Last night I braved the return of Sydney's gusty winds (more red dust was promised, but it was a bit of a fizzer this morning) to head into the CBD, and the Theatre Royal, to see the smash hit musical, "Avenue Q". I guess it is best described as "Sesame Street, live on stage, for adults only".
It's a wonderful satire, with many quotable lines and some very catchy songs (even more so once one has all the visuals in place - I've been listening to the Broadway cast soundtrack for several months now), and it was also fun to finally see acquaintance Mitchell Butel, whom I met last year in a friend's theatre party, performing! Mitchell sings, dances and manipulates at least two of the Muppet-like characters, Princeton and Rod.
What I hadn't realised, until I saw the characters of roommate puppets, Rod and Nicky, was that these characters perfectly lampoon "Sesame Street" residents, Bert and Ernie, right down to Rod's arms being manipulated by rods (get it?), and Nicky requiring a second puppeteer to move one of his hands. To see the dance routines so cleverly choreographed, with most performers with their arms otherwise occupied inside their puppets, was quite amazing!
Some leftover Melbourne references, but still worth a visit.
The hit of the show would probably be Trekkie Monster. An amalgam of numerous "Sesame Street" notables, mostly reminiscent of Cookie Monster, Sweetums, and Oscar the Grouch, Trekkie knows the ultimate truth about life, the universe and the 'Net. (Most "Star Trek" fans know that the Internet has its origins as a text-based data sharing facility between universities, but that what really made it catch on was "Star Trek" and online pornography! Hence, "The Internet is for porn".
The cast even added an extra line to one of the songs last night: a brief but well-received salute to Sydney's now-infamous red dust!
This is a show I need to see again - if I can manage it, before it disappears to Canberra in three weeks!
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