Avenue Q made a stop at the JLC in London for two shows on Saturday. It won Tony awards and went on to become the 20th longest-running show on Broadway. This touring production slipped into the city without a lot of fanfare or advertising. You know it’s not a popular attraction when you arrive and are immediately sent to a table where your 3rd level tickets are exchanged for a pair on the second level. In Avenue Q, muppet-like puppets star with 3 humans – however the muppet operators are right out in the open, dressed in slate grey outfits and walking around on stage with their characters.
Tone-wise the show didn’t know what it wanted to be. At times is was ribald and bawdy and at other times, sickly sweet and dripping with puppet sentiment. They had a terrific germ of an idea – take the Sesame Street style kids show and put it into the adult world. But it never really fleshed out and it bounced all over the place, like Animal behind a drum kit. The singing was excellent and a couple of the Sesame Street parody vignettes were well done. But that’s not enough to build a show around, unfortunately.