Last night, award-winning musical Avenue Q landed at The Gaiety Theatre for the first time.
A show that previously spent six years on Broadway and many more elsewhere, it’s hard to put into words for someone who hasn’t seen it yet. Think Sesame Street, but if it was for adults. And if it were about the harsh realities of adult life, instead of how you once imagined life to be.
The cast consists of three humans and eight human-operated puppets, who may be cute and Muppet-like, but nevertheless drink, curse and make unwise decisions just like all the rest of us.
Lead puppet protagonist Princeton is a recent college graduate, with a somewhat impractical BA in English. When he arrives on Avenue Q, which looks suspiciously like Sesame Street, he is searching for a ‘purpose’ in life (aren’t we all?)
Along the way, he meets a host of colourful characters including Bert and Ernie-esque roommates in the form of slacker Nicky and closeted gay Republican Rod; a porn-obsessed deviant called Trekkie Monster; and the object of his affections, teaching assistant Kate Monster (who is also a furry monster, as it happens).
Avenue Q is at turns hilarious, off-the-wall, irreverent and heartwarming as it wryly observes what it means to come to terms with adulthood in the 21st century. Its now infamous musical numbers – including 'What Do You Do with a BA in English?', 'Schadenfreude' (about delighting in others’ misery) and 'The Internet Is for Porn' – are still as entertaining and outrageous as when the show first debuted off Broadway in 2003.
They’re just as relevant too, with 'Everyone's a Little Bit Racist' – an in-your-face number about acknowledging unconscious bias – taking on a much darker tone in an age of Trump politics. While 'There's a Fine, Fine Line' (“between love and a waste of time”) strikes a chord with those familiar with the bleakness of modern tech-based romance.
The knowing laughter from the audience throughout suggested they recognised many of the characters’ struggles and mistakes firsthand. Which is one of the greatest triumphs and joys of this charmingly impudent show.
With faultless performances from an impressive cast, an award-winning score (written by Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez – a man who co-created The Book of Mormon and cowrote ‘Let It Go’) and a shedload of satirical humour with heart, it’s definitely one not to be missed.
