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A stroll down the avenue
Avenue QThe New Alexandra Theatre**** TWO words: puppet nipples. My initiation
into the heady world of Avenue Q has left my brain seared with the
indelible image of those knitted chest protuberances. To return to the topic at hand, however, the Sell a Door theatre company provided a hilarious and thoroughly loveable evening’s entertainment. A cast featuring humans, puppets and People of
Fur delivered beautifully – the artistry and physical effort involved in
the puppetry was impressive in this tale of growing up and the
accompanying abject disillusionment. I was utterly entranced by Stephen
Ardens’ performance as both Trekkie Monster and Nicky, often
simultaneously. Trekkie Monster’s wordless engagement with the
audience on the ubiquity of internet porn was very well played and
extremely funny. Jessica Parkers’ flawless shifting from the glamorous
and awful Lucy The Slut to sweet, hopeful schoolteacher Kate Monster was
done with alacrity while maintaining excellent comic timing, and such an
superb voice. The musical numbers are a spirited mix of
rousing, heart-warming musicality and the triumphantly rude. When
you’re making love, for example. sound-tracked two frantically
copulating fabric protagonists beautifully. (Some vigorously industrious
puppetering here, impressive stuff). By this point the audience were howling so hard
and so loud that Gary Coleman’s vocal was all but drowned out. Ellena
Vincent’s portrayal of Gary Coleman was wonderfully engaging with her
gravelly performance of Schadenfreude being a personal highlight. I was rapidly so invested in the puppets, and the
choreography was so slick, that the performers could often switch a
puppet from one to another without my even noticing. Tom Steedon, as
young graduate Princeton and the struggling, sexually repressed Rod,
excelled at appearing almost to react to the puppet’s activities rather
than be initiating them himself. His desperate, panicked performance of My
girlfriend, who lives in Canada - She's my girlfriend! My wonderful
girlfriend! - was perfect. Poor Rod. The show has some truly moving moments; Rod’s
tender breakthrough moment with clientless therapist Christmas Eve
(played with equal parts exasperated rage and genuine warmth by
Jaqueline Tate) is very poignant. Yes, he is a puppet. No, it didn’t
matter. Cressida Carre’s interpretation of this Broadway hit was
fall-off-your-seat funny, with the audience thoroughly hysterical
throughout. I immediately wanted to watch it all over again. To 20-09-14
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