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On Saturday October 4th, 2008 after a satisfying BBQ dinner at Rendesvous, my friends and I made our way down Main St. to the Orpheum, where the bawdy puppet musical, “Avenue Q” was playing. So what’s so great about a musical with puppets, you may ask. Well, I asked myself this very same question and because of my skepticism put off seeing this production for several years (I’ve had the soundtrack in my “favorites” playlist on Itunes for years). I wondered, why bother seeing puppets perform? I can envision the action just by hearing the songs. Well, as it turned out, I was not completely right. “Avenue Q” is more than what the catchy, politically incorrect songs lead on. For starters, it won the 2004 Tony Award for best musical, surprising most who assumed Wicked was a shoo-in for the award. Personally, I find “Avenue Q” to be a shoo-in. Who could resist puppets singing about racism, sexual preferences and schaudenfreude? In addition to the “wickedly” witty lyrics and catchy tunes, the cast, staging and set provide enjoyment and amusement. During the show, tv screens descend at pivotal moments and play funny cartoon clips which go along with the plot and make jokes involving sexual innuendo. The set doesn’t change from the apartment complex located on Avenue Q, but it’s used creatively for various events such as Christmas Eve’s wedding, Kate Monster and Princeton’s date night, and the grand opening of Kate Monster’s “Monstersorrie School”. Another bonus to seeing the show in person is that you can see the actors who manned (or “wo”manned) the puppets and I was introduced to my new favorite puppets—the bad idea bears! While the idea of the “devil on your shoulder” is cliché, these bears jazzed it up and had impeccable comedic timing.
I particularly loved that the actors sang the songs differently from the Broadway recording I have. This made the show unique and personal to this traveling cast—and as a consequence worth my money! My only complaint would be that the woman playing Gary Coleman didn’t sound enough like our favorite Diff’rent Strokes character.
Unfortunately, the traveling company left Memphis on Sunday October 5th, but don’t miss it if it comes to your home town or you happen to be in New York (where it always seems to be playing)!! If you’re a musical junkie don’t despair because “Mamma Mia” is running from November 18th-23rd and “The Pajama Game” is closing out 2008, running from December 9th-14th. Buy your tickets now! Student tickets are available for $20!!
