Growing up in the 80s I was a huge fan of PBS’s “Sesame Street” which (along with parents and teachers) would assure me that I was “special” and I “could achieve anything”, but flash forward to adulthood I realised they were talking garbage and that I am no more “special” than anyone else.
This is the case of recent English graduate Princeton - a 23 year old (puppet) fresh out of college who for the first time is faced with real life - having to find an apartment and find a job - despite having no real work experience. Having started his search in alphabetic order, he finds himself at Avenue Q because it’s the first street within his budget.
For those of you unfamiliar with the show it is unlike anything else you will have ever seen on stage before. Whilst a large number of the characters are puppets, there are a few human characters also. The puppets are animated and voiced by puppeteers who are present, unconcealed onstage. Those doing the puppet characters wear black clothing whilst the human characters where brighter colours and the human characters do not interact with those doing the puppet characters . Some puppets require two puppeteers to operate them - with one focusing on the animation and the other on vocals. It’s brash, uncouth and politically incorrect. Imagine Sesame Street for fowl-mouthed adults and you’re almost there!
Ahead of the touring production arriving in Sheffield’s Lyceum Theatre next Spring, Southey Musical Theatre Company are performing their production at Theatre Deli on the outskirts of the city centre until Saturday 27th October, and I popped along to their opening night to see what all the fuzz was about….
Already a huge fan of the show, my first trip to Avenue Q was part of the last tour in 2015/6 at Wimbledon New Theatre with a scheduled review booked for the tour coinciding with my relocation to Yorkshire at Wakefield’s Theatre Royal - but sadly some of the tour dates got pulled including the Wakefield one so I have been itching for my next fix for the last few years. Having being introduced to so many local Performing Arts companies in Yorkshire over the last few years I was confident that I was in for a night of laughter and mayhem.
I had a few pre-opening night jitters (would the cast be able to bring the puppet characters to life in a convincing way? Would there be any “puppeteering disasters?”) along with feeling a little sceptical and deflated when I found out that the usual role of Gary Coleman (a role usually played by a black female as a human character) was to be a puppet controlled by a white guy (Adam Walker) but gained some comfort in advance having had the privilege of seeing Walker in various lead roles in several different Sheffield theatre groups productions. Of course, as expected, within the first couple of minutes where we first see or hear Gary in action (“It Sucks to Be Me”) all my doubts and fears had gone and as with the real proof of any performance of Avenue Q, I soon found myself not focusing on the puppeteers but instead on the puppets themselves, and Walker most definitely was believable as the 1980s childhood actor I grew up watching on THAT famous show.
The real stand-out performers for me were Mark Holmes as Rod - a closeted Investment Banker and clean freak - along with his slacker roommate Nicky (Ewan Fellows). But it was Holmes who both vocally and in his animation of Rod stole the show, so much so I had to have one eye on his own facial expressions and the other watching his creative puppeteering of bringing Rod’s character to life. It was clear to see that Mark enjoyed bringing out is inner Diva and playing it camp!
Another stand-out performer (partly because of the lovable nature of the puppets character and that they get to sing my favourite musical number of the night - and teach us all what the internet is really for!) was Rob Flewitt as Trekkie Monster (think Cookie Monster on Crack and you’re halfway there!). Trekkie is a total pervert but at the same time you can’t help but love him! Bob brought plenty of laughs to the performance through his portrayal as the vulgar but lovable Trekkie Monster.
Whilst there were no video screens used as part of this particular production (which usually play a vital part in the story and bring the Sesame Street feel to the story), the Director (Gina Townend) had clearly thought outside of the box and worked with what resources the Company DOES have - which is a cast of highly talented performers (Theatre Deli is a dis-used retail unit on an industrial estate) to deliver the same messages that are normally delivered using the video screens.
The stage set is simple but effective, set amongst the back-drop of the run-down Avenue Q, although these houses all appear to be one storey high so some of the magic in songs such as “The Internet…” don’t quite work as well but not to the point where it distracted from the story. The cast and ensemble also have the task of bringing on any additional props throughout the story (often using the hands of the puppets to remain totally in character whilst doing so!)
The only slight negatives were the sound projection resulting in a lack of enunciation and clarity, with words and laugh-out-loud moments falling slightly short when we couldn’t always hear clearly what was being sung. I was sat at the very front of the stage close to a speaker but sadly still had some issues with hearing the lyrics - as someone who knows the lyrics off by heart this wasn’t too much of an issue, but for anybody who is new to the show it was a slight let down. Hopefully this is something minor that can be remedied for the rest of the run of the show.
Avenue Q is by no means an easy show to pull off, and whilst Southey Musical Theatre Company has many talented members - some of which I can now easily recognise in the streets from seeing in several local amateur productions - the use of puppets in a production - particularly where the puppeteer remains visible throughout the story - isn’t something Southey members are particularly experienced in - and having been lucky enough to have hired the professional UK tours set of puppets - Southey took the challenge in their stride to deliver one hell of a performance!
Reviewer - Lottie Davis-Browne
on - 23/10/18
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