NYC – Avenue Q

So, after long months of hearing Doyce rave about Avenue Q, we got tickets for the Broadway performance (at the Golden Theatre) while we were out there.

And, yes, it’s a ton of fun, rollicking goodness, witty and funny and simple and profound.

Indeed, the simplicity of the show is both a weakness and a strength. It touches on such themes as love, sex, commitment, purpose, life, bad decisions, racism, schadenfreude, communication, integrity, careers, coming of age … I mean we’re talking Shakespearean stuff here in a lot of ways. And, like Shakespeare, it’s neatly packaged up in a low comedy package that seems treat everything lightly, yet leaves enough loose ends (“For Now”) to smack of much more reality than most TV dramas manage.

Like Sesame Street (the unabashed inspiration), the show has some actors who just play people, and other actors who play one (or more) puppets — usually standing, holding the puppet next to them. It’s like watching a movie with subtitles — do you watch the puppet or the actor? In the end you do both, in an odd, schizophrenic fashion, and it all works.

Some puppets are manned by two people at a time. The two main leads actually play two characters each (Princeton/Rod and Kate Monster/Lucy). If there’s a scene where both are on stage, they end up handing one puppet off to another of the actors, but do both voices. Even more schizophrenic (do you watch the puppet, the voice actor, or the puppet actor?), but, again, it all works.

I highly recommend it to anyone who would not be offended by enthusiastic (if non-graphic) puppet sex. It’s a great fun.

Then, afterward …

So the show does a collection for charity towards the end (“The Money Song”), which goes toward some worthy cause (I don’t have the program at hand — I think it’s the Actor’s Equity AIDS Fund or something like that). The characters all come out and pass hats around (extending from the musical number).

Not many people gave anything.

So at the very end, after the curtain calls and all, a couple of the players come out and talk about other fund-raising — donations at the door, plus proceeds from various Avenue Q swag — buttons, posters, etc. And they talked about another fund-raiser they do, a 1-minute auction. Get high bid, and you get (a) a poster of your choice signed by the cast, (b) a back-stage tour by a cast member, and (c) a photo taken of you on the tour which comes with a signed frame. Opening bid: $150.

Now, this was the matinée, but was pretty well attended for that. And I was waiting for someone to bid. And waiting. And waiting. And the actors are encouraging folks, and nobody’s bidding and nobody’s bidding and nobody’s …

So I say screw it, and bid with a loud voice, “$150.”

Priming the pump, the call it. If someone bids, then others will. I really didn’t think …

Cue crickets chirping, tumbleweeds tumbling, wind whistling in the eaves …

(One wag, when told the bid was “One-fifty” then bid “Two dollars!” but was quickly cut off by the actors once it was clear that he wasn’t making a legit bid of $152.)

As as the clock ticked off, they cut off bidding and awarded it to me, with profuse public thanks and applause and all that. 

So, fine, what the heck, worthy charity (“Be sure and deduct it,” Margie suggested), and a fun backstage tour. Having been wowed by the play and having an amateur theatrical history myself, I thought it would be fun.

Virg and Teresa, Doyce-friends from the wedding, were also at the show, and they wandered over to give me their congratulations. So, of course, we invited them along, which they were all reluctant about to start with, feeling it was imposing — but given that Virg has a sister who does puppet stuff in LA, and Teresa has a serious theater background herself, it made even more sense.

We got escorted into the back alleys, which are shared with two other theaters and a hotel, and admitted into the back and up a long flight of stairs. We were met by a lady who I think was the stage manager, and I handed over my money and chose my poster (I went for Kate Monster).

Meanwhile, actors were coming downstairs, and saying profuse thanks, and chit-chatting with the others, and all that. And then our guide showed up.

So we got to be escorted around by Jennifer Barnhart, who does Mrs T. (that’s the way it’s credited in the program), Bad Idea Bear #2, second hands on any of the puppets that require them (e.g., Trekkie Monster), and hand-off puppeteer (Kate Monster, etc.), and understudy (Kate). She‘s got a puppetry background, having worked on Sesame Street, Between the Lions, Bear in the Big Blue House, etc. She’s also the only cast member who’s been with the show since it opened in 2003.

Excellent.

By which I mean, she was friendly, informative, helpful, chit-chatted, and enjoyed the fact that we were so interested in every detail and had theater experience amongst us. She knew the technical puppet bits, the production stories, the actors, every nook and cranny, was articulate, engaged, and just a doll to get to go around the theater with.

(And, in a weird coincidence, in reading a Neil Gaiman book, Adventures in the Dream Trade, flying home, I read an anecdote in which Neil mentions, just in passing … “Walk out of signing to find a few friends hanging around, including my friends writer Andy Heidel (former HarperCollins publicist, now Sci Fi Channel man) and his fiancee Jen the Puppet Queen (Mama Lion on Between the Lions) ….” Yes, one and the same. Not that it made her any more special for having hob-nobbed with Neil Gaiman, but it was a truly odd coincidence.)

So first we stopped by the Wall of Puppets (stage left), with all the multiple versions (some duplicates, for quick appearances around the place, others costume changes) of most of the puppets. Much discussion of puppet construction and usage ensued, pictures taken.

Wandered around to the main stage, to marvel at the loving detail. The buildings are a bit forced perspective, and about 20% shorter than the real thing (making the doorways quite duckable for taller cast members).

Locksmith stickers on each of the front doors. Jen explained this was a very New York thing (which she could speak of from experience: “When you get home from a party, drunk, and you snap your key off in the lock, you want to know who you can call.”).

We talked about the theater a bit. The John Golden Theatre has been around for a Long Time. It badly needs renovation, both from general wear and tear and from things like a bad mold problem in the actors’ dressing rooms. In fact, it was supposed to be renovated in December 2003. Earlier in the year, though, they were approached by an off-Broadway production looking for Broadway space — and when told it was “a coming-of-age tale in a small neighborhood — with puppets,” they figured they were safe to book them into the space until the show quickly closed. Five years later …

We got to see the Stage Manager’s booth (up a ladder stage right with multiple monitors, including one infra-red so that she can monitor the stage during blackouts). Margie got to flick the switch to turn off the house lights. More puppets stage right. A backstage library. Poking and prodding at the back side of the set (which has all sorts of tunnels, scaffolding, and bit and pieces that get replaced in the windows in different scenes).

And lots more chit-chat and pictures and the like. It was triffic fun, and probably took about an hour — which given that Jen had an evening performance she had to report back for in two hours, made it very gracious on her part.

We departed out a side alley, giving effusive thanks to each other. I managed to leave my Polaroid behind on a bench, but we went back the following night and picked it up (Margie having called the theater to make arrangements).

Chatted with Virg and Teresa for a few minutes more — they seemed tickled to death by the whole experience, which made me even more glad we’d invited them along — and then headed off for the next adventure.

Good stuff, great time, and a passel of memories that are more than worth the $150.

(Just a few of the pics I took, but a good sample. When the rest go up, I’ll make a comment here.)