Avenue Q

Avenue Q photograph by Nicole Riseley.

Avenue Q is a good show to cheer yourself up with if the state of the world’s getting to you. This new Melbourne production, directed by Peter J Snee, brings the gags and the show tunes back to town and features some strong local talent, making for an outing which is a pile of fun (even if it comes across as dated these days). Avenue Q references Sesame Street with puppets reminiscent of that show’s so-familiar characters, and therein lies its chief joke – it’s Sesame Street for slackers over twenty, a most unimproving and uneducational show.

Avenue Q, by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, was hilariously shocking when it first appeared in 2003, becoming quickly famous for the song Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist and for having puppets go down on each other to the song You Can Be As Loud As the Hell You Want (when you’re making love). Not that naming racism makes up for the appallingly clichéd character of Christmas Eve; the show tries to cover its arse but I shudder to think how it feels for performer Sun Park to have to carry on like that on stage; even if her character’s a joke, it’s an awkward one. Nor does the story challenge romantic tropes or sexist stereotypes: Lucy the Slut comes to a sticky end while good girl kindie teacher Kate Monster (both sung by Sophie Wright) wins the boy – but this is only worth noting in a musical which sells itself on being confronting – we don’t usually ask musical theatre to challenge the heteronormative model, otherwise we’d have none. The character of Republican Bert, sorry, Rod (Ross Hannaford, who also does the lead Princeton) comes out as gay eventually, to no-one’s surprise. Still, it’d be nice to see two female characters get it on, which doesn’t happen in this boy’s story about new graduate (BA) lad Princeton who is now wondering wtf to do with his life. What Do You Do With a BA in English?  is the second song of the night. There’s a refreshingly down to earth premise here: Avenue Q‘s  message is to ‘stop striving for the perfect life’ and ‘appreciate what you’ve got’ including a musical version of ‘Poor Bugger Me’, It Sucks To Be Me. (So it is improving after all.) Rude puppets are fun, whatever; Avenue Q enjoys characters like the Bad Idea Bears (Vincent Hooper and Lulu McClatchy) representing the parts of us which don’t want to grow up, and the porn-loving Trekkie Monster (Vincent Hooper, also playing Ernie, sorry, Nikki and a Bad Idea Bear) popping out of various windows to remind us of the true purpose of the Internet. Andrew Hondromatidis plays Brian, an un-puppet who does finally grow up, get a job and get married (to Christmas Eve). 

It’s a treat to hear the voices of Sophie Wright and nurse-turned-showstopper Zuleika Khan (as real life character the late, hapless actor Gary Coleman, a joke wasted on Australian audiences), along with the impressive performances from everybody in the cast, comfortable in their ‘Noo York ‘accents, the comedy and their puppet handling skills. (Khan is yet to completely fulfill the potential of her voice but her vocals are generally fine.) 

The overhead video visuals are sadly old-fashioned and the ‘cells’ use ring tones seldom heard these days so there’s an almost shabby feel to the design which takes the whole thing back to the early 2000s (and perhaps to a NYC that’s fast disappearing due to gentrification?) None of this detracts, however, from the  thoroughly enjoyable romp that is Avenue Q. Take anyone along.