FURFECT
Peter Pan never grew up. Likewise Alice in Wonderland, the Hardy Boys, Freddy the Pig, Nancy Drew, or Huck Finn. It’s a pity that people do: Why must grown-ups leave behind innocence and imagination after we mistakenly blunder into adulthood? You can take it with you—when it’s Avenue Q. This 2003 musical is, of course, the unofficial sequel to Sesame Street, PBS’s beloved puppet pageant/children’s show. We need it like a fix.
As a learning tool, this school-style update, set in a gritty, seedy neighborhood in New York City, remains packed with little lessons. Songwriters Robert Lopez and Jeff Marks’ ultimately reassuring update makes you happy to be a loser. Best of all, Avenue Q is getting a perfectly polished and fully felt (get it? felt? puppet?) revival at the brand spankin’ new Wisteria Theater in North Hollywood. Los Angeles is in desperate need of companies like this, which has announced a full season of musicals right out of the gate (the next is Adam Gwon’s Ordinary Days, March 7-9, and then The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee starting March 14-April 6).
A saga that treats time’s troubles with earnest honesty, Wisteria’s of-age Sesame Street works like a marvel. With seven extraordinarily winning performers, it’s a positively adorable non-stop romp which will have you floating out of the theater—but the short run ends March 2, so don’t procrastinate in getting seats. The intimacy here compares quite favorably with huge houses like the Pantages—which swallowed up the show; the infamous puppet sex scene yielded lots of laughter but the ability to see them so closely added to the awkward intimacy. Additionally, scenic & wardrobe designer Tanya Cyr has planted a gigantic LED screen behind the action, with projections by Brayden Hade which are so bright and bold with color-saturated street scenes that you may feel like you are INSIDE a TV set), and damn if at one point there isn’t a projected Kermit with a ball gag in his mouth. HI-larious.
Book writer Jeff Whitty ties the astoundingly hummable and funny songs together by concentrating on the relationships of the struggling denizens of New York’s run-down Alphabet City. Much of the fun is derived from the creators’ ability to poke fun at current issues (racism, homophobia, miscegenation) without insulting the audience—you can palpably sense the steam escape from the pressure cooker of political correctness with each guffaw and chortle emanating from the crowd. Within that framework, the shocking raunchiness is, paradoxically, easier to take in good humor. Plus, a lot of the characters are puppets. Some are sweet, some are vulgar, but most have aspects of each.
Additionally charming is that, as with Sesame Street, the human characters don’t react in any way to the fact that many of their friends are monsters or small, colorful creatures. And unlike some Japanese puppetry, where the human is masked in black so the audience can tune them out, the puppeteers here are as big-faced and perky as the characters on their hands, miraculously switching voices at the drop of a puppet. This may sound like it would be a distraction, but it isn’t. The facial expressiveness of the actors serves as an emotional subtitle, compensating for the physical limitations of the puppets.
Looking for “Purpose,” Princeton (movie star handsome Connor Bullock) discovers how unprepared he is for the rest of his days (“What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?”). Aiming for Avenue A but settling for Avenue Q, he meets its equally life-challenged residents: Judging by their contagious anthem “It Sucks to Be Me,” it’s definitely no street of dreams. And here’s where the sardonically updated songs and witty book underline the vulnerability of idealism by exposing illusions: “You Can Be As Loud As the Hell You Want (When You’re Making Love),” “Schadenfreude” (makes you feel good about others’ sorrows), “If You Were Gay” (it would be okay), “There Is Life Outside Your Apartment,” and, of course, “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist” (possibly the Republican national anthem).
Wrong assumptions lead to unnecessary disillusionment, but there’s no problem that a helpful song sung by sufferers in solidarity can’t cure. Princeton’s possible girlfriend Kate Monster (Lexi Collins, who I didn’t even recognize (!) as Kate’s enemy, Lucy the Slut), a kindergarten teaching assistant who wants to start a “Monstersori” school for “people of fur,” just needs to cross that “fine, fine line” between friendship and love. Would-be comic Brian (Drew Maidment, who magically becomes even more adorable throughout) has to push himself beyond underwear jokes. His Japanese fiancée Christmas Eve has anger issues but it’s nothing a marriage can’t manage (understudy Armie Jane Pascual seemed like she’s been doing the role her entire life).
A closeted Republican, Rod (also Mr. Bullock) fancies his determinedly straight roommate Nicky (Cameron Parker), a slacker wanna-be. Refusing to come out, Rod via Bullock gets one of the funniest songs in the show, “My Girlfriend, Who Lives in Canada,” choreographed with character by Anasha Milton. Trekkie Monster—think Oscar the Grouch—(also Mr. Parker) insists that “The Internet Is for Porn” during which the men—fuzzy and otherwise—gleefully celebrate their masturbatory habits. The show’s bad influences—the party-crazy, cute-as-can-be Bad Idea Bears (Taylor Renee Castle and the very busy Parker)—represent the ethical dilemmas in our everyday life. And then there’s Kate’s grouchy grammar school principal Mrs. Thistletwat (a hysterical Ms. Castle), who is such a… thistle!
Above all, there’s Princeton’s superintendent, Gary Coleman. Yes, that Gary Coleman (played to a tee by the splendid Amber France). “Who better,” the creators wrote, “to symbolize the oh-so-special-as-a-kid/but-not-so-special-as-an-adult thing we all faced than Gary Coleman? He’s practically the poster child.”
Even the prerecorded tracks, which normally drive me nutty, didn’t get in the way of this cast, and sound designer Joshua Collins wisely has the voices louder than the tracks. Music Director Nolan Monisbay makes sure that everyone has their music and harmonies down pat, and lighting designer James G Smith III wisely uses eye-popping primary colors.
Above all, a super-big, stuffed-animal hug to the man behind the magic, the clever director, Brayden Hade, who clearly inspired his talented team to slather us with love. I count Avenue Q among a few “Happy Shows” in my life which I love to see as often as possible (could Wisteria ever do The Most Happy Fella?). I truly wish this production could set up a permanent residence so I could re-visit it from time to time to give myself a week-long smile. It’s that kind of show, and for me, that kind of show is always welcome.
photos by Brayden Hade
Avenue Q
produced by Renée Wylder
Wisteria Theater
7061 Vineland Ave. in North Hollywood
plenty of free parking in this industrial strip mall
Fri at 8; Sat at 3 & 8; Sun at 3
for tickets($30-$75), visit Wisteria
