'Avenue Q': One funny street
BY REBECCA KEISTER / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
Saturday, March 22, 2008 12:54 PM EDT
You think love and getting along are the same thing?
Oh no, Kate Monster, the truth is that the more you love someone, the more you may want to kill them.
Ahhhhh......words of wisdom from the gang at "Avenue Q" come out in their somewhat self-mocking but ultimately truth-ringing way and suddenly, you feel a little bit better. Make that a whole lot better, as by the time you get to this point in the Tony Award-winning musical you've likely been laughing so hard your stomach aches.
At least mine was, and tears started to trickle with each unconventional and totally clever scene, like in the ones that teaches tolerance by pointing out that, hey, everyone's at least a little racist, and, hey, it's OK to feel good when someone else is feeling bad.
Often referred to as a Sesame Street for adults, this puppet and human inter-acted musical is a year in the life story of Princeton, a recent college grad who moves to New York City in search of his life purpose, and all the friends he meets after taking up residence on "Avenue Q." The things he - and the other characters - learn along the way are sung in songs meant for adult ears only as they deal with things like jobs, money, love and responsibility. Comparisons to Sesame Street are hard to miss.
The cast includes several puppets, including Princeton and his love interest, Kate Monster, but also humans Brian and Christmas Eve, and Gary Coleman.
(That's an actress playing a very camped up version of the former child star.)
The characters all live together on Avenue Q and converse regularly on their stoops.
Their tales are accented time and time again with drop-down TV screens with illustrations and cartoons.
(The funniest highlighted Princeton's tryst with Lucy The Slut -her actual character name - with night stands.)
But to think of Avenue Q as an adult-themed way to make fun of Big Bird and gang is a mistake.
Officially, producers insist there should be no comparison, but rather an homage to all children's television series that teach life lessons through lovable and flawed characters. What should come to mind when "Avenue Q comes" to town - like now when it's playing at The Colonial Theater in Boston - is two hours of non-stop fun.
It's really just that funny. The characters introduce themselves on "It sucks to be me," lamenting with unmasked self-pity about how terrible their own lives are because they can't find a job or a date.
Princeton pleads for help finding in finding out just what the heck you do with a bachelor's degree in English.
The life lesson songs are ladened with words we can't print here. Princeton and Kate declare their love in a Long Island Iced Tea inspired passion session to the tune of a song called "Loud as the Hell You Want."
What's meant to have meaning is clear. Princeton pays the price for freaking out on Kate and dismissing her as someone he enjoys spending time with. Rod, a Republican investment banker who can't admit he's gay, learns what happens when you shun people for trying to help you.
Even Lucy The Slut finds out what happens when you play with people's emotions.
And everybody learns that hey, everyone's a little unsatisfied.
Everyone, that is, but anyone who's watching Avenue Q.
They're totally - at least for right now - fulfilled.
Avenue Q is playing through March 23 at The Colonial Theater. Tickets are $27.50 to $87.50 through Ticketmaster at 617-931-2787 or by visiting www.BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com.
