Avenue Q

Every so often, a show so charms and delights that you smile for hours afterwards. 

Littleport Players’ sparkling production of the very naughty and very funny musical Avenue Q accomplished that en masse on the opening night of an all-too brief two-performance run. A sold-out village hall full of happy theatregoers all left the building beaming after a rather extraordinary evening of almost uniformly joyous, engaged and engaging performances and laugh-out loud grown-up fun.

For those unfamiliar with Avenue Q, think back to the likes of American children’s TV shows “Sesame Street” and “The Muppets” with their motley crews of lovable, quirky, furry characters. You could say the characters of Avenue Q are the neurotic cousins of the denizens of the TV shows. And a couple of Avenue Q-ers have downright questionable habits.

Avenue Q takes place in a large urban tenement on the wrong side of town, where residents are trying to find their purpose in life, feel free to be who they are and connect meaningfully with others. Along their individual journeys, these misfits lose their way, screw up their relationships and learn painful lessons as they work to become their best selves.

The catch is, the players in this clever theatrical exercise are puppets, managed by human performers who animate them and speak and sing for them. All credit to director Karen Booth for ensuring that her troupe of humans and puppets partnered beautifully and sympathetically, without the benefit of ventriloquism.

About those puppets: ranging from a Japanese therapist to a grown-up version of child TV star Gary Coleman with a few ‘regular folks’ in there, the cast of puppets created by Littleport Players’ Sheila Goodall were brilliantly executed – a superb achievement.  

A more likeable and engaged cast would be hard to find. Again, credit to director Booth for casting a wide range of ages, voices, looks and body types – all skilled performers and intriguing as individuals.

Starting with two young performers in relatively small roles, Megan Bidecant and Claire Lees as the fluffy, cuddly yellow and blue Bad Idea Bears lit up the stage every time they came on, infectiously enthusiastic as they cheered on two other characters to go astray with all kinds of dangerous activities. What (evil) fun! 

Playing a pair of best friend roommates, Darren Hitchings roused alternate laughs and groans as the clueless, insensitive Nicky who ends up homeless briefly after outing the still-in-closet Rod, with Jack Cutting immensely sympathetic as the hapless Rod who harbours a secret yen for Nicky.

As the Japanese wannabe therapist Christmas Eve, Mandy Morrish seamlessly married a beautiful cool to a warm heart of gold, and as her partner-cum-husband Brian who wants to be a stand-up comedian, Thomas Goodearl delivered a good-natured goofiness. They made a fine pair.

Of the sleazier characters, Becky Green was a slinky Lucy the Slut, while Iain Robinson brought a deep-throated perversity to his Wookie-like Trekkie Monster whom you simply couldn’t dislike in spite of a disturbing hobby. 

Playing the challenging role of Gary Coleman, Nikki Dyer injected a fierce and fearsome energy and attitude into her portrayal, looking like a petite amazon – in marked contrast to the real-life character – and it worked.

At the romantic heart of Avenue Q are Princeton, the university graduate who hasn’t yet discovered his purpose in life, and Kate Monster, the teaching assistant who dreams of opening a school for little monsters – but hasn’t got the means to do so. It’s hard to describe these two performances by, respectively, George Harrison and Chelsea Booth, without dipping into seeming hyperbole. Assured and refreshingly connected, these performers made musical theatre magic onstage individually and as a pairing with the all-too rare combination of heart and polish.

On other points: The set was appropriately cartoonish. The music seemed to have been recorded. Thanks to the front-of-house team for a friendly, organised welcome. 

This show is all about the performances by this unusual cast of characters, and the wild standing ovation they received on opening night, which brought tears to the eyes of director and cast, was wholly well deserved. Bravo Littleport Players!  

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