THIS PUPPET SHOW IS FOR ADULTS ONLY
October 26, 2008 - Tennessean.com
Jeff Marx and Robert "Bobby" Lopez didn't appear to be on the road to making a Broadway smash hit. One was just out of law school, after all, and the other was an undergrad at Yale. But angst and optimism mingled in the face of the "real" world, and the pair found a voice of truth beginning to emerge: one singing, oddly enough, "What Do You Do With a BA in English?" as well as, "It Sucks To Be Me."
Suddenly, that universal search for purpose and belonging had found a new home: Avenue Q.
Never mind the fact that many of the characters in the multiple Tony Award-winning musical — which comes to Tennessee Performing Arts Center this week — are puppets, joined by their handlers and other actors on stage. Never mind the fact that it includes subjects like sex, drinking and Internet porn. Somehow, audiences across the globe have been looking at the furry and fleecy little faces and seeing themselves — and feeling that if they can just hang in there, everything will be all right for them, too.
"When you're a kid, you hear your parents, you hear Mister Rogers telling you that when you grow up, you can be a mommy or a daddy, you can be a fireman, or the president of the United States," Marx says. "They tell you that there's a whole world waiting for you to get out there and grab. . . . The truth is, when you get out of school, people aren't just begging you to be the CEO of their company. Eventually, everybody finds their niche. But there is this rude awakening.
"And we thought, when we were kids, we had Sesame Street, and friendly characters like Ernie and Bert and Big Bird going through the same things we were going through. They kind of held our hands and taught us how to get along in the world. But when you're 22, there's nobody teaching you how to do laundry, or deal with taxes, or break-ups, or losing a job, or fighting with your roommate."
Unless you count recent grad puppet Princeton, or sweet kindergarten assistant Kate Monster, uptight closeted gay man Rod, slacker Nicky, reclusive porn addict Trekkie Monster or sexy cabaret singer Lucy. Created by celebrated Sesame Street/Crank Yankers/Stick Stickley actor and puppeteer Rick Lyon, they join human actors on stage for Avenue Q. Marx and Lopez wrote the lyrics and music, and Jeff Whitty wrote the book.
It's not for kids
It is, to be certain, a most peculiar Broadway hit.
Lyon is quick to point out that it's not a puppet show on Broadway, but rather a Broadway show that uses puppets. He's also quick to point out — as is anyone even remotely related to the musical — that it's not exactly family-friendly. Sure, the puppets are cute and may well be reminiscent of childhood innocence, but the language and subject matter are not. And that, Lyon says, is one of the reasons the show works. Puppets can get away with saying provocative things humans can't.
With human actors, he continues, there's the need for the willing suspension of disbelief, or the idea that the person playing the part really is the part they're playing.
"But with a puppet, you don't have to pretend," Lyon says. "There's a ring of truth and honesty. That puppet doesn't have her own life; she's never been anything else. And that's one of the things that makes a curse so much more shocking, or a love song more touching. I always see people affected by it."
Creative show, creative marketing
Marx and Lopez — who originally thought their idea lent itself to TV comedy — headed in the direction of the stage when a producer from Rent offered his support. It moved quickly from off-Broadway to Broadway, recouping its investment in less than a year.
"And now here we are in our sixth year," Marx says. "It's crazy. It's all over the world. . . . People think it's all about them and their lives, but no, it was really just about us and our friends. It's still amazing to me that people relate to it."
Aside from the puppets — and, of course, the full-on puppet nudity and sex that's involved — what sets Avenue Q apart is the fact that it's an original work. Broadway pieces that aren't based on a previous book, movie or otherwise well-known story can be few and far between.
That can make the process exciting, but for those who promote the shows, it can also up the ante in terms of education. Marya Peters, national marketing director for Allied Live, handles Avenue Q in addition to music/movie tie-in shows Mamma Mia! and Dirty Dancing. The Avenue Q national tour, which began in the summer of 2007 and is booked through May, has been positively received "across the board," she says. But it can take a lot of conversations beforehand about what the show is — and what it is not.
"Because of the way the puppets are built, because they're so familiar-looking to all of the puppets we grew up with, people think this is just a grown-up version of a children's television program," she says. "But that's not the case. It does pay homage to that style of program, with people and puppets living together on the same street, dealing with problems at the same time."
The subject matter and irreverence, however, mean the show does appeal to a younger-than-average Broadway demographic. And marketing folks across the country, Peters says, are reaching that crowd in imaginative ways. In some cities, advertisements are printed on cocktail napkins and bar coasters; in others, there's representation at festivals and events. Press kits for media might include condoms, and ads have spoofed political campaigns, used risqué language and appeared in bathrooms.
"We tell people to get creative, and if they have an idea but think it may be going too far, to call us," Peters says. "It's probably not. . . . People have a lot of fun with it."
Show resonates on social scene
Because one of the characters comes out as a homosexual during the musical, the piece has received a warm welcome — and frequent theme nights — with the gay and lesbian community in particular. Nashville will host "Come Out at TPAC" night on Thursday, complete with a pre-show reception, discounted ticket prices, drink coupons and opportunities to donate to Artrageous and Nashville CARES.
Tennessee Performing Arts Center also has reached out to non-traditional audiences by upping its online presence regarding the show — as well as the rest of its season. The TPAC.org Web site now includes links to social sites such as Facebook and MySpace as well as wallpaper, ringtones, song samples, blogs and more.
"People are becoming more and more savvy, and looking for this sort of thing," says Kathleen O'Brien, TPAC's president and CEO. "It's not that we're not doing radio and we're not doing newspaper. . . . But if the enjoyment level is enhanced, if we make your experience with the musical that much more fulfilling with these things, then hooray. We've made an even more significant contribution to somebody's life, and therefore the mission piece of what we try to do is elevated."
And yes, all of this is a lot to hang on a small group of fuzzy friends.
"But this all comes from a genuine place," puppeteer Lyon says. "I don't think anybody ever felt, 'Let's see what we can get away with.' The creators of the show just wanted to talk about contemporary issues. Avenue Q doesn't do things just because it can. It treats its subject matter, its characters and the puppets with respect."
Even if it does strip them down to their skivvies along the way.
