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Avenue Q
*Music & Lyrics by Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx. Book By Jeff Whitty. Based on an original concept by Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx. Golden Theatre
*REVIEWED 11-14-03 PERFORMANCE Starring John Tartaglia, Jordan Gelber, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Rick Lyon, Ann Harada, Natalie Venetia Belcon, Aymee Garcia, Jodi Eichelberger, Peter Linz. Directed by Jason Moore Choreographed by Ken Roberson
AVENUE Q
Well, it had to happen sooner or later. After the film SOUTH PARK earned an Oscar nod for its musical score, you knew that this was a sign that something very adult and musical was going to come to Broadway, only it would have an innocent After School/cartoon vibe to it. And it has.
While the new Broadway musical AVENUE Q does contain felt puppets with marabou hair and furry bodies in assorted colors. That's where any connection to such kids TV fare as Sesame Street, Zoom, or The Electric Company stops dead cold in its tracks.
These adorable puppets do not sing songs about letters, vowels, or "Who's that in your neighborhood" by ANY means! They sing instead about love, relationships, bigotry, racism, gays, one nightstand stands, tramps, oh and.......Internet porn.
Talk about "One of these things doesn't' belong here!"
AVENUE Q's roots begin last season off-Broadway, where it became a smash hit and earned various awards on its way. It became such a hit, that it has now transferred to the Golden Theater on the great white way.
The best way to describe this musical is "South Park meets Sesame Street". Or for my Dallas/Fort Worth readers, "Drunk muppets on Harry Hines Blvd.".
The musical is set on "Ave Q", an outer borough of New York City, where upon we meet puppet "Princeton" (John Tartaglia). A recent college grad that is ready to tackle the world with wide eye optimism and fresh enthusiasm. Only he finds how cruel, cold, and lack of any empathy the world actually is.
But he finds an apartment complex (designed with great detail by Anna Louizos) where the landlord is TV child star Gary Coleman (Natalie Venetia Belcon)!
Other tenants include Kate Monster (Stephanie D'Abruzzo)- a substitute teacher, Christmas Eve (Ann Harada)-a Korean who is actually a therapist and her fiancéé Brian (Jordan Gelber). Also in the duplex is male roommates Rod (Tartaglia) and Nicky (Rick Lyon). Rod is a necktie, suit wearing stiff puppet, who happens to be gay and is in the closet. His roommate Nicky though is straight and looks a little like "Ernie" from "Bert & Ernie", only this time he's green. And yes, Rod has a huge crush on Nicky. This subplot also happens to be the funniest story line of the evening.
And then there's Trekkiemonster (Rick Lyon)-a puppet that slightly resembles cookie monster-only he's brown, has fuchsia marabou hair, and is addicted to Internet porn.
We also meet such other puppets are Lucy T Slut (D'Abruzzo)-who is a singer that has huge puppet boobs encased in a halter-top! Finally we have a couple of adorable care bear look-alikes that are actually trashing talking, beer slugging animals that make Princeton make all the wrong choices.
As you can just tell from the above descriptions, this musical is hysterical beyond belief. I was very lucky in that I did not listen to the original soundtrack before I saw the actual production. I (and many in the audience) was constantly caught off guard when the songs were introduced. Thereby they were met with loud, ear shattering guffaws.
I will not reveal any of the songs or its lyrics in this review. I feel that you should experience the score on your own, live on stage, and sung by this first rate cast.
Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx's lyrics matched with Jeff Whitty's side- splitting book are the sparkling gems of this production. While the humor is very adult related, the message comes out with a warm, fully fleshed out understanding.
We've all been there. We graduate from college ready to make a difference in the world, only to be met with so many obstacles. AVENUE Q shows us through the puppets and its humans how we all navigate and climb over those road barriers that try to stop us from achieving success, love, friendship, and life.
You do wipe your eyes from laughing so hard, but also because this production actually might put a lump in your throat and heart. You see yourself in these beings of "cloth" and their predicaments. You understand and totally feel their failures and successes.
The book's comic scenes, physical bits, gags, and the show's lyrics will have you bending over from laughing so hard. There are some scenes that I honestly could not stop laughing at. Not fair to tell you here. You need to see it for yourself.
Every performer in the company is outstanding, with a couple of performances that truly do deserve Tony nominations. It should be said that all the performers use their faces, bodies, voice to express and show what the puppets are feeling, thinking, or saying. Think of it as "visual/physical puppet subtext". This adds so much to the evening, as well as the performances.
John Tartaglia as both puppets "Princeton & Rod" is the prominent star of the evening. The handsome actor has a lyrical tenor voice that hits the bull's eye with his trunk load of songs for his two puppets. Tartaglia is gifted with razor sharp comic timing, pace, energy, and facial expressions that caused the audience to constantly roar in laughter. He can go from straight and clueless "Princeton" to the stern, closet case that is "Rod". Tartaglia's performance honestly does deserve a Tony nomination. For this actor to have with- in his craft and actor's tools to bring two very distinct characters to dazzling, believable life is wonderful to watch unfold at the Golden theater.
Stephanie D'Abruzzo has every actor's dream. To play both a good person and a mean, sexy, trampy person as well. Okay, so they're both made of fabrics, but still! D'Abruzzo gives our sweetheart of the evening "Kate" a huge heart of gold, and the actress gives "Lucy" just the right amounts of trailer park trash, Anna Nicole Smith, and Pamela Lee!.
Rick Lyon's "TrekkieMonster" is a foul mouth, pervert of a puppet-and we the audience love every inch of that furry beast! Lyon's amazing comic timing and pace really created some hilarious moments within the production as this puppet that loves his computer.......maybe a little too much.
Ann Harada as "Christmas Eve" is the only female human on stage. Harada speaks with a thick Korean (or is it Vietnamese?) that is met with ear shattering laughter. Harada's mannerisms and accent remind you of comic Margaret Cho at times. The actress has some of the best songs of the evening and she attacks each one of them like a famished Joan Rivers attacking the stars on the red carpet.
If there is a flaw in the production it's the concept of a woman playing "Gary Coleman". While Natalie Venetia Belcon is a talented performer, she does not connect with either the material nor with any characteristics of Coleman. She is surrounded by comic tornado performances within the other thespians, that she alas gets lost and swallowed in this comic eye storm. Belcon also does not deliver those fantastic lyrics with a strong grasp of comic subtext or timing. She is good, but sadly not on the same playing level as her fellow cast- mates. AVENUE Q is a fresh, wildly funny, farcical musical that actually has a soothing and compassionate heart beating underneath all that fur and felt.
RATING: A- |
