With a terrace of shabby looking houses, songs with a message to be delivered and superb interaction between the puppets and the human characters, this show has the totally authentic look and feel of a classic episode of the children’s favourite, Sesame Street, but there is one, less than subtle, difference.
With songs like Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist, If You Were Gay, It Sucks to Be Me, I’m Not Wearing Underwear Today and the classic, The Internet Is For Porn, what we have here is what would have happened if Sesame Street had grown up at the same rate as it’s viewers.
The wonderfully catchy score and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, together with the book by Jeff Whitty, create this multi award-winning gem of a show which, under Cressida Carré’s slick and tight direction, flows seamlessly from start to finish and is a non-stop feast for the eyes – although some sound issues made the vocals a little hard to hear at times.
Nicholas Mclean as one time child star and now apartment superintendent, Gary Coleman, Oliver Stanley as would be comedian Brian, and Saori Oda, as the wonderfully named therapist Christmas Eve, are the humans in the show and each has brilliant comic timing and, very cleverly, ensures that all the interaction is directed straight at the puppets and never at the puppeteers.
Other than the more adult nature of the content, the biggest difference between Avenue Q and its TV inspiration is the fact that all of the puppeteers are visible and no attempt is made at ventriloquism. This performance style is also used in the stage version of The Lion King and, as with that show, it can take just a little while to get comfortable with it . The puppeteers are quite simply brilliant. Their skill at creating personalities for their puppets is incredible and each one comes “alive” before our very eyes.
Cecily Redman is responsible for the two female leads, Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut. The characters are total opposites, and Redman ensures that they both have very distinct personalities. In one scene the two “ladies” meet in the same apartment and, helped by Megan Armstrong, who manipulates the puppet of Lucy, Redman manages to voice both characters, while still controlling Kate.
Tom Steedon has Nicky and Trekkie Monster, both of the larger, two handed, puppets to work with and, again assisted by Megan Armstrong (who is credited as “the second arm”), he ensures that both puppets dominate the stage whenever they appear.
The two male leads, college graduate Princeton and repressed gay Rod, are both played by the simply incredible Lawrence Smith. Of all of the cast, he seems the most adept and using his body as an extension of the puppet and, in some of Rod’s more dramatic scenes, he really lives the part. Both of his puppets are given very distinct voices and, despite their relatively high-pitched American accents, he is able to sing faultlessly with the same voices as they speak and he gives a fantastic performance.
Although it is 13 years since the first UK production of Avenue Q, the show still feels as fresh and funny as it was back then and, with its sassy combination of hummable tunes, wacky characters and downright dirty humour, it will keep audiences flocking back for many years to come.
**** 4 Stars