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Regional Reviews: St. Louis Avenue Q Also see Richard's review of Confetti Kids
Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx won Tonys for their clever music and occasionally adult lyrics, and Jeff Whitty took home the Tony for Best Book of a Musical on that same memorable night 22 years ago. In this production, Nate Jackson is the music director, getting lovely vocals out of a cast including Mr. Bliven as Princeton and Lindsey Grojean as Kate Monster, the girl who falls in love with him. Princeton is a 22-year-old man-child fresh off the turnip truck, hoping to eke out a life for himself on the sketchy side of New York City in the bitterly ironic years of Rudolph Giuliani and George W. Bush. But it's a perfectly polished flight of fancy, with Kim Rupp as one of the human characters, the Asian-American "Christmas Eve," fanning the flames of laughter and the maelstrom of emotions that come with relationships in "The More You Ruv Someone." All this as Princeton bumbles his way toward adulthood, awkwardly venturing outside the carefully constructed bubble of his childhood with the help of a bunch of candy-colored dummies–not unlike the ones that first taught him his ABC's. In that sense it may be a sort of modern "Wizard of Oz": Like the Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man, Todd Garten is great as the closeted Rod, who bears a striking resemblance to Bert, and Paul Fortner as Rod's good-hearted straight roommate, Nicky, who gives us a heartfelt tribute to Ernie. (Though, with its urban sensibility, comparisons to The Wiz might be more apt.) Mr. Bliven is consistently precise and light on his feet as the young hero, as Princeton makes his own journey toward completion. And author Whitty's libretto is perfectly constructed as a fairytale of life in the big city, where sex and jealousy and heartache slither cheek by jowl. It's a deliriously complex couple of hours at the theater. Though the program states that Avenue Q has not been authorized or approved by the Jim Henson Company or Sesame Workshop, you get the impression that the owners of the likeness of Kermit the Frog could have shut this thing down a long time ago, if only it weren't so doggone funny. Bill Beilstein designed the panoramic set at the Greenfinch: a collection of intricately painted, cartoonish, dilapidated apartments, with doors and windows to be filled with shaggy characters and all their shaggy dog wisdom. And the crew at Parthamaenas Productions gives us top-quality, alternate-universe children's characters including the "Bad Idea Bears" (horribly funny Megan Thompson and Patrick Kerwin), who delight in luring Princeton to his doom. A hundred little physical grace notes enliven every talking plushy under director Long and Mr. Bliven. You'll never see a show like this at the Muny Opera, but it has all the same loving detail (in miniature) as any of those vastly bigger productions. That said, Chad Greife-Wetenhall is larger than life as the ravishingly awful Trekkie Monster, who apparently spends all his time up in his apartment watching pornography (being a sort of Oscar the Grouch for grown-ups). And Wil Spaeth is heartwarming as Brian, the hapless human husband of the perpetually dissatisfied Christmas Eve. Karen Fulks, always a great addition to any cast, is bluff and winning as Gary Coleman, the former child actor and now a bemused building superintendent on the avenue. Olivia Hruz puts her fist up the lascivious Lucy to raucous and ribald effect, while Luke Smith provides excellent back-up for several of the puppets, all the way through. There's often something a bit distancing about puppetry, but the great comedic writing and lovingly expressive performances here will win you over. Colene Fornachon costumes the human characters with a whimsical eye for color and pattern (and even tracer lights), and the puppeteering crew gets credit for the on-and-off-again wardrobe of this (sometimes ghastly) collection of (every now and then) devil dolls. Avenue Q, produced by Take Two Productions, runs through August 30, 2026, at the Greenfinch Theatre and Dive, 2525 South Jefferson Avenue, St. Louis MO. For tickets and information, please visit www.taketwoproductions.org. Cast (in order of appearance): Production Staff: |
