Avenue Q, Little Theatre Company Review

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Reviewer - Samantha

*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review.

Avenue Q is an award-winning musical comedy featuring puppets and human actors and is based on an original concept by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx. It’s a wonderfully unique show, which has previously been a huge success across New York and London and is now causing a laughing storm in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire.

The show itself is full of adult humour and the most interesting songs I have ever heard. Avenue Q is inspired by the children’s show, Sesame Street however, these puppets live in a world with modern-day problems which makes it extremely relevant to today’s society. I feel like the issues covered within the show, will forever remain relatable as the world changes its perception of certain issues. It’s important to note that this show is suitable for ages 14 and over due to the adult content.

The show has previously performed at The Brewhouse back in 2017 but I feel so fortunate to have seen it this time around. Within minutes of the show starting, I was laughing and pulling faces at my plus one because I was shocked at the content. It was incredible to finally see a show where the characters had my sense of humour – sometimes I can’t contain my profanity just like the characters.

I think the concept of the show is fantastic. We have Princeton (Ollie Last) who moves to Avenue Q to find his purpose after finishing university – I’m sure we can all relate to trying to find our feet after finishing a degree. We then meet Kate Monster (Heather Gallagher) who struggles with being accepted for who she is. Rod (Joel Kirkpatrick) hasn’t come to terms with the fact that he’s gay and his friend Nicky (Dom White and Nathan Pocock) ends up being homeless because his comments towards Rod were inappropriate and disrespectful. Brian (Paul Webb) is adapting to his new life on Christmas Eve and trying to find a suitable career whilst Christmas Eve (Emmie Doyle) finally achieves her goal of becoming a therapist and a wife. Gary Coleman (Daisy Parker) wants to be a successful super and earn plenty of money from rent and Trekkie Monster (Nathan Pocock and Louis Shorthouse) just want unlimited access to porn. Each character has their own battle and they all come together as the story goes on to help one another with their problems.

You will also occasionally see three characters who are bad influences on Princeton and Kate Monster – Lucy the Slut (Hannah Kirkpatrick) and both Bad Idea Bears (Charlotte Davis and Beth Fryer). I won’t spoil their involvement, but Lucy the Slut is like kryptonite to the boys and both Bad Idea Bears are like those little voices you hear in your head when you shouldn’t do something naughty. They were all so funny and made the show even more comical!

Throughout the performance, every single person was fully immersed into their character, their facial expressions and body language were symmetrical to their puppet. I found that fascinating to watch because it’s hard to act anyway, never mind with a puppet to control as well. I think one individual really needs a shout out because he kept the audience engaged whenever Trekkie Monster was on stage – Nathan Pocock was born to play this role. He was hilarious, he stayed in character the whole time and gave it something else, it was almost like Trekkie Monster was an extension of his personality. I could not stop laughing at his rendition of ‘The Internet is For Porn’, I have never ever seen anything like it, and I loved every single second of it.

Everyone was fantastic and I knew that my review would be five stars. I was blown away by the harmonies, it’s not easy to sing comical songs but it was done beautifully. Musical director, Katie Hailstone should be proud of what the cast achieved during the show, it was pulled together so well.

My top three favourite songs from the show were ‘If You Were Gay’, ‘Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist’ and ‘The Internet is For Porn’. I was laughing so much throughout all three of the songs, they really grabbed the audience’s attention. I don’t think there was a person in the audience not laughing and I had the best experience. I haven’t laughed as I did on Wednesday night in such a long time. It’s the perfect show to pick you up if you’re having a rough day!

I would highly recommend this show. I didn’t know what to expect prior to the performance but I left with sore cheeks! I have seen several productions by Little Theatre Company, and I always leave in awe of the actors and actresses and never disappointed – I felt this way about Avenue Q too.