Porn & Racism Only on 'Avenue Q' at the Noel Coward Theatre - A Production Review

Described as Sesame Street mixed with South Park, ‘Avenue Q’ the musical stands as one of the most original musicals in London’s West End. Very little has been lost in the transfer from Broadway with the addition of a show curtain that maps out Avenue Q being located outside of Manhattan. It’s the sort of neighborhood where everyone knows and likes one another but can’t really afford to live anywhere else.

‘Avenue Q’ is populated with some friendly, if not off-the-wall, neighbors. Some are puppets. Some are humans. They include married and career-challenged couple Brian and Christmas Eve; single and looking Kate Monster; the closeted-Republican Rod; his roommate Nicky; the porn hungry Trekkie Monster and their building super (an actor portraying former child TV star Gary Coleman). Enter Princeton, a broke and unemployed recent college graduate who is trying to find his elusive purpose to life. His entrance to the neighborhood leads to a hilarious adventure of self-discovery and truth for himself and his newly found friends.

Life surely sucks on Avenue Q, maybe that’s why being politically correct is not one of the street’s salient characteristics. The witty score includes songs about porn and racism. In the show these subjects do not shock because what the characters sing is true and everyone knows it. Coming from the mouths from puppets such topics seem even more harmless. By the way, the scene with full-puppet nudity and sex is a sight to behold that will leave you dumbstruck with laughter.

One of the memorable aspects of live theater is when the unexpcted happens for the cast and audience. This evening the light bulb at the front door of one of the neighbors accidentally falls onto the stage and breaks. The actors playing Princeton and Brian stand speechless and the audience for a moment thinks it is part of the play. After a few beats, the actors just stare at each other smiling trying to regain their composure and the audience is finally in on the joke: that was not scripted. The actors are cheered with applause and laughter to go on and they do as if nothing had happened at all.

With more than one or two slight nods to the children programming that inspired the show, Avenue Q is a guaranteed night full of laughter. You may think: watching puppets for two hours? It works. The actors are not ventriloquists. With the limitations of the puppet faces, the actors use their own faces, bodies and acting skills to add expressions. Mainly the the jokes with references to Gary Coleman’s infamous past were largely lost on this European audience.

The talented ensemble could be comfortable playing these roles on Broadway with no one knowing they all hail from Britian. Jon Robyns (Rod/Princeton), Julie Atherton (Kate/Lucy the Slut) and Simon Lipkin (Nicky/Trekkie) particularly execute their roles on par with, if not slightly better than, the actors that created the roles in New York. Not for the young ones, the show is brash, naughty and full of heart and humor. Visit this neighborhood. You’ll leave smiling.

‘Avenue Q’ plays at the Noel Coward Theatre. Performance times are Mon-Thu 8pm; Fri 5:30pm & 8:30pm; Sat 5pm & 8:30pm. Ticket prices: GBP10-50. Book tickets at www.delfont-mackintosh.com. Recording of the Original Broadway Cast available on iTunes or on CD from RCA Victor Broadway. More info at www.avenueqthemusical.co.uk. Production photographs used for illustration purposes only.