ONSTAGE
What: Avenue Q
Where: Canadian College of Performing Arts, 1701 Elgin Rd.
When: Opens tonight (June 1), 8 p.m., continues June 2, 3, 8, 9, 10 and 11
Tickets, info: ccpacanada.com, 250-595-9970
听
听
When R.J. Peters lined up at the TKTS ticket centre in New York鈥檚 Times Square 14 years ago, hoping to score Avenue Q tickets, he resisted a stranger鈥檚 attempts to talk him out of seeing the off-Broadway hit.
鈥淭he guy said: 鈥榊ou know it鈥檚 a show about puppets, right?鈥� recalled Canadian College of Performing Arts alumnus Peters, who was determined to see a preview performance before its Broadway debut.
Although the detractor apparently missed the point of the show, he was correct in one sense: puppets do figure prominently in the groundbreaking Tony Award-winning musical.
They鈥檙e Muppet-like, both physically and in the way they talk, and their antics evoke Sesame Street, the PBS kids鈥� TV series that inspired Avenue Q 鈥� but the resemblances end there.
鈥淚鈥檝e never laughed so hard in the theatre in my life. Everything was so relevant and hilarious,鈥� said Peters, who is directing and designing the set and lighting for the Canadian Heritage Arts Society鈥檚 alumni company production.
The show, which opens tonight at Canadian College of Performing Arts鈥檚 Elgin Road theatre, comes with a parental discretion advisory for children under 13, since it features adult language and situations, including 鈥渇ull puppet nudity.鈥�
Described as being 鈥減art flesh, part felt and packed with heart,鈥� Avenue Q has raised eyebrows for how it addresses issues such as sex, homosexuality and racism using the kinds of puppets associated with kids鈥� shows. It even prompted a disclaimer from the Jim Henson Company and Sesame Workshop, which say they neither authorized, nor accept, responsibility for the musical鈥檚 adult-themed content.
Avenue Q is as notable for its risqu茅 tunes, such as Everyone鈥檚 a Little Bit Racist and The Internet is for Porn, as its co-existence of actors and sturdy felt characters animated by puppeteers in plain sight.
It is no wonder that the satirical musical, about a college graduate who deals with adolescent anxieties after moving to the big city and into a shabby apartment on Avenue Q, has been called 鈥淪esame Street for adults.鈥�
Characters such as girl-next-door Kate Monster, Lucy the slut, Rod the Republican and Trekkie Monster, the pervert, can鈥檛 help but trigger memories of the old favourites who inspired them.
Peters says he doesn鈥檛 have a problem with the 鈥淪esame Street for adults鈥� tag.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 appropriate, actually,鈥� said Peters, who grew up watching Sesame Street.
鈥淚n the same way that Sesame Street could entertain us as kids, this show isn鈥檛 afraid to take on bigger issues. Remember how the adult characters would have sitdowns with the puppets to talk things over, like when Elmo had a problem? I think Avenue Q has captured that. It celebrates the differences between us all.鈥�
While Avenue Q is not a full college show, like its recent production of Beauty and the Beast, its cast and crew is made up of graduates from the college.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had so much fun rehearsing this,鈥� said Peters, noting it鈥檚 been as much of a social event, with alumni having barbecues, painting scenery together and exchanging college memories and showbiz tales.
Working with puppets, actors and multi-talented puppeteers has been creatively challenging, Peters admitted.
He said it was a stroke of luck that Ryan Nelson, a graduate of the college and the puppet master who worked on the Toronto and Berlin productions of War Horse, was available to assist as puppet director and appear in the show.
鈥淚n traditional puppeteering shows, the puppets are central and the actor鈥檚 eyeline is fixated on the puppet,鈥� Peters said, adding that Avenue Q had developed a 鈥渉ybrid鈥� that allows the puppeteer to act alongside the puppet. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e constantly creating so your emoting usually takes a back seat, whereas, with Avenue Q, you鈥檙e keeping the same eyeline as the puppet 鈥� you鈥檙e mirroring what the puppet is doing.鈥�
There was much excitement when the licensed Avenue Q puppets they are renting arrived from New York.
鈥淭he details and artistry is amazing,鈥� said Peters, marvelling at puppets that take two people to operate 鈥� one with a hand in the puppet鈥檚 mouth to control its left hand, the other controlling its right hand.
鈥淭hen there鈥檚 Sarah Murphy鈥檚 amazing choreography, so the puppeteers have to be singers and dancers,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut at CCPA we all trained in acting, singing and dancing, and this cast is above and beyond.鈥�
The cast includes alumni Nelson, Murphy, Lucas Blaney, Dutchess Cayetano, Brad L鈥橢cuyer, Alison MacDonald and Lindsay Robinson.
The production adheres closely to the original, including the presence of a Gary Coleman puppet character 鈥渢hat mocks, but also honours, the memory鈥� of the star of the 1980s sitcom Diff鈥檙ent Strokes. While the character was replaced with more contemporary versions in some North American productions, they didn鈥檛 play as well, so the Coleman references were reinstated, Peters said.
In European versions, Michael Jackson and Macaulay Culkin have been substituted with more success, he said.
鈥淲e had to explain to some of our cast members who Gary Coleman is,鈥� said Peters, who stopped short of having his cast binge-watch Diff鈥檙ent Strokes.