Avenue Q review: This new UK tour of the famous Broadway musical is inventive, well-performed and above all, absolutely hilarious.
Avenue Q review
Jeff Whitty, Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx‘s Avenue Q: The Musical has been delighting audiences since its off-Broadway debut in 2003. Since its debut, the puppet-themed, very adult show has welcomed crowds across the world, including Las Vegas, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Mexico, all across Europe, Israel, Shanghai and many others. To say it has been a success is a bit of an understatement.
Obviously a parody of the children’s television show Sesame Street, as well as being an “autobiographical and biographical” parable, Avenue Q revolves around a fictional New York residential street where recent college graduate Princeton (see what they did there) arrives in search of a ‘purpose.’ There, he meets kindergarten teaching assistant Kate Monster, and neighbours; investment banker Rod, his roommate Nicky; wannabe comedian Brian, and his fiancée Christmas Eve, and internet porn addict Trekkie Monster. Oh, and their ‘super,’ former child star Gary Coleman. The two-act musical charts Princeton’s journey of finding himself, his purpose and his integration into the neighbourhood. It’s a tale of love, identity, finding your way in life and all of the other wonderful things that come with entering adulthood.
One thing’s for sure; you will have never seen anything quite like Avenue Q. The cast is a mixture of human characters and unconcealed puppeteers, and it works brilliantly. Note that this production is definitely not one for the little ones, as songs like ‘If You Were Gay,’ ‘Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist,’ and ‘The Internet Is For Porn’ clearly contain very adult themes, not to mention the end-of-act-one puppet sex scene that had even the most liberal audience members wincing while howling with laughter at the same time.
Avenue Q review
As with most great musicals, the numbers are catching and the performances exceptional. Most of the puppets are voiced and controlled by three main performers, Stephen Arden (as Nicky/Trekkie Monster/ Bad Idea Bear), Richard Lowe (as Princeton/ Road), and Sarah Harlington (as Kate Monster/ Lucy The Slut). All three are excellent, and seemingly breeze through the clearly difficult task of bringing to life their respective characters, and deliver note-perfect musical numbers throughout. The three also throw their voices to other characters around the stage with exceptional ease, and at certain points perform multiple characters in conversation and song at the same time. It’s quite something to see. The rest of the cast is equally good, particularly the three human characters in Christmas Eve (played by Arina II), Brian (Richard Morse), and Gary Coleman (Etisyai Philip). A nod must also go to Jessica Parker whose timing and accuracy in delivering the movements of the supporting puppets is absolutely spot-on.
Avenue Q‘s political incorrectness is matched by its core values, inventiveness and hilarious book. While in danger of potentially getting a little dated in the future (it’s clear additions have been made to this version (a mention of David Cameron for example), Avenue Q continues to delight, and is a definite tick-box for any musical fan; if only for its history on Broadway and the West End, the quality of which this new touring production certainly matches.
Inventive, well-performed and above all, absolutely hilarious.
Avenue Q: The Musical is touring the UK until May 2016.
Reviewed at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking, Surrey – August 2015.
