The Group Rep treats audiences to a crowd-pleasing Avenue Q, the 2004 Robert Lopez-Jeff Marx-Jeff Whitty musical comedy smash that imagines what might happen if Jim Henson’s Muppets started singing songs and teaching life lessons about adult topics like sexual orientation, racism, and Internet porn.

“Sesame Street For Grown-Ups” is just one way to sum up this ingenious blend of fuzzy-faced puppets and live human actors, some of whom manipulate the puppet characters they give voice to, others of whom play their roles in traditional costumed-actor mode.

Add to this almost two-dozen melodious songs and some Sesame Street-style “instructional” video segments and you’ve got a thoroughly entertaining coming-of-age story chili-peppered with salty language and at least one scene of puppet-on-puppet sex.

Whitty’s Tony-winning book introduces us to a dapper young chap named Princeton (Joey Flint and a Muppets-inspired puppet), freshly graduated with a B.A. in English with no idea what to do with his life.

Fortunately for Princeton, his apartment hunting has led him from Avenue A to the far more affordable Avenue Q and a “For Rent” sign in a building supered by none other than washed-up TV star Gary Coleman (Courtney Bruce minus hand puppet as “Gary” himself) and peopled by roommates Rod (Flint and puppet) and Nicky (Troy Whitaker and puppet), live-in lovers Brian and Christmas Eve (Ashkhan Aref and Kristina Reyes in puppet-free human mode), sweet young thing Kate Monster (Hartley Powers and puppet), and upstairs grouch Trekkie Monster (Whitaker again, puppet in hand).

In song after tuneful, clever song (music and lyrics by Lopez and Marx), we get to know these self-proclaimed losers-in-life up close and personal, along with a series of humorous life lessons taught in song and an occasional animated video, à la Sesame Street, though with considerably saltier language and themes, ditties with titles like “The Internet Is For Porn,” “You Can Be As Loud As The Hell You Want (When You’re Makin’ Love),” and “Schadenfreude,” German for “watching a frat boy realize just what he put his dick in.”

Also figuring along the way are cabaret skank Lucy The Slut (Hartley and puppet), a pair of Bad Idea Bears (Whitaker and Harley Walker holding a couple of cute-as-can-be stuffed animals) who delight in giving the worst possible advice, Kate’s grouchy grammar school principal Mrs. Thistletwat (Walker), and some eleventh-hour surprises.

Director Patrick Burke has made the smart decision to stick close to the original Broadway concept of assigning multiple puppet roles each to performers clad in basic black, making it clear that it’s the puppet who’s the real character regardless of whose hand is inside.

Flint, for example, creates two distinctly different young men, boy next door Princeton and uber-uptight Rod, each as winning as the other; Whitaker’s endearing slacker of a Nicky matches his curmudgeonly Trekkie Monster in big-hearted appeal; and dance captain Powers’ Kate Monster is as Doris Day radiant as her Lucy The Slut is Jayne Mansfield sultry and seductive, and scores bonus points for her Broadway-caliber pipes.

As for the human contingent, Aref’s laid-back and lovable Brian and Reyes’ adorable, salty-tongued Christmas Eve prove that opposites can both attract and adhere, and Bruce is simply sensational as a smart-mouthed, big-voiced Gary Coleman who steals every scene he/she’s in.

Last but not least, Walker not only plays Mrs. Thistletwat to crabapple perfection but joins Whitaker as a couple of downright evil Bad Idea Bears and steps in as puppet manipulator whenever Flint, Whitaker, or Powers need to be holding/voicing the other of their dual roles.

Michele Bernath’s jaunty choreography and Paul Cady’s tuneful musical direction merit their own snaps, the latter aided by sound designer Steve Shaw’s mix of amped live vocals and prerecorded tracks. (Kevin Hoffmann, Jr. is audio supervisor.)

Director Burke earns design points as well for his hand-crafted puppets (inspired by Rick Lyons’ original designs if not as intricately costumed).

Chris Winfield’s row-house set and Patrick Dennison’s lighting are basic but effective. J. Christopher Sloan properties are as clever as Stephanie Colet’s costumes are colorful (though Christmas Eve deserves a more character-appropriate wedding gown than the basic white one she’s been given). Video segments are the Robert Lopez Broadway originals.

Avenue Q is produced for The Group Rep by Drina Durazo and Hoffman. Patrick Skelton is assistant director. Kenny Harder is stage manager. Lisa McGee Mann is chief puppet wrangler. Dorathy Haverty and Kaylena Mann are puppet wranglers.

Parents of younger kids are hereby forewarned. Avenue Q gets an R-rating for raunch, so leave preteens at home with the babysitter and some age-appropriate Disney flicks. Also, anyone offended by the F-word and/or puppet sex should probably opt for the nearest Rodgers And Hammerstein musical.

Everyone else may feel free to head over to North Hollywood where The Group Rep is offering adult audiences musical comedy entertainment with equal parts edge and heart, aka Avenue Q.

The Group Rep, Lonny Chapman Theatre, 10900 Burbank Boulevard, North Hollywood.
www.thegrouprep.com

–Steven Stanley
June 15, 2019
Photos: Doug Engalla

Tags: Jeff Marx, Jeff Whitty, Los Angeles Theater Review, The Group Rep