Avenue Q

Join the irreverent residents of Avenue Q: part flesh, part plushy, people, puppets and all. Hilarious, charming and a little profane, Avenue Q will turn all expectations of acceptable discourse on its head. Directed by Tayla Simpson and Daniel Dosek, you’re in for a cheeky (ages 16+) treat!

The story follows a young college graduate named Princeton (Michael Mills) as he heads out on his own to find his purpose in life. He rents out an apartment on Avenue Q where he falls for a beautiful young monster named Kate (Rachael Love).  The story is set up like an adult version of Sesame Street, with a pair of roommates named Rod (Michael Ware) and Nicky (Mark Rickell) that hearken back to Bert and Ernie, a porn obsessed parody of Cookie Monster called Trekkie Monster (Dan Konstantinos) and loveable bad idea bears that spew torrents of terrible advice (Laura Coulton and Sarah Engelsmann). We can’t forget the seemingly normal neighbours Brian (Lonnie Toia) and Christmas Eve (Rowena Orculla Ryan) who unknowingly keep the story moving with superintendent Gary Coleman (Zara Lassey) just trying to keep a day job.

With song titles like, “Everyone’s a little bit Racist”, “The Internet is for Porn” and “It sucks to be Me”, it is definitely not your average musical.  What is unexpected about this show is the emotional depth it has.  Rod’s journey to confront his homosexuality and Kate Monster’s heartbreak at the end of the first act are truly affecting moments. Not to mention Lucy The Slut’s (Clare Thomson) untimely end which is the rare occurrence where you’ll find yourself cheering. 

Avenue Q’s cast deserves endless praise for their performance. The level of professionalism that requires them to keep it together when the puppets are either accusing members of the audience for watching porn, singing a whole song about puppets fornicating or even demanding money to fund Kate’s School for Monsters, is something that should be highly applauded.

Both Michael Mills and Rachael Love give outstanding performances in their leading roles of Princeton and Kate Monster. Their connection with each other (and their puppets) was seamless, believable and a little bit naughty. There was no better choice for Trekkie Monster than Dan Konstantinos who had the audience laughing, gasping & applauding for his spot-on performance as the perverted puppet on the block.

With a 6-piece live orchestra sitting behind the set, lead perfectly by Peter Lavrencic, the mega rude show tunes don’t stop rolling. To break them up & reset the sets, you’ll be transported by the assortment of videos/ads playing at the top of the stage. While it changes frequently, be sure to look for the rude, crude or completely inappropriate connotations – it’s a true treat!

By and large, Avenue Q succeeds in being by turns sweet, outrageous, saucy and, most crucially, hysterically funny. You can look forward to leaving the theatre with a warm, fuzzy feeling, in all of the wrong ways… or right ways, depending on your outlook.

Mel Newton

Images: PIF Productions