Review: AVENUE Q at DreamWrights Center For Community Arts

Avenue Q, by Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx, and Jeff Whitty, is a Tony-award winning musical featuring puppets. The story follows a community of folks in their 20s and 30s who are trying to navigate life, love, and friendship while seeking their purpose in life. It is a funny, heartwarming, and relatable show with catchy music. Adult audiences can enjoy Avenue Q at DreamWrights Center for Community Arts through July 24th.

Avenue Q is not an easy show to perform. When it is performed well, the audience almost forgets that people are actually operating the puppets because the actor and their puppet become extensions of each other. The cast at DreamWrights, under the direction of Chris Velez, absolutely succeed in creating this experience for the audience. The puppets, created by Puppet Master Matthew Martsolf and a team of volunteers, share the stage with the band (creatively playing on stage inside a convenience store) and three human characters. In Avenue Q, Princeton, a recent college graduate, goes out on his own for the first time and meets the other tenants of an apartment building on Avenue Q, including Kate Monster, Brian, Christmas Eve, Gary Coleman, Nicky, Rod, and Trekkie Monster.

The non-puppet actors, Seth Saunders (playing Brian), Heather Brown (portraying Christmas Eve), and James Manjo (as Gary Coleman), interact with the puppets in wonderfully realistic ways, adding to the impression that the puppets are just as real as the actors operating them and the human characters. Seth Saunders and Heather Brown are adorable as Brian and Christmas Eve. Their banter is perfectly timed, which really lends a sense of reality to the relationship between their characters. Brown's portrayal of Christmas Eve is one of the best this reviewer has seen, and she will definitely be a crowd favorite. The third human, Gary Coleman, is played with energy and charisma by James Manjo. Manjo particularly shines in his performance of "Schadenfreude".

As the occupants of the apartment at Avenue Q deal with their various struggles, they face temptations in the form of Lucy The Slut and the Bad Idea Bears. Taylor Cornelius plays a sultry and sarcastic Lucy. Her interactions with Samantha Timothy's Kate Monster will make audiences want to slap the lipstick right off Lucy's face. Shana McCoy and Joseph Woloson are the adorable Bad Idea Bears. They make terrible ideas sound wonderfully fun and logical, and their sad faces and sighs when someone does not take their advice are very convincing. Courtney Henry takes on the role of the only other character who does not live at Avenue Q, Mrs. Thistletwat, the teacher that Kate works for. Unfortunately, it was difficult to see Mrs. Thistletwat from some parts of the theatre, but Henry is able to use her voice to express Mrs. Thistletwat's emotions during her phone calls with Kate, so audience's can still enjoy the role even if they may not be able to see the character.

Ryan Snider, Tree Clayton Zuzzio, and Andrew Matseur portray Trekkie Monster, Nicky, and Rod, respectively. Snider's Trekkie Monster is absolutely hilarious, and his performance in "The Internet is for Porn" was one of the best of opening night. Zuzzio and Matseur have wonderful energy as roommates Nicky and Rod. They are able to portray their characters' emotions so well that the audience is completely swept up into their storyline. Their vocal performances, which are done using their very distinctive "puppet" voices, are fantastic as well.

Princeton and Kate Monster are played by Dylan Warner and Samantha Timothy. Warner and Timothy use their body language, facial expressions, and skillful puppeteering to make Princeton and Kate Monster completely believable and relatable. They both deliver delightfully clear and pitch-perfect vocals, particularly in their solos "Purpose" (performed by Warner) and "There's a Fine, Fine Line" (performed by Timothy).

Avenue Q dives into some serious themes in a comedic manner. This production at DreamWrights is engaging and entertaining, inviting the audience to become part of life on Avenue Q. Visit Princeton and his friends by getting your tickets today at https://dreamwrights.org/2022-season/avenue-q/

Please note, Avenue Q contains mature content not suitable for children.

*Photo Credit: Amber Gamber Photography

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