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CAROL ROSEGG
"Avenue Q" players (from left) Minglie Chen, Rod, Nicky and Rob McClure. The show is about twenty- and thirty-somethings: Plenty of sex and idealism, no money.
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Puppets and people team up in all-around-delightful romp
Who are these creatures? Not Jim Henson's wholesome Muppets, surely, but they certainly look a lot like Bert and Ernie, and, why, that could be Cookie Monster's cousin! But - oh, my goodness, what are those puppets doing to each other?!?
Avenue Q, the hit musical now at the long-dark, still-gorgeous Forrest Theatre, is a sweet, funny show with one foot in childhood and the other in adulthood. Which is to say, it's about twenty- and thirtysomethings: plenty of sex, plenty of idealism, plenty of anxiety, no money. These characters - and the show they're in - half wish they were still home in their jammies watching Sesame Street.
The magic of Avenue Q is that it has it both ways. Yes, it's a drama about a group of friends in some hinterland of New York City, looking for work, looking for Purpose, looking for love, running into snags. But some of those characters are big puppets, being manipulated by actors who talk and sing for them, while some of those characters are people who talk and sing for themselves. The wonder of it is that eventually you suspend disbelief so completely that you forget who's what.
Princeton (the excellent Rob McClure) has just rented an apartment from Gary Coleman (Carla Renata) - yes, the Gary Coleman, washed-up child star. A neighbor, furry Kate Monster (the beautiful near-ventriloquist Kelli Sawyer), falls for him. Both McClure and Sawyer play two major and very different puppet characters, each with its own goofy voice - in which, remarkably, they can sing, and sing well.
Their eccentric neighbors include non-puppet Brian (Cole Porter), his non-puppet Japanese girlfriend (the sensational Angela Ai) and Trekkie Monster (David Benoit), who looks like an escapee from Where the Wild Things Are and is addicted not to cookies but to porn.
The songs are funny and sometimes moving (though most go on too long; like many touring shows, this one seems afraid that audiences in the sticks, i.e. us, won't get it). Despite the oddball theatricality of big puppets and cartoons on descending screens, songs like "It Sucks to Be Me," and "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist" are really just bittersweet, politically incorrect honesty. And what could be more realistic than the hilarious "Schadenfreude"? (As a friend of mine used to say, "Never mind Sigmund, it's his brother Schaden who knows what's what.")
The semi-miniaturized set by Anna Louizos is bigger than doll-size, smaller than adult-size: If it weren't a slum, it would be a child's playhouse. The lighting is festive, the costumes jokey - the show is like a party, but a party with issues (gay Republicans, insane kindergarten teachers named Thistletwat, impoverished college grads - well, you major in English, what do you expect?)
Avenue Q is a lark - a good-natured, feel-good show that's also, surprisingly, daring. No wonder it won all those awards!