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| The cast of "Avenue Q." Photo by Brett Bener. |
Cross-posted from broadwayworld.com
A lot has happened since “Avenue Q” defied the odds to beat out a certain heavily-favored, green skinned witch for the Tony award for best musical 10 years ago. Technology and social media sites have come and gone (compact disks have yielded to mp3 players; MySpace and Ask Jeeves are about as relevant as an AOL email account these days). Stock markets have crashed, rebounded, crashed again and rebounded.
A lot has happened since “Avenue Q” defied the odds to beat out a certain heavily-favored, green skinned witch for the Tony award for best musical 10 years ago. Technology and social media sites have come and gone (compact disks have yielded to mp3 players; MySpace and Ask Jeeves are about as relevant as an AOL email account these days). Stock markets have crashed, rebounded, crashed again and rebounded.
With his Oscar earlier this year for “Frozen,” “Avenue Q”
co-composer Robert Lopez even claimed his EGOT crown (so named as Mr. Lopez has
successfully won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony). It might “suck to be
you” as a certain lyric from “Avenue Q” goes, but it certainly does not suck to
be Mr. Lopez at this moment in time.
Is the puppet nudity and adult humor of this homage to
“Sesame Street” still culturally relevant? You bet your felt covered butt it
is!
You can thank our anemic economy. While “Sesame Street” gently prepared several
generations of preschoolers to navigate the playground, Mercury Theater’s
home-grown, Equity production of “Avenue
Q,” remains current as it tackles the difficulties of job hunting, unemployment
and the dating pool for twenty, thirty and forty-somethings.
The emotional heart of the show (book by Jeff Whitty and
music and lyrics by Lopez and Jeff Marx) has always been with Kate Monster, who
dreams of both the perfect boyfriend and opening a “Monster-sorri” school .
Under the direction of L. Walter Stearns, Mercury’s production still thankfully
wears its sweet heart on its sleeve. Much like “Sesame Street,” Stearns has
succeeded in mounting a Brodway-caliber production that manages to feel
somewhat irreverent and good-natured at the same time.
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| Leah Morrow as Kate Monster. Photo by Brett Bener. |
As Kate Monster, Leah Morrow is appropriately sweet and
vulnerable. You can almost feel her furry heart break as she sings about the
fine line between being lovers and friends.
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| Jackson Evans as Princeton. Photo by Brett Bener. |
As Princeton, Jackson Evans is charming as he stumbles in
both love and finding his life’s purpose.
Adam Fane finds some great comedic moments as the
highly-strung, closeted Republican Rod. Daniel Smeriglio is the perfect foil to
Rod as Rod’s roommate (and unrequited love) Nicky. Smeriglio, along with Stephanie Herman, has some fine comedic moments as The Bad Idea Bears.
As Christmas Eve, the Japanese therapist with no “cry-ents,”
Christine Bunuan deserves a Jeff. Her Christmas Eve is easily my favorite (and
I’ve seen both the Original Broadway cast, the replacement cast and the touring
company productions of the show). Her rendition of “The More you Ruv Someone”
is side-splitting and worth the price of your ticket alone.
Thom Van Ermen draws some of the other biggest laughs of the
night as Trekkie Monster. This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise; if there is one thing about the show
that is still current, it’s that the Internet is still for porn.
“Avenue Q” is a must-see for teens and adults.
Mercury Theater's production of "Avenue Q" runs
through June 29 at the Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport. Tickets $20-$59. www.mercurytheaterchicago.com
or 773.325.1700
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