Full puppet nudity
Sometimes it just takes a naked puppet to shine a light on real-life problems. Cue
Avenue Q, the R-rated adult musical comedy, soon to be performed by the Blenheim Musical Theatre, bears the advisory: full puppet nudity.
But the very adult themes running through this beautiful piece of theatre, written by American composers Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, are more than just about getting some crude laughs.
The show is a puppet-filled comedy that follows a group of 20-somethings seeking their purpose in big-city life.
The show is inspired by the children’s show Sesame Street. However, Avenue Q is R-rated, featuring adult topics, offensive language, and even an onstage portrayal of puppet sex.
It tells a story about adult disenchantment, alienation and the anxieties of perhaps realising the ‘real world’, isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.
While your parents and television told you that you were special and you could one day achieve your dreams, the realities of daily existence are all about struggling to pay rent, finding a decent job, and navigating the
often heartbreaking terrain of human relationships.
In addition, the show addresses adult themes that might be deemed inappropriate for young children, such as racism, homosexuality and the guilty pleasure we all have in finding comfort in other people’s less-than-fortunate circumstances.
Life sucks. But sometimes it sucks more for someone else. And that’s OK.
The Blenheim Musical Theatre’s production of Avenue Q, directed by Pam Logan, includes dinner and a show.
Logan says she invited the challenge of directing puppets, but was lucky enough to discover that Marlborough had a talented puppeteer among its own who was keen to come aboard.
Cast member Rose Platenkamp, originally from the Netherlands, worked with puppets previously for many years and jumped at the opportunity when she saw Blenheim was doing a production of Avenue Q.
‘‘I was volunteering at the ASB Theatre, and I saw that they were doing this show, and I thought, ‘That’s great, because I would like to do something with puppets again’, and I really like this show.’’
Logan says the opportunity to work with Platenkamp was ‘‘serendipitous’’, since there was no-one in Blenheim with her kind of puppet experience.
Indeed, when the Blenheim Musical Theatre announced they were going to do Avenue Q, the production had no idea Rose was in the community.
‘‘When the musical theatre decided to do the show, I thought, ‘there’s a challenge’, to work with puppets,’’ Logan says. ‘‘You can read up about things, or watch a YouTube video about doing it, but it’s not the same as having people [like Platenkamp] with experience.