Avenue Q

Avenue Q is a musical written by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx. It opened on Broadway on September 30th 2004. The best way in which to describe it is as Sesame Street for adults! When first looking at this musical you would think it no different to any other, but it is unlike any other musical that I have ever seen.The Theats have been very brave to attempt this devilishly difficult production that must have involved considerable risk too. The show that has been delighting audiences all week at the Masque Theatre has been a masterpiece in multiple theatre technics!

Mark Walker’s direction has been inspired, not only has he had to direct the actors in their performances, but he has taught them to breathe life into their puppets. As an adult it is hard for me to say this, but those puppets were REAL! I really cannot congratulate Mark enough for his achievements with this production. Well done!

Musical director, Barbara Hockey has had an unenviable task too, as the musical is almost through-scored, the five-piece band were constantly in action giving excellent backing to the company. The standard of the vocals was very high throughout and there was some lovely harmonising particularly in “The Money Song”.

The choreography was wonderful, no mean feat when the actors have to dance and make their puppet dance too and often whilst singing! The talking boxes were a great example of this and must have demanded tremendous concentration from the six puppeteers.

Without exception all the actors gave amazing performances, each giving their puppets their own unique personality. They were all perfectly synchronised with their puppets too, so important in giving reality to the show. There were double puppets as well as single ones, which meant synchronisation was even more difficult. Well done to you all, you were truly awesome!

There were two non-puppet roles, Brian, played by Steff Keightley and Christmas Eve played by Emma Williams, they both interacted well with the puppets and gave very plausible performances, Steff very bubbly and endearing while Emma brought out her character's bossy nature with a very good oriental accent too.

Luke Campbell Simcoe in the role of Princeton gave an excellent performance, his character was bright and cheerful and it was lovely to see his love for Kate unfold. Leisa Cooke gave a charming performance as Kate Monster, she sang beautifully, as did Luke and they both worked so well together. The love-story between them was totally believable and their sex scene was hysterical and executed brilliantly.

Phil Mills who played Rod gave such a sincere and sensitive performance that you almost wanted to hug him! Kate Clennett as Lucy brought lots of character to her performance and had the male puppets enthralled by her charm. David Cooke as Newcomer, was very good too and got a big laugh with his puppets bad language rude gesture!

Nicky, a double puppet was played by Kevin Maltby (assisted by David). Kevin gave his puppet lots of personality, I loved his voice and his constant winding up Rod about being gay was really funny. Gary Coleman was played by Bryony Gough (assisted by Kate). Bryony was perfect for this role and really brought Gary to life. Trekkie Monster, Gordon Ritchie (assisted by Susan) was hysterical - his character was rough, rude and a sexual pervert, but I loved him! “The Internet Is For Porn” was the highlight of the show. Mrs T played by Susan Moloney (assisted by Gordon). Susan brought out the puppets character well as  the crabby old teacher who was Kate Monster's boss, well done. The Bad Idea Bears were played by Lydia Anne Rogers and Alexandra Underwood, they were both very funny with their high-pitched voices and were constantly trying to tempt the other character to do bad things.

All the cast deserve plenty of praise for their skills in bringing the puppets to life and I am sure it has been an epic journey for them all. Congratulations to you all.

The set for Avenue Q was outstanding and would not look out of place on any professional stage. The props were very good too and used well. The lighting was excellent and the sound production was for the most part very good. With the technical demands of this show I think everyone involved deserves the utmost praise.

I must also mention the contribution of the Puppet Wranglers, Eileen Moloney and Christine Haynes who have obviously had to work non-stop throughout the show. The task of the ASM must have been a difficult one too, so a well done to Jane Walker.

Congratulations to the Theats on this very impressive production of Avenue Q, you should all be extremely proud of this show, and I know from the reaction of the audience around me they would be in total agreement. This has to be one of the most outrageously funny shows that I have seen I don’t think I stopped laughing all night! Thank you for a wonderful evening.

CAROLINE JERVIS                                                                                                                                                                                         NODA EM DISTRICT 7 REPRESENTATIVE.

 

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