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Great
Entertaining Musical
- With A
Real Purpose!
Avenue
Q
Newcastle
Tyne Theatre & Opera House
Until
Saturday 17th April 2016
Take
a group of Sesame Street style characters, pack
in memorable songs, jokes and some not very politically correct thoughts and
turn it into a brilliant stage show. That pretty much sums up the latest
musical to visit the revitalised Tyne Theatre.
Avenue
Q is a slightly subversive musical about 20/30-somethings getting to grips with
post-college life, with all of their hang-ups.
What helps make it such a hit is that it has a sharply observed book by
Jeff Whitty that is able to use the puppets to say some quite naughty things. It
will have a broader appeal as people who don’t consider themselves to be fans
of musicals as a genre will find much to be entertained by. The music and
lyrics of Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx cleverly tap into the audience’s
collective psyche.
The
story begins with young Princeton, who has graduated with
an English degree, wondering which amazing path his life will take.
Unfortunately, though qualified, his lack of work experience skills means he
will struggle to get work and hence his degree is fairly useless in the real
world.
Princeton takes on a flat on
Avenue Q next to Kate Monster and hunts for his purpose in life. His neighbour,
Brian, wants to be a stand up comic but he has just been made unemployed. The
guy looking after the flats is Gary Coleman, off the tv series Diff’rent
Strokes, who is coming to terms with life after childhood stardom. Whilst having no goal himself, Princeton is told by Kate Monster,
that she would love to open a school for monsters rather than being a
kindergarten teaching assistant. The story then follows the young graduate as
he tries to define his own purpose in life.
Many
of the characters in this show are puppets and the production relies on 34
puppets which are skilfully handled by the cast. Whilst the operator of each
puppet stays in full view, singing and talking the part, the focus is on the
puppet itself. You do find yourself engaging with the puppet and that, almost
childlike, acceptance that the character is real.
An
energetic cast delivers a great show. Sarah Harlington has a fabulous singing
voice which is put to great use for both Kate Monster and Lucy The Slut. She
toggles between the voices of the 2 different characters with ease.
Handing
Princeton and Rod was understudy
Josh Tevendale who did so well with the socially awkward nature of both
characters. Having great fun with
Trekkie Monster was Stephen Arden. Trekkie leads on one of the funniest songs
of the show (The Internet Is For Porn).
Both Stephen and Jessica Parker combine to handle the Bad Idea Bears, who are
the devil inside ones conscience.
Adding
to the cast are some human characters. Richard Morse adds gravitas to the
humour as unemployed Brian. Arina II has many laughs as his partner Christmas
Eve. Completing the line up is Etisyai Philip as the caretaker Gary Coleman.
The
cast, under director Cressida Carré, combine well and seem to be enjoying the
show too. There were no weak links in the show in terms of delivering the
story, handling the puppets or singing the fabulous tunes. Talking of tunes,
the live band were tucked away behind the set and musical director Dean
McDermott ran a tight ship.
The
Sell A Door Theatre Company aim to produce theatre that will appeal to that
elusive young adult audience. They will be returning to the region soon with
American Idiot in Sunderland (preview: WEB LINK)
and Footloose back here at the Tyne Theatre (preview: WEB LINK).
One
of our group remarked that it was probably the best show that they’ve seen in
the North East. High praise indeed.
At
the North East Theatre Guide, we love to see the Tyne Theatre being used for
the purpose that it was built for – delivering popular entertainment. It is
great to see an accomplished professional show coming for a run of 4 shows –
catch it while you can, you won’t be disappointed!
This
review was written by Stephen Oliver for Jowheretogo PR (www.jowheretogo.com).
Follow Jo on twitter @jowheretogo, Stephen @panic_c_button or like Jowheretogo
on Facebook www.facebook.com/Jowheretogo
Read
the original North East Theatre Guide preview: http://nomorepanicbutton.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/preview-avenue-q-at-newcastle-tyne.html
Tickets: £32.50 premium &
£28.50 Stalls, Grand & Limited View.
(plus booking fees when booking online and over the phone)
The
Tyne Theatre & Opera House Box Office is open 10am-3:30pm Monday to Friday and
event days
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