time to operate. Combined with the need to fill the puppeteering gaps created by double casting, this made for a constant chain of puppet hand-offs as actors took turns serving as second hands to these characters while rotating in and out of their own roles.
For the most part, Sabusap and Kenny (credited for devising the show’s choreography and musical staging as well as for her acting roles) were able to integrate these necessary transitions seamlessly into the show’s blocking. At times, creative set design (by Sabusap, TCA, Derek Slodski, and Neil Elliott) also enabled puppet characters to appear in windows or peer from behind walls without revealing the puppeteering actor at all!
Other technical elements—which included some memorable projected video sequences—were well-managed by Elizabeth Southwell (Lighting Designer and Technical Director) and Jaycie Cohen (Sound Designer.)
Having first seen Avenue Q over a decade ago and remained familiar with its soundtrack, I’m happy to report that knowing a few of its lyrical punchlines in advance did nothing to detract from their entertainment value in-theatre. And while the show’s non-stop jokes will be sure to satisfy any audience members looking to lose themselves in light-hearted laughs, there’s enough genuine heart in the show’s coming-of-age story to appeal to those looking for something a little realer as well.
Sandwiched between the musical’s slapstick showpieces, you’ll thus find more wistful and grounded offerings like the plaintive “I Wish I Could Go Back to College” and “There’s A Fine Fine Line”— a tour-de-force solo of Kate Monster’s about coming to terms with heartbreak.
While relatable songs like these will likely strike a chord with many audience members, the show is probably at its best in its bolder and more uncouth musical numbers, which live up to the promise of titles like “It Sucks to Be Me,” “The Internet is for Porn,” and “Schaudenfreude.”
I’m a little hesitant to admit that the one I found funniest was entitled “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist” given that it’s also probably the most potentially offensive. Admittedly, I can also imagine someone with different beliefs taking the wrong message from lyrics like the following, which feel both particularly prescient and refreshingly irreverent given how charged the subject has become:
Everyone’s a little bit
Racist, it’s true.
But everyone is just about
As racist as you!
If we all could just admit
That we are racist a little bit,
And everyone
Stopped being so P.C.,
Maybe we could
Live in — harmony!
As it turns out, there’s a fine fine line between playfully acknowledging that everyone has un-PC thoughts and suggesting that there’s nothing wrong with casual bigotry— and, based on its full version, I can see the argument for which this song is going either way. Considering how different our discourse was 20 years ago I personally err towards giving the writers the benefit of the doubt, but it may be worth doing a little further research if you feel these themes might detract from your enjoyment.
Otherwise, I see no reason not to recommend Entr’acte and TCA’s Avenue Q, which I found a thoroughly entertaining production of a theatrically unique, surprisingly touching, and undeniably hilarious show. With only one more weekend and five more performances to go before the show finishes up its run, I would waste no time in purchasing your tickets!
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