By Eric George Tauber
“The parent who teaches his child, it is as if he had taught his child, his child’s child and so on to the end of generations.” (Talmud Kiddushin 36)
CARLSBAD, California — Since 1969, Sesame Street has been teaching lessons in literacy and numeracy as well as kindness and acceptance through puppetry. The thinking went that if a child could embrace a funny, blue-furred monster, they could embrace a fellow human being in spite of different skin tones, languages and abilities. The idea has caught on with Sesame Workshop being exported worldwide as Plaza Sésamo (Mexico), Sesamstraße (Germany), Rehov Sumsum (Israel) and Galli Galli Sim Sim (India) … to name but a few. They elevate ideals by presenting a world in which people live and learn together in a spirit of acceptance.
And then we grow up….
This is the world of Avenue Q, where puppets and humans freely interact on dirty, run-down streets. They’re not shy about salty language and racy situations. “The world is a big, scary place,” “everyone’s a little bit racist” and sometimes “it sucks to be me.”
Princeton is a new arrival to the Big Apple, a wide-eyed young man with big dreams wondering what to do with his BA in English. Rent is high, which brings him to a run-down part of Alphabet City. The scenic design by Christopher Scott Murillo makes good use of old comic conventions, opening doors and windows. When you get a chance, take a closer look. There are some subtle humorous touches therein.
Monsters -or the more PC “people of fur”- are the maligned minority group to which Kate and Trekkie Monster belong. But such differences don’t prevent Kate and Princeton from falling for each other. The interplay between Gerilyn Brault and Zackary Scot Wolfe has all the budding sweetness of a rom-com.
Like Bert and Ernie, the interplay between Rod and Nicky nails the bickering patter of roommates who have lived together for too long. Wolfe imbues the deeply closeted Rod with such pathos that we feel for him and his unrequited crush.
Cashae Monya sparkles as Gary Coleman, the famous child actor whose own parents squandered the money he had earned. Clad in overalls, she really looks the part of a high-spirited boy with a sarcastic grin. Steven Freitas is perfect as Brian, the thirty-two year old wannabe comic who’s probably smoking too much weed. Ciarlene Coleman is fun to watch as Christmas Eve, really hamming it up in “The more you love someone” and Melissa Fernandes brings it on as Lucy the Slut, a sultry seductress with the brass of Miss Piggy.
As a puppeteer, I would like to have seen the actors rely less on their own facial expressions and project that energy through the puppets. Also, Kate’s mouth needs to open wider especially for the rounded vowels and stronger notes. The actors most committed to their puppets were Tony Houck and Chris Bona. The two of them made a great team as Trekkie Monster, the solitary fellow who spends a little too much of his time online.
Sesame Street was created to plant seeds of learning. On Avenue Q, we get schooled on the harsher lessons of life and love. The house was filled with howls of laughter and bursts of applause. If you have a Bad Idea Bear whispering in your ear –and who doesn’t- bring it to the New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad for a walk down Avenue Q.
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Tauber is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. He may be contacted via eric.tauber@sdjewishworld.com