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SINGAPORE : Get ready for 'Puppets Gone Wild' with "Avenue Q", a fresh, lightweight musical featuring a colourful cast of X-rated puppets and human actors. Those who grew up with "Sesame Street" will enjoy the storyline that’s as elementary as A-B-C. But the adult themes explored in this Tony Award winning hit musical are not suitable for the true "Sesame Street" audience. So this is another good excuse for your night out, folks.
You get to meet Princeton, the main character who is a financially drained, fresh college graduate who moves to Avenue Q, in New York City as he searches for his purpose in life.
Through a tickling series of song and dance, you’ll be introduced to the other characters such as Kate Monster the hopeless romantic kindergarten teaching assistant, Rod the effeminate Republican investment banker, Nicky the jobless roommate of Rod, Trekkie Monster the Internet porn fan and sexy cabaret singer, Lucy the Slut.
Just like in "Sesame Street", the puppets interact with human characters which include Brian the not-so-funny standup comedian, Christmas Eve the stereotypical Asian-American therapist and Gary Coleman the former child-star, now, superintendent.
The wise-cracking musical numbers written and composed by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marz will keep you humming to catchy tunes such as “It Sucks To Be Me”, “Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist”, “The Internet Is For Porn”, “I’m Not Wearing Underwear Today” and “There’s A Fine Fine Line”.
Unlike ‘The Muppets’, the audiences can openly observe the handlers as they score to successfully juggle, act, sing and maneuver their respective puppets. Some may think them as distractions, but I found myself occasionally shifting my attention from puppets to the animated facial expressions and movements of the performers, for extra entertainment.
Felix Rivera who is the man behind both Princeton and Rod did an amazing job. He could not only seamlessly switch puppets but was able to move from character voices of Princeton to nasally Rod with ease.
Credit also goes to Carla Guevera-Laforteza who can touch your heart with the sweet voice of Kate Monster in one minute and then flirt with the raspy, sultry voice of Lucy the Slut.
It was too bad though, that Frenchie Dy (Christmas Eve) had her exaggerated Japanese accent lost in translation. I struggled to make out what she was trying to say and you can bet I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t understand her.
Thanks to the nature of the show, the puppets get away with very graphic sex and nudity. Without giving too much away, I honestly thought that was the best part of the entire show. With the audience cheering for more it was no surprise that the Philippine production directed by Bobby Garcia rewarded the cast and production team with a standing ovation at its opening night presentation.
With all the ballyhoo and promises, "Avenue Q" definitely delivered two hours of fun, frothy rudeness and unstoppable laughter - satisfaction guaranteed.
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