AVENUE Q

When good puppets go bad

By JONATHAN DONALDSON

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Broadway smash Avenue Q is not based on Sesame Street in any way shape or form. Nuh-uh. Nope. Forget the colorful puppets designed by former Jim Henson puppeteer Rick Lyon—such as the porn-addicted Trekkie Monster, or roommates Rod and Nicky (guess which one is a closeted gay Republican?). Forget how the hilariously sharp songs of writers Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez echo Sesame hit-maker Joe Raposo down to the last glockenspiel. Forget even that the action is centered around a generic street in Big City, USA.

With a disclaimer so ridiculous that it reads like a Bert and Ernie joke, Avenue Q escapes parody first by demonstrating deep reverence for the source material and then by taking it to places it could never go on children's television. On this avenue, human characters and puppets both come of age in the big city, dealing with personal and professional issues along the way. The Avenue Q audience has to grow up a little bit, too—because puppeteers are in full view, you may never see Grover the same way again.

We had the chance to interview Rod the puppet via email. Here's what he said.

HOW HAS THIS BIG RECESSION AFFECTED YOU?

The recession hasn't affected me too much; I've had to cut back on movie rentals and magazines a bit. I do miss my romantic comedies and Oprah subscriptions.

YOUR ROOMMATE NICKY IS A LOVEABLE GUY. DOES THAT MAKE YOU PROUD TO BE HIS FRIEND?

I am very proud to be Nicky's roommate ... 25 percent of the time. Last week, we had an argument over Ugg boots and whether or not I should get a pair to wear around the apartment for the upcoming winter time. He was quick to express his feelings of hatred towards them, and I swiftly told him that I disagreed. We went back and forth for about five minutes and came to the agreement that if he would stop leaving his dirty underwear on my clean towels, I wouldn't buy the Ugg boots.

TELL ME ABOUT THIS TREKKIE MONSTER FELLOW. I UNDERSTAND THAT HE LOGS A LOT OF LATE-NIGHT HOURS DOING "RESEARCH" ON THE INTERNET.

It's a widely known fact that Trekkie Monster is looking up human breeding rituals on the interweb. He has been nice enough in the past months to turn the volume down.

YOU'RE A PROUD MEMBER OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. REPUBLICANS ARE THOUGHT BY SOME TO BE NARROW-MINDED. WHERE DO YOU STAND?

As far as being a Republican goes, I see myself as an open-minded member. I do believe that some members could stand to be a bit more accepting of new thoughts and ways.

I HAVE THIS FRIEND ... AND HE THINKS THAT HIS BEST GUY FRIEND LIKES HIM. BUT THIS GUY COULDN'T POSSIBLY BE GAY. IS THIS PARANOIA?

Well, appearance isn't everything. If he does indeed swing that way, then make sure to stay patient and supportive ... not that I would know anything about that sort of thing.

AVENUE Q
THROUGH SUN 11.22.09
COLONIAL THEATRE
106 BOYLSTON ST.
BOSTON
866.523.7469
WED-THU 7:30PM, FRI 8PM
SAT 2PM, 8PM; SUN 2PM, 7:30PM
$56.75-$98.90
BOSTONSCOLONIALTHEATRE.COM

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