Queues deserve to run the length of Enmore Road for the current production of AVENUE Q.
Quite simply an incredibly entertaining musical theatre event, AVENUE Q is an R rated take on the G rated Sesame Street scenario, where the Muppets are more into kink than cookies, political correctness gets a reality check, and the songs are unabashedly bold.
Quick off the mark from the get go, the energy never lets up as recent university grad, Princeton, looks for lodging in Avenue Q, a low rent address whose superintendent is former child star, Gary Coleman.
Quartered in the Avenue Q he quickly meets the other occupiers, Brian and Christmas Eve, Rod and Nicky, Trekkie Monster and Kate Monster, with whom he forms a romantic relationship.
Quality and consistency are the hallmarks of this production of Avenue Q, with an ensemble that is on track at every turn.
Quite splendid is Madeleine Jones as Kate Monster, the kindergarten assistant with dreams of setting up her own special school. Songstress, actress, puppeteer triple treat, she takes the quadrella by doubling as Kate’s nemesis, Lucy T. Slut.
Equally splendid is Matthew Predney doing double duty as Princeton and the closeted queer, Rod, also adept at singing, acting and puppetry.
Kudos to Shauntelle Benjamin’s sassy Gary Coleman and Rowena Vilar’s fire cracker Christmas Eve.
Key role excellence from Nicholas Richard doubling Nicky and the porn prone Trekkie Monster and Justin Smith as the comedian in search of a punch line, Brian, round out the principal players, and there is superior support from Owen Little, Julia Dray, Kimberley Hododgson and Riley Sutton.
Book by the aptly named Jeff Whitty, AVENUE Q boasts brassy lyrics and music by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, with titles like Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist, The Internet is For Porn, and If You Were Gay.
Queer, quirky, inclusive and infectious in its irreverence, this production of AVENUE Q, directed by Jo Turner and produced by Luke Westley, qualifies as a must see on the current theatrical calendar.
AVENUE Q plays Enmore Theatre, Enmore Road, Enmore nightly at 7.30pm, with extra Saturday shows at 3pm and Sundays at 4pm until Saturday 18th July.
