Opined October 9, 2003
Avenue Q - Golden Theatre
Music and Lyrics by: Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, Book by: Jeff Whitty
(Beard of Avon), Director - Jason Moore
With: People: Jennifer Barnhart, Natalie Venetia Belcon, Stephanie
D'Abruzzo, Jordan Gelber, Ann Harada, Rick Lyon, John Tartaglia
Puppets: Princeton , Kate Monster, Nicky, Rod, Trekkie Monster, Lucy T.
Slut, Mrs. Thistlewat, Bad Idea Bears
Puppet Design - Rick Lyon, Set - Anna Louizos, Lighting - Howell Binkley,
Costumes - Mirena Rada, Choreographer - Ken Roberson,
Oh, just go see this show.
Using puppets skews the angle of delivery and reception in theatre. Europeans have
known and embraced this for years. International Puppetry Festivals are mob
scenes that include people who don't get by on their looks but on their skill as
fantasy conductors. Puppeteers make big ideas bite sized. Instead of thinking
outside the box, they talk to it.
There are three actors without puppets, four puppeteers, and 10 or so puppets.
Every one of them can sing and dance. Subjects covered in this small block on
Avenue Q include: A B.A. in English, Betrayal, Commitment, Denial, Dreams,
Education, Friendship, Growing Up, Homosexuality, Immigration, Intercourse, the
Internet, Love and Hate, Masturbation, Money, Monsters, Pornography, Purpose,
Racism, Sexual Identity, True Love - and George Bush.
In Avenue Q everyone is on stage, and your eye wanders back and forth between
puppet and human. It's like watching an Escher print come alive. Because this is
not television, we don’t need the two hardly used plasma screens on the
proscenium, the black female superintendent to be Gary Coleman from Different
Strokes or the orchestra hidden until the curtain call.
These details aside - I laughed out loud at this show. With songs like "Everyone's a
Little Bit Racist", "If You Were Gay That Would Be Okay" and "The More You
Love Someone, The More You Want to Kill Them" - how can you go wrong? But
then, I was brought up on Kookla, Fran and Ollie. I dated Big Bird. I have been a
puppeteer. I know this planet
©2003 Tulis McCall
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