SameSame.com.au ~ Inside Out Australia

Naughty, Naughty Puppets!

Feature, By Travis de Jonk, 1st June, 2009

Creators Jeff Whitty, Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx first teamed up to put on Avenue Q in an off-Broadway run back in 2002. Little did they realize the world-wide sensation they were about to create. Avenue Q made it to Broadway and London’s West End the following year becoming one of its hottest tickets around, going on to beat Wicked The Musical, and winning three of the top Tony Awards in 2004; Best Musical, Best Original Score of a Musical and Best Book of a Musical.

The wait for Australian audiences is over, with the hit puppet musical beginning its Australian season in Melbourne’s infamous Comedy Theatre on June 4 and will also tour Australia before it heads overseas to New Zealand.

“It’s really rare that musical theatre will actually make you laugh… I mean laugh out loud, belly laughs. It can be a rather stoic medium. That’s why this show is so different,” says Australian director and Helpmann Awards host, Jonathan Biggins.

Biggins is fresh from a preview of the show for family and friends of the production, as well as a handful of lucky paying customers. The official opening night of the show is just days away. Biggins says that the preview went exceptionally well, and that he’s feeling very confident about his directorial debut.

“This is my first real directing gig, so you know, the pressure is really on to get it right,” says Biggins. “We have all put in a lot of dedication and hard work. We want it to be just right for audiences. I’m happy to say, it’s looking great!”

In Avenue Q puppets and humans interact in a uniquely naughty way. The show parodies the look and feel of children’s entertainment, in particular the styles and conventions of Sesame Street, while simultaneously paying homage to it.

“The puppets in the show are beautifully designed – they’re both bright and captivating,” says Biggins. “While this show is definitely not for kids, the overall feel it conjures up will definitely bring out your inner child, and capture your imagination.”

Songs like If You Were Gay, Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist and The Internet Is For Porn do more than hint at the show’s adult content. The writing and songs in the show are wonderfully intelligent, satirical and most importantly, hysterically funny.

Essentially, the storyline follows a group of human and puppet individuals who live in a fictitious New York Street, Avenue Q. Princeton (Mitchel Butel), is an unemployed English literature graduate who finds his life purpose when he falls in love with Kate Monster (McLeods Daughters’ Michala Banas). A kindergarten teacher, Kate wants to start her own school.

There are plenty of other colourful characters such as the uptight Rod who yearns for hot man on man action, nightclub singer Lucy The Slut (Michala Banas) who longs for wall-to-wall sex and Trekkie Monster (Luke Joslin) who shares his unquenchable lust for smoothly downloading internet porn. And there are many more warped characters who share an apartment building that has Different Strokes’ Gary Coleman (Cherine Peck) as its superintendent.

“As you can imagine, this show is a hell of a lot of fun to work on… it’s quite possibly one of the most fun gigs we’ve all had,” says Biggins.

One of the challenges faced by the show organisers is making sure the audience is prepared for what they are going to see. It’s so much more than just a smutfest of adult content, but it’s definitely not for kiddies either.

“It’s smutty, it’s irreverent but Avenue Q’s underlying theme is of acceptance and inclusion. It’s heart is definitely in the right place,” Biggins explains.

“I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting for Avenue Q to finally get to Australia,” said creator Robert Lopez. “Not just because I’ve never been and I’ve always wanted to die in a Great White shark attack, but because I’ve always suspected that Aussies would really love Avenue Q!”

Similarly, Avenue Q’s writer Jeff Marx said, “I am really excited to see Avenue Q opening in Australia. I am sure that the famous Australian sense of humour will be a perfect match for our irreverent show.”

So will Avenue Q connect with Australian audiences? Biggins has no doubt.

“We’ve had shows like Sesame Street since the 60’s in Australia. Plus we have our own history of children shows here – Fat Cat, Mr Squiggle, Humphrey Bear, Playschool... In fact _Playschool’s _ David James plays Brian in the show. We love shows like the The Simpsons, Family Guy and South Park. It’s very much our sense of humour.

“It’s certainly not your average musical, and I think the theatre is ready to be shaken up a bit. Audiences want to have some fun.”

Following its Melbourne season, Jonathon Biggins leaves Avenue Q in the hands of an associate director. So what’s in the works for him after his fabulous directorial debut?

“I’ll still occasionally pop my head into performances over the many months that it is touring… you know, just to give them notes, let them know where they are going wrong,” jokes Biggins.

“I’ve got a number of projects I’m working on, one of which is a sequel to my book 700 Habits Of Inefficient People. The Helpmann Awards are fast approaching again this year too. I’m really looking forward to hosting that once more. This year it’s on at the Opera House… ooh la la! It’s going to be great being on that stage. Julia Zemiro will be joining me again to host. Doing a number with her would be wonderful fun.

“But at the moment however, I’m totally focused on Avenue Q. It’s going to be huge. Bring on opening night!”

Avenue Q opens in Melbourne on June 4 at the Comedy Theatre where it will play until August. It then comes to Sydney.