Avenue Q

The Musical

Describable as a puppet show with dramatic ambitions, Avenue Q opened in 2003 to good reviews, netting a Best Musical Tony award a year later. I have seen this show. Here is my review.

Entering the modest venue, I wasn't sure what role puppets would be playing exactly, but that was quickly revealed when a plainly dressed actor came on stage for the opening number, wearing Princeton (a fresh-out-of-college bachelor) on one hand while controlling the character's arms through attached rods which he held in the other hand. The singing voice of the actor was pleasant, and grabbed the attention of the audience. Likewise the other characters were voiced by competent performers.

So even though the cast consisted primarly of puppets, the human puppeteers would usually stand in view, and enact appropriate expressions, and did not attempt ventriloquism. One got the sense that the controllers were as shadows of the puppet characters, which served to relieve the underlying storyline out from the whimsical background drawn up by the musical's format. (This was deviated from only by a certain actress who voiced two puppets, when both puppets were on stage - the actress hid her mouth when speaking for the puppet she wasn't holding.) But at its core the show is a comedy, and of course sticks to that goal and carries it out well. In addition, some of the puppet dances were particularly well done. Also worth noting, the familiar sesame street-styled educational interludes projected on tv screens added a lot to the performance.

Contentwise, the central theme of the plot was the idea of purpose in life, and this theme was well developed over the course of the show. Also alluded to was the fact that our society is plagued by a near-universal fear of commitment. I would propose that this problem is due to excessive emphasis on individuality, and ultimately on ego. As are a lot of other problems in modern society. Past societies have dealt with it simply by NOT emphasizing the individual to this outrageous extent, but neither was there a need. Whereas modern thinkers seem to favor the theory that a laid-back approach to life leads to underproduction, whatever that means. Hence, a risky but valuable sub-moral that this show could have put forth would have been to stop viewing men as machines. But the message that the show finally conveyed was both clear and positive, and made for a satisfying experience. In fact, it's hard to imagine anyone not being charmed by this musical overall.

The American quality of forced humility that is imposed on protagonist and antagonist alike has never jived with me, but unfortunately overcomes the personalities of each character in this story. Thus the various characters end up seeming slightly too uniform, but this does not impact the telling of the story much. As far as jokes go, though hokey at times, the kind of humor that permeated the show was sufficiently entertaining. The one element that was overused was "potty mouth" humor that, while easily justifiable in light of today's customs of interaction, simply didn't do it for me. There's something about a cute puppet creature using expletives that leaves a void inside me where mirth normally resides. However the audience, whether guilted into it or simply trained to respond to cues from entertainment figures, was very much stirred every time the lecherous version of the cookie monster uttered "bitch". Go figure. (To avoid confusion, my idea of "overused" in this case refers to roughly a half-dozen instances of puppet profanity. Nothing objectionable, just noticeable because people always laugh.)


Some portions of the show were a little too "real" in my opinion. For example, the songs "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist" and "You Can Be as Loud as the Hell You Want (When Making Love)". The latter was amusing enough, and caused a fair uproar among the audience. I couldn't enjoy the humor completely though. I guess the questionable grammar actually threw me, as well as my obsession with quality domestic soundproofing.

The racism - While the song in question was not excessively flip on the subject of racism, and was prompted by a conflict between the lead characters Kate Monster and Princeton over "racism against monsters" (just to show the level of seriousness the writers were shooting for). Nonetheless, the attitude it portrayed seemed defeatist, in the sense that it de-values personal progress in the area of racial tolerance, even while it recites that it is an issue for everyone. The song got plenty of laughs however, and was not unclever in its lyrics. The interracial couple fit well within the storyline, and were likeable. How true-to-life they were trying to be I couldn't decide. It's a parody after all.


The crowd in the theater was of all ages. Staff was about their business, seats were clean and well upholstered. The sound system in the John Golden Theatre was a disappointment, at times sounding akin to a cheap megaphone. It may be sufficient for amplifying speaking parts, but was much too low-end for a musical. Overall, I would say the show is well worth the time and a nice diversion to enjoy with a friend.