The deluge of radio and TV ads for Avenue Q insist that the Broadway musical playing at the Music Hall through November 11 is for everyone – bachelors, college dropouts, college graduates, people who are wearing underwear and people who aren’t. At the same time, the spots issue a warning: Avenue Q, with its porn-addicted and suicide-pushing puppets, isn’t meant for kids. And, really, the show’s not meant for every adult, either, especially not for those uncomfortable with full puppet nudity.
What is meant for everyone, though?
The turnout for opening night of Kansas City’s six-day run skewed a little older, as play audiences often do. There were quite a few fancy-looking retirees. I sat in a row of mainly pairs of smartly dressed young men. The fellow to my left was involved with the production and seemed excited about the earful of complaints he expected today. “I left a whole stack of my business cards at the box office,” he said. I didn’t see anyone storm out, but a co-worker reported that she overheard some older patrons saying after the show that they liked it but would warn stiffer friends to steer clear.
A scene from Q during the Tony Awards.
If Rent is about a neighborhood of broke New York City bohemians, Avenue Q addresses their more average peers – kindergarten teachers, business people, college-educated slackers. Advertisements make a big point about Avenue Q being in no way associated with the Jim Henson Company, but some of Q’s characters were obviously inspired directly by Sesame Street. There’s Trekkie Monster, the furry upstairs neighbor who’s obsessed with porn (not cookies). Rod and Nicky are Bert and Ernie all grown up. Rod is an anal retentive investment banker with a rectangular head and serious denial issues about his sexuality. Nicky, his best friend and roommate, is a well-meaning slob. The protagonist is a puppet named Princeton who just earned a B.A. in English and is trying to figure out what to do next. The puppets are slung over the arms of human actors who sing the puppet parts and provide additional facial expression. Watching the puppet-person characters is a little like watching a movie with subtitles.
Although the human and puppet cast of Avenue Q come in a rainbow of colors, I couldn’t help feeling that the play expressed a distinctly liberal, white, middle class viewpoint. That said, I got all of the jokes and laughed. But not all of the audience was with me when the cast injected George Bush’s name into a song about how all things in life are just “for now.” Those people just need to lighten up, but I do suspect that there are tons of people – liberal and conservative – in this country who wouldn’t be able to relate to some of Avenue Q’s bigger themes and particularly the protagonist’s search for his purpose. Not everyone can afford to go to college in the first place, much less piddle around trying to figure their lives out afterwards. Of course, those people probably wouldn’t – or couldn’t – spend $25 or more on this play, anyway. – Crystal Wiebe
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