Reviews

Avenue Q (Tour – Liverpool)

Initially, this appears to be classic boy meets girl, etc, etc and a tribute to Sesame Street and The Muppets, the girl being Kate Monster but soon gets into its stride/strut – though maybe ‘Avenue X’ would mark the spot, when Princeton moves in, with no money or job but a head full of dreams, and a house full of friends.

The set is a curiously ramshackle building where rooms double as mini stages, just as windows become screens. And the songs are excellent, the singers incredible, as is the cast, while the choreography is simply (or rather, complicatedly) brilliant: man and muppet, as it were, move as one. Or two in some cases –literally sex on legs as Katharine Moraz is Lucy the Slut plus plucky heroine Kat while tortured Rod (he and Brian Edward Judge may have you speculating about Bert and Ernie) and would be hero Princeton (Sam Lupton).

Daniella Gibb is uptight Mrs T and one of wonderfully evil Teddies, Chris Thatcher being the other and Trekkie Monster, though surprising he hasn’t been re-named Nookie Monster. Then there’s the humans: Matthew J Henry as Gary Colman, child actor turned handyman, and the odd couple, fall guy and would be stand up comedian Gary and (possibly self proclaimed) psychoanalyst Asian/American Christmas Eve (Julie Yammanee). Now here’s the thing: the show ticks all the right boxes ie in showcasing issues yet prides itself on being non pc, but Ms Eve’s accent is so stereotypical, it’s hard to get the joke.

Never mind, it’s an original, a thoroughly enjoyable musical, charming and cheeky. It was good to see a younger audience, and for most people, this show must score A+.

– Carole Baldock