THEATRE

It’s Okay to be Gay
Politically-incorrect puppets come to SoFla in ‘Avenue Q’

By J.W. ARNOLD
Thursday, May 15, 2008

I still have very fond memories of a daily ritual while growing up. After breakfast, my mom would plop me down in front of the television for a daily half-hour dose of singing puppets, phonics and math lessons, and even some rudimentary Spanish.  I was part of that first generation to grow up with “Sesame Street,” perhaps the single most influential television program in the history of the medium.

It was with a certain amount of glee that I went to see “Avenue Q,” playing at the Arsht Center in downtown Miami (through May 18).  “Avenue Q” is the Tony award-winning Broadway musical largely inspired by “Sesame Street,” depicting a neighborhood inhabited by an unlikely mix of neighbors: from puppets Rod and Nicky (think Bert and Ernie) and Trekkie Monster and Kate Monster (Cookie Monster and Zoe, perhaps?), to the various humans who live amongst them.  The puppeteers in “Avenue Q” don’t hide, instead walking around the stage while holding their puppets; it’s a concept that seems clunky in theory, but the effect is hilarious.  And nearly 40 years later, the formula still works--singing and dancing puppets, the storytelling, important life lessons—except for one difference. “Avenue Q” is clearly intended for a grown-up audience.

The show is centered on the puppet Princeton, a recent college graduate who is desperately seeking his purpose in life, and more importantly a job. His search leads him and his neighbors through a series of life lessons that are certainly not for the toddler set, but quickly resonate with the adults in the audience.

Political correctness is utterly ignored--at times even blatantly mocked--through the score, written by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx.  The cast discusses the reality of modern race relations with “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist,” and Trekkie Monster had the audience in stitches as he shot down naïve Kate Monster’s plans to teach her preschool students about the useful nature of the Internet, with his particularly naughty song, “The Internet is for Porn.” Christmas Eve, Brian’s Japanese wife, taught her own lesson on marital relations with “The More You Ruv Someone (the More You Want to Kill Them).” And, as can be expected with an adult-themed show, there is even a little gratuitous puppet nudity and (gasp!) sex.

The Arsht Center was filled with musical theater-loving homosexuals who cackled loudly as Nicky tried to coax his “roommate” Rod, an uptight investment banker who loves Broadway musicals, to come out of the closet with “It’s Okay to be Gay.” Rod then counters with the extremely funny--and raunchy--showstopper, “My Girlfriend Lives in Canada.”

The Arsht Center’s Ziff Ballet Opera House provided a surprisingly good venue for the show, despite its size. “Avenue Q” was conceived for and succeeded in much more intimate off- and on-Broadway theaters, including the John Golden Theatre where the show continues to play to packed houses. Fortunately, for Miami audiences, even the furthest balcony seats provided a reasonable view of the puppetry on stage.

Several of the touring cast members were veterans of the Broadway production and displayed incredibly versatility, especially when covering more than one role in a single number. Robert McClure (Princeton/Rod) was a particular standout, projecting his characters far beyond the stage. Kelli Sawyer (Kate Monster/Lucy the Slut) also turned her characters on a dime, at one point flawlessly singing a dialogue between Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut.

If you can’t get tickets for “Avenue Q” at the Arsht Center (or just want to see the show again), Broadway Across America is bringing the production to Fort Lauderdale’s Broward Center as part of the 2008-09 season.

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