By James V. Ruocco
Sometimes, "bigger" is better.
Case in point: "Avenue Q" at the Warner Theatre.
Originally conceived for a small, intimate space, this deliciously wicked musical about racy, foul-mouthed puppets and a handful of gobsmacked humans has been deftly reimagined in all its Technicolor glory to fit the large proscenium stage of Torrington's showplace venue using every vivid shade of the rainbow, a healthy smattering of fairy dust, lots of theatrical magic and whimsy, plenty of savvy sexual innuendos and larger-than-life hand puppets who say words like "fuck," "pussy," "shit" and "ass" proudly, loudly and devoutly.
This "Avenue Q" soars, roars, skips, jumps and flies through hoops much to the delight of everyone on stage and everyone in the audience. It never misses a beat. It never steps out of line. It never ceases to amaze or entertain. It never once loses sight of what it is, what it is about and what is was designed to do.
The sets (smartly designed by Stephen C. Houk), of course, are bigger, brighter, and more colorful and fill out every inch of the Warner Stage. The cast is bigger. There's a lot more props, schtick and mayhem. And some of the songs and orchestral music have more snap, crackle and pop.
Yet despite its bigness, (a great concept, by the way), this is still "Avenue Q," the way it was originally conceived by Jeff Whitty (book), Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx (music and lyrics).
The street itself still houses puppet characters named Princeton, Rod, Kate Monster, Lucy, Nicky and a couple of wicked Bad Idea Bears along with real-life actors, some of whom, bring the puppets to life or just act alone without puppets as the deliciously playful and acerbic "Avenue Q" story unfolds, unravels and spins..
This "Avenue Q" is funny, clever, edgy, cheeky, devious, endearing, spiteful, sexy, pornographic and gleeful. It is designed to thrill and entertain anyone who buys a ticket: the 15-year-old teen and his giggly blonde date, the first-time theatergoer, the lesbian couple down the street, the puppet master himself, the Broadway musical groupie, the downtown Torrington book club, the bored Litchfield housewife, her starched-shirt husband, the pleasantly rotund restaurateur who's eaten too many potatoes and the 18-year-old boy who adores Lady Gaga, but is still in the closet.
Behind the title, however, lies a site-specific story that drops it audience head first into the world of confused, mixed-up, misguided characters (both puppets and humans) with topical, stories, problems, diversions, hang-ups, quirks, anxieties, aftershocks, and ever-changing personas.
It's all here: job insecurities, growing pains, romance, dating, sexual intercourse, masturbation, computer porn, homosexuality, one-night stands, unemployment, discrimination, racial prejudice, homelessness, empty bank accounts, bills that can't be paid and college degrees with no future.
All musicalized, of course, with a book and dialogue that hits hard, makes you laugh and gets right under your skin with plenty to talk about on the ride home.
The beauty of this "Avenue Q" stems from director Katherine Ray's insight, experimentation, knowledge, brilliance, passion, wit, flair and savvy. Like others at the Warner Theatre, she is not afraid to take chances, experiment, build and rebuild and turn her production into something wildly vivid and unique. She did this with the Stephen Sondheim musical "Assassins." She did this earlier this season with "Peter and the Starcatcher." And next year, she is going to rock everyone's senses when "Fences" debuts at the Ridgefield Theater Barn smack in the middle of winter.
Here, she creates a musical that unfolds with a particular sensibility, ambitiousness and balance that is deftly communicated without any form of calculation. Yes, she puts her own particular stamp on it. Yes, she has surrounded herself with an A-list of local actors, musicians, technicians and a very savvy and talented choreographer. And yes, she knows exactly what buttons to push.
Then again, that's Ray.
Everything that happens on the Warner stage is carefully mapped out, plotted and delivered with authority, wit, snap, precision and dazzle. Given the largeness of her playing space, she keeps the intimacy of "Avenue Q" front and center. And when necessary, she paints a lovely, likeable Technicolor picture that expands the story and the musical numbers every-so-agreeably by adding clever bits of stage business in all playing areas. Or, she simply fills the stage with a few additional actors to flesh out and complete the stage picture for a specific scene or specific musical number.
She also has a wonderful sense of humor, most noticeable in "Avenue Q's" big sex scene in which the audience is privy to full puppet nudity and full puppet sex right before their very eyes. That's not all. Elsewhere, other puppets and humans are shown in various pairings doing "the nasty" in some very amusing, clever and outrageously pornographic positions. Fucking hilarious, yes. Absolutely crazy, yes. Offensive, hell no.
In "Avenue Q," each of the characters is embodied by a colorful, wonderfully designed oversized hand puppet, manipulated by a very visible actor who provides voice, movement and song in perfect synchronization. There are also moments throughout "Avenue Q" when two actors handle the movement of s single puppet while one actor does the voice and the other one (a silent partner, of sorts), simply reacts. It is a creative process that Ray and her team of performers pull off swimmingly. And there's real beauty in seeing how it all plays out scene after scene, song after song, dance after dance on the oversized Warner Theatre stage. Well done, Ms. Ray and "Avenue Q" company.
The musical score for "Avenue Q" has been written and imagined by the very talented Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx. It is delicious, flavorsome, twinkly and tuneful with plenty of justified dash, punch, spunk, zip, snap, edge and rainbow-tinged madness. Its also been well envisioned by the composers. Everything that happens musically is not only perfectly in sync with the on-stage action, but for the actors who sing them and the puppets who engagingly bring the "Avenue Q" songs so happily and merrily to life.
The fun, of course, stems from the nature of the songs and the titles themselves: "What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?" "It Sucks to Be Me," "If You Were Gay," "The Internet Is For Porn," "I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today," "The More You Ruv Someone," "There Is Life Outside Your Apartment," "Schadenfreude," "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist," to name a few. The pungent, juicy, detailed, often R-rated lyrics are marvelously wicked, slick, dirty and acerbic, backed by agreeable scoring that commands and demands your attention as "Avenue Q" knocks you on your ass with its contrasting pronouncements, its sly undercurrents and juicy obscenities that catch you off guard, bring a smile to your face, make you laugh uncontrollably and shake your head from side to side, saying "What the fuck was that?"
Musical director Dan Koch who wowed audiences earlier this season with "Into the Woods" at Musicals at Richter is a perfect fit for "Avenue Q." Backed by four other talented musicians (Anna DeMasi, Scott Kellogg, Jessical Pietrosanti, Charles Casimiro), this brilliant orchestral quintet makes the music of this witty and sardonic production bloom, blossom and dance with the magic, the style, the shock and the imagination its creators originally intended. Mix that with the fascination of hearing it for the first time (during the interval many theatergoers remarked that they had never seen or heard of "Avenue Q" before) and experiencing it "live" and you've got something wonderful to embrace and enjoy.
Elsewhere, Koch and his merry musical group conduct, instruct and guide their eleven-member cast through the entire "Avenue Q" score without ever once missing a single beat, note or piece of important music. Here, as in "Into the Woods" and "Assassins" (Koch was musical director for the Warner Stage Company production), every one of the songs is meticulously presented and delivered in the style and manner is was rendered by its creators. And, comfortably performed and voiced by actors who wrap their vocal chops around the marvelous score singing in perfect pitch, alone, in a group, or simply with one or two people. The harmonies also blend seamlessly together and well they should under Koch's exacting tutelage and showmanship.
Imagine what Koch could do with "Company," "Evita" or "Les Miserables." I'd buy a ticket or two and so would you.
Given the expansion of the "Avenue Q" story and its reinvention on the Warner Stage, Ray's enlistment of Peggy Terhune as choreographer is a stroke of genius. No stranger to musical theatre, Terhune's use of the stage, the actors and the puppets is truly creative. Her fluid and floating choreography is pure, simple and impeccably timed. She also brings a sense of urgency, comedy, whimsy and drama to the proceedings. It's all very wonderful to watch in this purposely oversized production.
The performances in "Avenue Q" are pure gold, with dashes or two of silver, violet, crimson and royal blue. The boyishly charming, equally endearing Jonathan Zalaski is one of those tremendously gifted young actors whose love of theater and live performance is obvious from the moment he appears on stage. He loves every minute of it and so do we. Here, he is the perfect fit for the unworldly, confused Princeton who just wants to be loved and find real purpose in his life. His voice, his mannerisms and vocal delivery is "spot on" as is his body language when manipulating the movements of his Princeton puppet. Vocally, he is engaging and polished in all of his musical numbers including "What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?" "Purpose," "It Sucks to Be Me (Reprise)" and "There's a Fine, Fine Line (Reprise)."
As kindergarten teaching assistant Kate Monster, another "Avenue Q" character looking for love, acceptance, job security and purpose, Meredith Porri is lovely, exciting, honest, winsome and an absolutely pleasure to watch as her character's story unfolds throughout the two-act musical. She excels at every comic, musical, sexual, tearful and dramatic turn. Her puppetry mechanics are skillful, dynamic and moving. And like Zalaski, there is real, raw emotion here, both human and from the puppet she brings so merrily to life.
The versatile Chris Kulmann is right in sync with the troubled, often misunderstood plight of Nicky, who also happens to be Rod's roommate. He's funny. He's sad. He's crazy. He's sentimental. He's passionate. He's charming. And he never once misses a thump as an actor, as a singer or as a puppeteer.
Everything Josh Newey touches turns to pure gold. In "Evil Dead: The Musical," "Tommy" and in "Avenue Q," his acting style, range and persona is AMAZING. Acting is his forte. Make no mistake about it. No matter what part he plays, he always gives 110 percent. And he never gives the same performance twice. Here, he plays Rod, a genuine lover of Broadway musicals struggling with the fact that he might be "gay." It's one of those standout roles that Newey invests with that real emotion and honesty that categorizes all of his work. Ray gives him lots to work with and he delivers all of it unobtrusively.
In the role of the purposely stereotypical Christmas Eve, a Japanese therapist whose patients seem to leave after only one visit, Amanda Friedman delivers a dizzying, brilliantly conceived comic portrait that gets huge belly laughs every time she appears on stage. Her over-the-top, high-pitched caricature of Asian women is both hilarious and pleasurable. She knows how to deliver a line of dialogue with zing and snap. She commands your attention at every turn. And when she takes center stage to sing "The More You Ruv Someone," you are with her every step of the way.
Ray deserves an expensive, carefully wrapped "blue box" gift from Tiffany's flagship store on Fifth Avenue for the casting of both Joe Harding and Janette Ireland, who play Bad Idea Bear and Mrs. T (Joe) and Bad Idea Bear and Newcomcer (Janette). Together, alone, side by side or part of the "Avenue Q" ensemble, Harding and Ireland are two dynamic, versatile individuals who captivate, charm, cajole and light up the Warner stage in such enigmatic ways, they could easily cause a power failure.
Their facial expressions, their character voices, their body language, their line delivery, their musical skills and their natural manipulation of the Bad Idea puppets is sheer genius...and then some. As actors, they also go the extra mile in terms of characterization, performance, musicality and interaction with the rest of the "Avenue Q" cast. Bravo, Mr. Harding. Bravo, Ms. Ireland.
Other fine performances are delivered by Michelle Funaro (Lucy), Keith Paul (Trekkie Monster), Torry Thomas (Gary Coleman) and David Anctil (Brian).
"Avenue Q" is one of those saucy, relevant musicals that has plenty to say....and says it so well. It is sharp, witty, racy, and daring entertainment. It also has plenty of heart and soul and a sticky center of pure butterscotch that's very R-rated.
"Avenue Q" photography by Luke Haughwout
"Avenue Q" was staged at the Warner Theatre (60 Main St., Torrington, CT) Nov. 4 through 12, 2017)
For tickets to upcoming productions, call (860) 489-7180.
website: warnertheatre.org.
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