There's hot, messy sex on stage at the Tucson Music Hall.
And irresponsible drinking, a beheading, cursing and loads and loads of laughs.
It helps that puppets that look like Muppets do the R-rated business in "Avenue Q," the road show of the 2004 Tony winner, which opened here Tuesday. The puppets are so darn cute that they can get away with most anything.
The play is often sweet, at times sophomoric, occasionally pointed and always very funny.
The Tucson stop is early in the run of the road show, and the cast, most of whom have done the play on Broadway or in Las Vegas, is still fresh and energized.
The actors manipulating the puppets are in plain view, and they are as expressive and fun to watch as the puppets they so expertly maneuver.
The show is about the just-out-of-college Princeton who's jobless and strapped for cash, so the only place he can find to rent is in an outer borough of New York City, on Avenue Q.
The neighborhood there is chock-full of characters quirky and generous and big-hearted. Together, they all struggle, love, laugh and advise each other.
The songs strike chords with the audience. It chuckled when Princeton (a charming Robert McClure, who also plays the closeted gay, Rod) sang "What do you do with a B.A. in English / What is my life going to be? / Four years of college and plenty of knowledge / Have earned me this useless degree."
And there were murmurs of recognition when the cast sang, "Everyone's a little bit racist sometimes. / Doesn't mean we go around committing hate crimes. / Look around and you will find / no one's really color blind. / Maybe it's a fact we all should face: / Everyone makes judgments based on race."
This is a strong cast that managed to act, sing and work the puppets while infusing them with personality. The show has the polish and panache one expects from a Broadway production.
What's particularly effective is that none of the actors comment on their characters. Each has a truth and innocence that makes them funnier and gives the production more oomph.
Carla Renata's Gary Coleman (yes, that Gary Coleman; he's the sup of the apartments on Avenue Q) had a swagger, and her voice an exquisite, bluesy tone. And Kelli Sawyer, who played Kate Monster, the object of Princeton's lust, and Lucy, the neighborhood slut who loses her head at one point, switched personalities and singing voices with shocking ease.
Sadly, the shaky sound at the Music Hall opening night made it difficult to hear the words of the songs — and the words shouldn't be missed.
This musical stayed off the road for a couple years — that was the deal the producers made when it went to Las Vegas. A couple more years and its topical humor might have been out of date — it borders on that now.
But it's not there yet, and this is a production that was worth the wait. The neighbors on "Avenue Q" are a fun group to hang with.
review
The musical "Avenue Q," with music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, book by Jeff Whitty, and directed by Jason Moore, is 7:30 p.m. today; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Tucson Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave. Tickets are $20-$58, with discounts available. Half-price student tickets for all but 8 p.m. Saturday show. Reservations through Ticketmaster at 321-1000 or in person at the Tucson Convention Center box office, 260 S. Church Ave. The running time is 2 hours, 15 minutes, plus one intermission.
