**** Recommended Avenue Q is one of my favorite musicals, so I was delighted to make the drive to Michiana to see the Dunes Summer Theatre’s production. Avenue Q is inspired by Sesame Street, but it’s definitely not G-rated! An adults-only spoof of a well-known public TV children’s show is not for the faint-of-heart. It’s absolutely hilarious – and totally profane. I love it! 4 Big Spotlights
Avenue Q is a place in lower, lower New York, where the rent is cheap and people, puppets and monsters all live together. The Avenue Q Theme, which sounds an awful lot like the theme from that other TV puppet show, has a video board adding occasionally profane comic messages. The show is surprisingly relevant, even throwing a ‘no more Trump’ comment into a song – which got lots of applause!
There are three actual people living on Avenue Q, Brian (Clay W. Muir), Christmas Eve (Aubrey Malito) and Gary Coleman (Micah Hughes) along with eleven puppets: Princeton / Rod (Quinn Kelch), Kate Monster (Mika Wurf), Nicky / Trekkie Monster/ others (Josh Bernaski), and Lucy / Mrs.T / Others (Maya Moreau), living on Avenue Q.
The cast of Avenue Q. Provided photo.
Princeton, a new college grad, has a B.A. in English but can’t find a job. Starting on Avenue A, he looks for an apartment but the only place he can afford is on Avenue Q. Much to his surprise, Princeton recognizes his landlord as former child star, Gary Coleman, whose finances have reduced him to a job as a building superintendent. Princeton whines about how much his life sucks, at which point everyone in the cast vies to have the ‘suckiest life’, singing It Sucks to Be Me.
A neighbor, Brian, a terrible comedian who can’t find a gig, lives with his fiancée, Christmas Eve, a therapist without any clients. Another neighbor, Rod, an uptight Republican banker type, lives with his lazy buddy, Nicky. When Nicky carelessly suggests that Rod is gay, If You Were Gay, hurt and angry Rod denies that he’s gay and throws Nicky out.
Princeton (Quinn Kelch), Gary Coleman (Micah Hughes) & Kate Monster (Mika Wurf). Photo provided.
Princeton meets Kate Monster, a kindergarten teaching assistant who dreams of starting a Monster-sori school for monsters. He makes the mistake of asking her if she’s related to Trekkie Monster, and she accuses him of racism. He counters that she’s racist for limiting her school to monsters, leading into a song called Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist.
Trekkie Monster, who lives upstairs, spends all of his time surfing the Net, The Internet Is for Porn, but in the end, porn apparently pays well. The Bad Idea Bears turn up periodically to tempt people into doing the wrong thing. When Princeton and Kate break up, Lucy, the slut puppet, is waiting to seduce him.
The success of a production of Avenue Q is dependent upon the talent and abilities of the actor/puppeteers who are present on stage but ‘invisible’ to the story. In the rehearsal process every actor must memorize their lines, learn the songs, and how and where to move about the stage. In Avenue Q, they also had to learn to be puppeteers – how to make their puppets animated – to speak, to gesture, to sing. Their bodies must parallel every movement their puppets make – perfectly. Kudos to all of them, they are amazing!
Christmas Eve (Aubrey Malito) & Brian (Clay W. Muir). Provided photo.
The Avenue Q Orchestra: Keyboard 1/Conductor, Sachio Nang; Keyboard 2, Matt Pruim; Guitar (Electric/Acoustic/Banjo), Benjamin Cripe; Bass (Electric/Upright), Ivan Rodriguez; Drums, Kyle Liedtke; Flute/Clarinet/Sax, Jocelyn Goodwin; Keyboard Programming, Sachio Nang.
Avenue Q runs through August 9th at Dunes Summer Theatre, 288 Shady Oaks Drive, Michiana, IN. Running time is just about 2 hours with an intermission. Performances: Fridays & Saturdays at 7:00 pm CDT (8:00 pm EDT), Sundays at 2:00 pm CDT (3:00 pm EDT). Tickets: $15-$35. FYI www.dunesARTS.org.
Next up at Dunes Summer Theatre, Jesus Christ Superstar in Concert, August 14th through 16th.