Reviews of 'Avenue Q' and 'Big River'

Summer is supposed to be a downtime on Broadway, but this summer not only have two big musicals opened, they've got the hardest-working actors in New York in them. The cast of Big River performs in sign language as they speak and sing, while those in Avenue Q portray their characters through their own expressions and gestures as well as through the puppets they operate. Both shows require actors to juggle roles in ways never before seen on Broadway.

First to open was the revival of 1985's Tony winner for Best Musical, Big River, an adaptation of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn scored by country star Roger Miller. Roundabout Theatre Company has brought in this Deaf West Theatre production from L.A., where it swept the Ovation and Drama Critics Circle awards in 2001. The hearing-impaired actors sign while castmates—usually sitting or standing to the side of the stage or within the ensemble on stage—speak/sing the lines; the hearing actors use sign language and their voices simultaneously.

This staging is, curiously, both obtrusive and seamless. At times you barely notice—or don't even bother looking around for—the voice actor, and having one person speak a role while another acts it out meshes with the storytelling milieu that the show's designers have created (text and illustrations from the pages of Huckleberry Finn adorn the set). The actor playing Mark Twain voices the part of Huck, which underscores Twain's role as storyteller (he opens and closes the show with a direct address to the audience) and enables inconspicuous job sharing, since Twain is on stage the entire time overseeing his work.

In a few cases, the speaking actor stands right next to the hearing-impaired actor signing the lines and moves along with him. This is where it can get distracting. Even though the mirror actions of the two men playing Pap are funny and masterfully synchronized—and could even be viewed as double vision resulting from Pap's perpetual drunkenness—it still means Huck has two fathers, with different body types.

But what about the show outside of the "sign language factor"? Since that's such a salient aspect, it's tough to judge the production without considering it. And since the ambitions and skill in making the show deaf-accessible are so admirable, it's tough—but not necessarily untrue—to say that without them, this is a sturdy yet unspectacular revival. There are no major flaws, except the second act is too long (obviously, not the producers' fault). And a major asset is Tyrone Giordano's delightful performance as Huck, which embodies both the impish and empathetic qualities of this iconic figure in American literature.

As Huck's traveling companion, Jim, Michael McElroy has an excellent voice and presence, although he may be a tad too elegant for a slave and his magnificent physique (he's shirtless in one scene) is uncharacteristic for anyone except a Crunch gym habitue. Daniel Jenkins, who accompanies himself on guitar and banjo in addition to playing Twain and Huck's voice, evinces a versatility and geniality that make you wonder why he hasn't been employed more in Broadway musicals. The fact that he was the original Huck back in 1985 is a bonus for theater geeks, as is the return of Phyllis Frelich, making her first Broadway appearance since winning a Tony for Children of a Lesser God over 20 years ago.

Theater buffs can also take pride in this Big River for something beyond its quality and innovation: With actors sharing roles, hearing actors learning sign language and hearing-impaired actors, who have probably spent most of their careers playing to hearing-impaired audiences, bravely taking on Broadway audiences, this production stirringly illustrates how theater is a collaborative art.

Because of its story and the nature of the revival, Big River is a good show for youngsters. Avenue Q, as you've undoubtedly been warned, is not. But to focus on its ribaldry is to overlook that this may be the most satisfying new musical to hit Broadway since...I can't even remember when. Yes, it has the puppets and the bawdiness for innovation, but it also has a well-developed, meaningful story line. You come out of the theater not only thoroughly entertained but edified by its "message." And that's something that the other enjoyable new musicals of recent years don't offer: There's no moral in The Producers, and Hairspray's integration-is-good/be-nice-to-fat-people sentiments aren't exactly novel.

For all its mocking of educational television, Avenue Q teaches a heartening and valuable lesson: Uncertainty and disappointment are part of life but neither permanent nor unconquerable. And it's a message that's conveyed without schmaltz (except that which mimics the warm-fuzziness of children's TV). In fine Broadway tradition, Avenue Q brings down the curtain with a raise-your-spirits anthem, and the finale "For Now" is just as uplifting yet infinitely more pragmatic than, say, "The Best of Times" or "Everything's Coming Up Roses."

As for Avenue Q's already legendary indecorousness, critics spoil the surprises by quoting all the funny lines (song titles are not listed in the program, probably to preserve shock value). So I'll refrain from sharing my favorites except to say that I'd rank the "double-click" lyric in the Internet song as one of Broadway's cleverest rhymes, right up there with Henry Higgins' Budapest and "ruder pest." And who would think a sex scene could elicit such a reaction in an age when what once passed as pornography is now just a pay-cable channel away. But even if you've heard about it, the sight of the puppets going at it is utterly hilarious...and disturbingly realistic.

All the puppet-wielding performers in Avenue Q have worked on Sesame Street, and their ability to replicate the magic of the Muppets—an abundant expressiveness by the puppets despite unchanged facial parts—is one key to the play's success. What makes John Tartaglia's performance truly virtuosic is that he deploys the same expressiveness in his own face and body; thus, he's simultaneously playing his parts twice. Whether you judge Tartaglia on his puppetry or his acting, you've got a Tony-caliber performance of tremendous warmth and complexity. The endearing Stephanie D'Abruzzo tends to confine her emoting to the puppets, but her performance is undiminished since it takes a special kind of agility to voice two puppets in the same scene as she does, and she shows great range in the disparate personalities of those puppets: kindhearted Kate Monster and voracious Lucy T. Slut. Meanwhile, Rick Lyon merits praise for his uncanny imitations of Sesame Street's Ernie (in the character of Nicky) and Cookie Monster (here a porn freak name Trekkie) and his teamwork with the multitasking Jennifer Barnhart. The 100% human actors—Ann Harada, Jordan Gelber and Natalie Venetia Belcon—are also well-cast and amusing.

In their program bio, Avenue Q songwriters Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx (who came up with the original concept for the show) thank the "artists who have provided them with so much inspiration," among them Joe Raposo, the Beatles, Stephen Sondheim, Paul Williams, Billy Joel, John Kander and Fred Ebb, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Marc Shaiman. A little of each of those talents can be heard in the score, which has pop appeal even though I doubt anyone will ever cover "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist." With such unlikely titles as "I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today" and "A Mix Tape," Lopez and Marx managed to write songs that sound like typical showtunes and parody children's music.

Good book, good score, highly inventive and a ton of fun. Plus, it does some Republican-bashing. What more could you want from a musical than Avenue Q?

Avenue Q photos: (top) John Tartaglia with Princeton, (bottom) Stephanie D'Abruzzo with Kate Monster [both by Nick Reuchel].