What Do You Do With a B.A. in English?

Avenue Q, originally uploaded by kardinalsin.

There is no shortage of fun in the downtown Arts district these days. The last time we went to the Music Center (including the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion amongst other theaters) was to see, once again, Culture Clash performing "Water and Power." Last night was unique, however, in that we were taking in a musical, which I don't think we'd seen since Grace took me to see "The Lion King" at the Pantages last year. Wholly a family affair, the Disney produced musical can not compare with the completely adult and absolutely mature "Avenue Q."

Created by a former Sesame Street puppeteer with music by the Scrubs-hired Lopez brothers, "Avenue Q" is an irreverent puppet comedy, clothed in the overalls of the Children's Television Workshop. Every program, poster, pamphlet, advertisement, and soundtrack is labeled "for mature audiences only" with good reason, as the CTW would surely cringe at the un-muppet-like themes central to the musical's plot. Yes, there are segments presented like education, but such is the tongue-in-cheek nature of the animations that it's all one enormous dirty joke.

The shows performers are gamely adept performing the act of puppetry. Comparing it to "Lion King," "Avenue Q" succeeds in getting the viewer lost in the character of their puppet cast-members, but perhaps is more striking since the format is less hide-and-seek since the human puppeteers make no efforts to hide their presence other than to wear dull clothing. Most impressive for myself was how each puppeteer lost themselves in the character enough that their physical performance matched the traits of whichever puppet they would be performing at the time. As an obsessive-compulsive monster, the performer would be gregarious. As a blonde bombshell vamp, the performer would strut around the stage in earnest. While not as grand in scope, it was almost more effective.

Musically, it is easy to see how the Lopez brothers were hired on to write for the musical episode of Scrubs. Each tune was catchy, full of energy, and whip-smart lyrically. I can't imagine that any other musical could get away with a song titled "Schadenfreude," but for that matter, there is no other musical that could include another one titled, "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist." Even the overarching theme, "It Sucks to be Me" had a jumping little beat reminiscent of the Henson tradition. Thanks to the music, I found myself not even noticing how much time had passed between the beginning of the first act and the second since I was enjoying the humor and the spectacle of each set-piece.

I would also be remiss not to mention a former high school classmate of mine who had a few supporting parts in the musical. Playing the part of one half of the Bad Idea Bears Duo and also the grumpy kindergarten teacher Mrs. T, she really impressed me with how far she's come since the days of portraying Peter Pan in our own high school musicals. Looking up at her perform on-stage while I was in the orchestra pit back then is a far cry from being an audience member in the balcony looking down at her, and I'm not surprised that I considered it just as remarkable (if not more so) now as it was back then.

This show comes with a high recommendation from myself. If you are a fan of the medium and looking for something fun to watch and unique from the blockbuster Broadway musical, score some tickets for yourself. You won't regret spending some time down on "Avenue Q."