Opening with the eternal question – ‘what do you do with a BA in English?’ – Avenue Q dispenses a bright and breezy antidote to the pressures of life in the big city.

The show takes its Q from the sassy, street-wise exuberance of Sesame Street and confronts the imponderable enigmas of our times with the grouchy straight-up attitude that you tend to get from fluffy glove puppets. Like the child staring at the emperor’s new clothes these impossibly cute bug-eyed monsters tell-it-like-it-is with brutally honest one-liners that demolish the sophisticated evasions of our post-modern, politically correct world. [More] 
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Imagine Sesame Street after a wicked re-write. It’s easy to see why award-winning American musical Avenue Q has enjoyed huge success on Broadway and the West End since opening in 2003. It is an uproarious and absorbing unique night out.

The original concept by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx (and book by Jeff Whitty) is along the lines of: take the cute wholesome puppets off the Street and into the antithesis of their perky existence in terms of location, characters, themes and story-line, then reveal the humans at the end of the fur, and give the new puppet-human alliance licence to entertain an adult audience.

Add this inspirational duo’s upbeat exaggerated music and naughty lyrics, and the combination is infectious hilarity. 

The brilliance of a premise which coats the key characters in a thick layer of fur, is that these puppets can say anything, be anyone and most of all, they provide a voice for the side of human nature that – because of political correctness, social etiquette and moral expectations in our so-called civilised society – we seldom allow ourselves to show.

When the Avenue Q’s puppet come out with what “practically everybody thinks but no one dares to say”, these devil’s advocates give us full licence to snigger guilt-free at songs like ‘Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist’, ‘The Internet Is For Porn’ and ‘Schadenfreude’. They allow us to laugh heartily at humankind’s flaws and fallibility.

This Australian production captures the larger-than-life energetic flavour of Avenue Q brilliantly. With a keen eye for detail Music Director Bev Kennedy leads the extremely talented, versatile and hard-working nine-strong cast and six-piece band, resulting in a lively and as good as note-perfect show.

Director Jonathan Biggins sets a cracking pace, devoid of pregnant pauses but full of perfect comic timing, resulting in a lively night from start to finish.

Illumination by lighting designer Richard Pacholski along with choreography by Nathan M. Wright is cheerful and bright. Set design by Richard Roberts is a simple street façade, which sadly completely masks the show’s driver and fuel, Kennedy’s band.

In addition, while sound design by Peter Grubb is neat and tidy, overall the audio feels detached and far away. The preciseness and clarity is commendable but I still felt removed from, rather than surrounded by, the music.

The child-like and at times mischievous short animations by Mal Padgett Design skilfully complement the main theme of finding one’s “purpose”. They also make me surprisingly nostalgic for simpler times, a time of grainy elementary animation, like Sesame Street’s; a time of childhood innocence when a ‘night-stand’ was indeed a piece of furniture.

While the colourful craftsmanship of puppet designer Rick Lyon and expert work of puppetry consultant Sue Giles is uniformly apparent across the cast, it is the dexterity and flair of the human handlers and characters which makes the show so riveting, whether you choose follow the puppet or the performer manipulating the puppet, or both.

Stand-out moments for me include Christina O’Neill’s vocal gymnastics as Christmas Eve; the ideal verbal timbre Luke Joslin gave both Nicky and Trekkie Monster; the wonderful physicality of Rod and the tangible idealism of Princeton, both endowed by Frank Hansen; the incredible oral versatility and timing of Natalie Alexopoulos, playing both Kate Monster and Lucy T. Slut (at times it seemed almost simultaneously); and the elastic groove of Clare Chihambakwe as Gary Coleman.

Ably supported by David James as Brian, Josie Lane as Mrs Thistletwat/Bad Idea Bear plus ensemble members Akina Edmonds and Anthony Harkin, this close working cast are often inextricably linked, plus they are – individually and collectively – a singing sensation. 

Further highlights include the Destiny Church-like garishness of The Money Song; the topical local references dotted throughout the script – in particular the entire ensemble’s mule-like reference to our dear PM in ‘For Now’ – and finally, the singing boxes and ratty-BVs in the song ‘Purpose’, which are inspired.

Avenue Q is quite simply one-of-a-kind and a must-see.
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