"Avenue Q"- San Francisco

[jimnysf]

Posted: 8/13/07 at 6:34pm

SF Chronicle

Review: 'Avenue Q' raunchy, irreverent fun

Avenue Q: Musical. Concept, music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx. Book by Jeff Whitty. Directed by Jason Moore. (Through Sept. 2. Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market St., San Francisco. Two hours, 10 minutes. Tickets: $30-$90. Call [phone] or go to www.shnsf.com ).


The puppets are terrific, but no more enchanting than the actors who bring them to life. The songs are as beguiling and refreshingly irreverent as you may have always suspected a "Sesame Street" for adults could be. "Avenue Q," the hilariously inventive little puppet musical that (deservedly) upset "Wicked" at the Tony awards has finally come to town. It's been well worth the wait.

The national touring company that opened Wednesday at the Orpheum Theatre, as part of SHN's Best of Broadway series, is effortlessly captivating, blissfully tuneful and quick on its comedic and physical feet. The upliftingly outrageous, Muppets-liberated humor, graphic puppet sex and anything-goes attitudes still hit their comically shocking marks in performance no matter how many times you've heard "It Sucks to Be Me," "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist" or "The Internet Is for Porn." It may have taken an extra three years to get here, but "Q" is smart, sassy and fresh.

The wait wasn't, as it sometimes was in the past, because San Francisco was late on the touring schedule. The Orpheum gig is technically the first stop for the national tour, not counting a pre-tour run presented by the Old Globe in San Diego (a similar arrangement to the forthcoming ACT run of "Sweeney Todd," just before that company's national tour). Right after its surprise victories at the '04 Tonys, the "Q" producers stunned the professional theater world by announcing that instead of sending out a much-anticipated tour, it had entered into an exclusive arrangement for a sit-down production in Las Vegas. Fortunately for the rest of us, that didn't go as well as expected, and the show, by then severely truncated, closed after nine months.

The "Q" playing here is not only fully restored but also performed by a personable and versatile cast, almost all of whom have played the same parts in the Broadway company. The skill and appeal of the actors are essential. "Q" may be a puppet musical, and Rick Lyon's furry creations are every bit as idiosyncratic, cuddly and expressive as the "Sesame Street" regulars they slyly resemble. But unlike their Muppet models, their puppeteer manipulators and voices are in full view. It's a kind of twofer, in which the actors' expressions double the impact of the puppetry, and their quick switches from one puppet to another redouble the fun.

The "Sesame Street" connection is no accident. Puppet designer Lyon and Jeff Marx - who, with Robert Lopez, came up with the concept and wrote the songs - had worked for the PBS show. The music captures the buoyant populism of its TV progenitor, with quicksilver quotations from its theme infiltrating Stephen Oremus' orchestrations. The lyrics replicate its sunnily educational style - though to markedly different effect - as do Lopez's wonderfully inventive animated sequences (the opening one is a blithe visual lampoon on the familiar "Sunny Day" theme).

Jeff Whitty's book mixes people and puppets in the same manner, with a story winding through the usual breaks for mathematical and vocabulary song and/or animated lessons (the "Schadenfreude" tutorial is a hoot) - though in a tighter, more crisply paced form as directed by Jason Moore. The dilapidated two-story tenement facades of Anna Louizos' beguiling set place us on familiar ground, before Howell Binkley's playful lights transform its windows into celebrity-box frames and the walls fold out to reveal dollhouse mini-sets. Whitty's story even follows the "Sesame Street" be-kind, work-together lighthearted homily mode - up to a point.

It's the story of Princeton (a lovably confused, earnest Robert McClure), newly arrived in the neighborhood and seeking a purpose in life after college ("What Do You Do With a B.A. in English?"). At least he's got an apartment, thanks to former child star Gary Coleman (played, as on Broadway, by a woman, the joyously kvetching Carla Renata), now the local super, general handyman and all-purpose commentator about life's inequities. He soon has a love interest as well, in the delightful form of assistant kindergarten teacher Kate Monster, played with eager sincerity and emotional clarity by Kelli Sawyer (a predatory sex bomb as Lucy the Slut on the side).

A prime subplot involves the problematic relationship of Bert-and-Ernie-like roommates Rod (McClure as an uptight, closeted gay Republican investment banker) and the ineptly well-meaning Nicky, played by an engagingly bumptious Christian Anderson with an able assist from Minglie Chen. Anderson is outstanding as the gravel-voiced, shaggy yellow porn fanatic Trekkie Monster as well, and he and Chen are hilarious as the cloyingly cuddly Bad Idea Bears, who complicate Princeton and Kate's on-again, off-again romance.

Then there are Brian and Christmas Eve, an odd couple and the only non-puppet characters besides Coleman. Brian, played by a buoyant Cole Porter, is a fecklessly inept wannabe comedian ("I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today"). Christmas Eve, an outstanding Angela Ai with Broadway-belter panache, is an angry, aggressive psychotherapist whose thick Japanese accent opens the door for a host of bracingly incorrect humor. She also benefits from some of Mirena Rada's most creatively outrageous costumes, and gives surprisingly helpful if convoluted advice, as in the wonderful "The More You Ruv Someone (the more you want to kill 'em)."

All turns out well in the end - more or less - thanks to true love, friendship and community spirit, with more than a little help from porn. Things turn out even better for the audience, thanks in large part to Lopez and Marx's endlessly surprising and amusing songs and the considerable skills of the performers and small orchestra, under Andrew Graham's deft musical direction. In this case, at least, it's good that what bombed in Vegas didn't stay in Vegas.

[WickedBoy2]

Posted: 8/13/07 at 6:36pm

Thats a big theatre!

[jimnysf]

Posted: 8/13/07 at 6:40pm

San Franciso Examiner:

‘Avenue Q’: Big fun, with puppets

SAN FRANCISCO -
If Samuel Beckett had taken Prozac and written a “Sesame Street” episode, it might have come out a little like “Avenue Q.” The three-time Tony Award-winning puppet musical serves up existential angst for the Muppets generation in a format as appealing as a shiny new soft drink.

The 2004 Broadway hit by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx (music and lyrics) and Jeff Whitty (book), made its long-awaited arrival in San Francisco last week. Presented by Best of Broadway, it opened Wednesday at the Orpheum Theatre for a monthlong run.

Simply put, the show is irresistible. The premise is funny, the jokes are plentiful, the cast is outstanding and the staging bubbles along at a relentlessly peppy pace. And then there are the puppets.

Theatrical productions often include puppets in supporting roles; here, they’re the central characters. Princeton, a puppet manned by the superb Robert McClure, is a 30-something college grad with no prospects; in the evening’s first musical number, he sings “What do you do with a BA in English?”

His neighbors — a mix of puppet and human types — have troubles of their own.

Kate Monster (a female puppet operated by Kelli Sawyer) is a prim schoolteacher who longs to start her own school; roommates Nicky (Christian Anderson) and Rod (McClure), who resemble Bert and Ernie, may or may not be gay. Lucy (Sawyer) is a lusty diva a la Miss Piggy; Trekkie Monster (Anderson) is a loveable grouch addicted to Internet porn.

The human characters are Brian (Cole Porter), an unemployed standup comic; his Japanese-American bride, Christmas Eve (Angela Ai); and Gary Coleman (Carla Renata), the has-been child star who has found a new career as the building’s wise-cracking super.

Lopez and Marx conceived “Avenue Q” as a “Sesame Street” parody, and the look of the show brilliantly supports their vision. Rick Lyon’s puppets are flexible, expressive creations. The set (by Anna Louizos) features a brick façade with pop-up doors for interiors and drop-down screens for “instructional” cartoons.

Costumes (Mirena Rada) and lights (Howell Binkley) add a measure of dazzle. Still, the show isn’t for youngsters; themes of racism, homophobia, depression and the all-important quest to find one’s “purpose” in life are the driving forces for these characters. In a hilarious recurring bit, a pair of “Bad Idea Bears” suggest Faustian temptations, urging the characters to drink more, have sex and add suicide to their list of options.

Yet, even in its most off-color moments — including a puppet sex scene played to a strobing rock number — the show feels unrelentingly cheerful. The cast is young and energetic; each is an excellent singer, and each gets a chance to shine. Highlights include Kate’s breakup song, “A Fine Fine Line” and Rod’s racy vaudevillian number “My Girlfriend Who Lives in Canada”; Sawyer belts a torch song as Lucy, and Ai delivers a big, Mermanesque ballad on the torments of marriage.

“Avenue Q” is so tightly directed (Jason Moore) and choreographed (Ken Roberson), it’s possible to float along on the zesty comedy, catchy tunes and colorful visuals right up to the big finale. The consoling, Zen-like resolution is a throwaway. But a show that can keep an audience laughing for two hours is definitely a keeper.


Avenue Q

Presented by: Best of Broadway

Where: Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market St., San Francisco

When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays; 2 p.m. Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays; closes Sept. 2

Tickets: $30-$90

Contact: [phone] or www.shnsf.com




Examiner

[jimnysf]

Posted: 8/13/07 at 6:47pm

San Jose Mercury News




Naughty puppets, real-life stories found in `Avenue Q'
By Karen D'Souza
Mercury News
San Jose Mercury News
Article Launched:08/11/2007 01:38:57 AM PDT


Can you tell me how to get, how to get to . . . "Avenue Q"?

The quirkier-than-thou puppet-centric musical celebrating the sunny optimism (or as these characters have come to see it, delusional fantasies) of "Sesame Street" finally has arrived in San Francisco, and that's a cause for celebration for all of us who logged some serious quality time with the electronic babysitter.

The ingeniously naughty 2004 Tony winner for best musical smacks the bouncy vibe of "Sesame Street" right up against the smart-alecky cynicism of the digital generation. The puppets teach phonetics (the word of the day is "schadenfreude," kiddies) and exciting new concepts ("Everyone's a Little Bit Racist") in between hooking up, scraping to pay the rent and experiencing the pangs of the post-college blues.

If you spent your childhood glued to the tube, chowing down on Cheerios and waiting for Pac-Man to be invented, then "Avenue Q" will pull your irreverent strings from start to finish. As raunchy as MTV and as snarky as Jon Stewart, this musical is for the generation that thinks it hates musicals. While this national touring production doesn't hit the same emotional highs as the Broadway original, it's still one of the funniest and freshest tuners here in quite awhile. Like "Rent," only with puppets and a sense of humor, "Avenue Q" is everywhere you want to be.

Princeton (Robert McClure) gets his bachelor's degree, moves to the Big Apple and lands smack in the heart of the dreaded post-undergrad funk, that terrifying realization that knowing Roland Barthes from Bertolt Brecht won't get you bubkes in the real world.

McClure, like all the actors, manipulates his hand-puppet as deftly as he does his own facial expressions. Watching Princeton's wide-eyed wonder turn to dismay is what gives the show its gut-grabbing realism. No sooner does he land a cheap apartment in the boondocks of Avenue Q, than he realizes "It Sucks to Be Me."

He's not the only one. Take Christmas Eve (Angela Ai), a Japanese immigrant toiling in a Korean deli to support her no-good wannabe-comedian boyfriend. Or how about the closeted gay Republican investment banker Rod (also McClure), who's carrying a torch for his scruffy-cute roommate, Nicky (Christian Anderson)? Don't even go there with Gary Coleman, the has-been child star (played by Carla Renata), who peaked at 15 and is doomed to spend the rest of his days on a slow march to the grave.

Desperately searching for purpose when he really ought to be looking for a job, our lad Princeton is easily distracted, not only by his pretty neighbor, Kate Monster (the effervescent Kelli Sawyer), but also by the curvy guy-magnet named, well, Lucy T. Slut (Sawyer in a deviously huskier voice) and the deceptively snuggly Bad Idea Bears, a pair of cuddly teddies who tout booze and suicide as panaceas for life's problems. Well now, isn't that special?

Everything's not A-OK in this world of broken hearts, homelessness and poverty. As the gang tries to chirp its way through life, Trekkie Monster (Anderson again) sets them straight. Granted, he's a total perv who bursts Kate's bubble about the Web (see "The Internet Is for Porn"), but at least he isn't addicted to cookies.

While McClure lends Rod more definition than Princeton, and that undercuts the Princeton/Katie love story a tad, most of the cast members are quadruple threats (singing, dancing, acting and the whole puppet thing).

Anderson makes Trekkie Monster's grunts and groans (let's just say it's a good thing these puppets have no private parts) as charming as they are icky. Speaking of live, nude puppets, there's an X-rated sex scene that loses none of its obscenity for the lack of anatomical correctness.

And sight gags are just the start. Jeff Whitty's nimble-witted book nails the reflexive sarcasm of this tribe. That pitch-perfect tone separates this musical from the legion of Broadway wannabes that try to appeal to Gen-whatevers but don't know where they live.

Still, the real magic of "Avenue Q" is not the dexterity of the puppeteers nor the wicked-cheeky dialogue. It's the fact that we actually start caring (gulp!) about our felt-covered friends and start to see our own travails through their eyes. When a broken-hearted Kate Monster launches into her torch song, the show not only finds its heart but comes perilously close to stealing ours, as well.`Avenue Q'

Book by Jeff Whitty,

music and lyrics by

Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx

Mercury News

The upshot: Come and play, everything's A-OK in the magically exuberant land of this naughty Gen-next puppet musical.

Where: Orpheum Theater, 1192 Market St., San Francisco

When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays

Through: Sept. 2

Running time: 2 hours and 5 minutes, with intermission

Tickets: $30-$90; [phone], www.shnsf.com


Review

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/13/07 at 7:14pm

http://www.ibabuzz.com/backstage/2007/08/13/q-bloggers-lucy-the-slut/

[Tkt2Ride]

Posted: 8/14/07 at 12:42am

I am hoping to see this Musical this week. Puppet sex? Why? I can only hope this helps some poor schlep. Not sure why they put us through this but the rest could be interesting. I am going purely in the hopes that the jokes are good and I'll get them.

[mll85]

Posted: 8/14/07 at 2:53am

I am hoping to see this Musical this week. Puppet sex? Why? I can only hope this helps some poor schlep. Not sure why they put us through this but the rest could be interesting. I am going purely in the hopes that the jokes are good and I'll get them.

If you're concerned about puppet sex then you probably won't enjoy Ave Q. A majority of the humor is adult oriented and I'd saw is geared toward the Gen X crowd and younger, but it really depends on your taste in humor. Me and my friends loved the show, and so did a majority of the people in the audience. Updated On: 8/14/07 at 02:53 AM

[tourboi]

Posted: 8/14/07 at 3:35am

Why? Because if you grew up on Sesame Street it's pretty darned funny.

The show is wildly funny. I loved it in NY.

[mll85]

Posted: 8/14/07 at 4:26am

These character blog have been a bit funny so far. Here's Trekkie's on how some parts of Market St. are so appropriate for him.
http://www.ibabuzz.com/backstage/2007/08/14/q-bloggers-trekkie-monster/
Updated On: 8/14/07 at 04:26 AM

[WickedBoy2]

Posted: 8/14/07 at 5:12am

The show is just so stupidly funny and equaly moveing. I loved every minute of it- esp the puppet sex! Lol.
I saw it before it transfered to Broadway and ive seen the London production twice. Many of my friends say the London production is far superior to the Broadway. In the original West End brouchure they gave away a CD of a song not in the show called 'Time' -its so funny. Its set in the intermission toilet with Trekkie Monster singing as he takes a c...! and theres some guys out side the cubicle dying for a pee. Very funny.

[Tkt2Ride]

Posted: 8/14/07 at 5:40am

I thought it was more geared toward 20 somethings but hey, I love Joe's Apartment. I like a variety of things and I have gone through Sesame Street so many times and will be there again probably in two more years,(it never ends). Funny to me because I have worked with puppets a few different times in my life, so the angle sounded entertaining to me. It is only one scene and I will probably just roll my eyes as I did when I read that review.

Thanks though for all of the encouragement. I am middle-aged but live with 18 and up kids so I am sure some it will be stupid and funny to me. I can't get any of them to go see the show though, they don't get the concept. If the songs are good, I'll buy the CD. I have heard so many good things about it from different sources so I just have see it at least once before I can really say arrghh!!

[WickedBoy2]

Posted: 8/14/07 at 5:42am

Hey dont go with this slightly negative view. You'll have a ball and it certainly isnt for kids!

[Tkt2Ride]

Posted: 8/14/07 at 6:33am

Don't worry, I am sure it will be funny. I am happy to see something new and creative. Everyone says they have wonderful voices too and I love great singing.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/14/07 at 10:33am

I enjoyed it, but I don't understand all the hoopla.

[antonijan]

Posted: 8/14/07 at 4:58pm

Quick questions to everyone :P

Does the show have an intermission?

What merch do they sell? Did they have the Trekkie Monster Puppet on sale?

Thanks much!

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/14/07 at 4:59pm

Does the show have an intermission?

Indeed.

Updated On: 8/14/07 at 04:59 PM

[antonijan]

Posted: 8/15/07 at 4:13am

thnx!

[Tkt2Ride]

Posted: 8/16/07 at 3:53am

I saw it on Weds. nite and it was funny. It is a good show. Many times, it made me feel relieved to be past most of those stages in my life. I'm afraid I had to leave right after the show, so all I saw were green t-shirts with Ave Q printed on them in white.

It was about 80% percent full, so for a weeknight that seemed good? The singing was incredibly good. A very good use of props and projectors. I liked the way they included some Sesame Street stuff but if you never saw it, you wouldn't recognize it. It just added to the sight gags for me.

[antonijan]

Posted: 8/16/07 at 4:59am

I like the part when they collected money from the audience :P

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/16/07 at 10:52am

One of my co-workers swears that money scene wasn't in the Broadway production. Is that true?

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 8/16/07 at 1:20pm

The money scene was most definitley in the Broadway Production. Also, in terms of merchandise, they were selling: long sleeve shirts (black sleeves or Orange sleeves w/logo on the chest), Black T-shirts (w/logo on the front), Mouse Pads that say "The internet is for porn", keychains, pins, magnets, souvenir programs, hats, and a few petite shirts for girls. I was really dissappointed that they weren't selling any Trekkies or posters...
Updated On: 8/16/07 at 01:20 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/16/07 at 1:22pm

I figured it couldn't have been THAT different. Thanks. He's a huge Ave Q fan, but I'm somehow not surprised he misremembered that. I know he saw it in Vegas, too. Was it in that production?

[mll85]

Posted: 8/16/07 at 1:43pm

I was really dissappointed that they weren't selling any Trekkies or posters...

I asked the people at the merch table if they were getting posters when I saw the show last Friday. They said that they will be having posters but that they aren't getting them for about 2 weeks. Hopefully they'll have them by next week.

[HumATune]

Posted: 8/17/07 at 3:20am

Saw it tonight (or by now yesterday) and enjoyed it. I don't think I need to see it a second time, but I’m glad I went once.

Just a word of warning: I got to the rush line at 4:50 and it was already almost full. I got ticket #26 out of the 30. So get there before 4:30 if at all possible.

[justme2]

Posted: 8/17/07 at 3:27am

I was there tonight as well, but no rush tickets for me.