BWW Reviews: AVENUE Q at the University of Montana

The general lack of professional theatre (in its strictest terms) in Montana is both a blessing and a curse -- the most apparent point of its influence is that the community and educational art scenes in the State are forced to step up and fill the gap with brilliant work of their own. To this endeavor, the artistic team at the University of Montana School of Theatre and Dance and the cast of Avenue Q triumph with distinction.

For those not familiar with the show (and all should be!) Avenue Q tells the story of young Princeton, who moves to Avenue Q after graduating college and, with his band of monster puppet friends and a few of life's surprises, tries desperately to discover his purpose for being. Student John Knispel brought to the role a vocal quality that, while maintaining a fluid and genuine character, retained a kind of classical beauty that not only made Princeton fun to watch but enchanting to listen to. His boyish good looks, affability, and stamina were a powerhouse among the cast and it is little wonder why he was chosen for the role. Also in prominence is the fact that Princeton, albeit with a few decent lines and some excellent music, has something of the prosaic about him despite being the protagonist, which can challenge an actor to make him interesting when compared to the milieu of wild characters surrounding him. Knispel had no trouble in this effort and never once bored me or delivered so much as one note without dynamism.

The audience should be more than grateful that he is matched with fellow student Maria Miller as monster-ingénue and love-interest Kate Monster, whose only fault in her performance is a powerful challenge to the talents of Stephanie D'Abruzzo (the original Broadway Kate, whose voice is now iconic for the character) as many of Miller's inflections, comedic beats, and her mastery of her puppet's physiology were nearly flawless. It must also be noted that Kate Monster's much lauded ballad "There's A Fine, Fine Line" has met its match with Maria's presentation, which imbued it with all the power and sincerity one could ask for. There is no doubt of her future in the professional circuit, should she want it.

Also worthy of mention in female talent, vocal tenacity, and fitness for their character was Quinn Vaira as the lascivious Lucy The Slut. Perfect casting is, in a word, an understatement -- though not to say that it is a typecast! Vaira's alluring figure, scintillatingly blonde hair and sultry voice were a compliment to the role, and she stood out easily as the one with the most control over the infinite variations of expression of which her puppet was capable. (A note of thanks would likely be necessary to Andy Meyers, who was co-director and puppet choreographer of the production.)

While other roles stand out in stellar or equal regard on account of excellent performances by well-cast actors (namely Erik Montague as Nikki and Hugh Bickley as Trekkie Monster), what has made this performance of Avenue Q truly enjoyable was the steal-the-show performances of its smallest on-stage faces. Christina Scruggs and Sean Kirkpatrick as the Bad Idea Bears were blessings to the energy of Act I, which somehow felt only slightly lethargic until their entrance (perhaps because of the general strangeness in timing that always occurs on an opening night when the actors suddenly need to adjust their performances to an audience's reactions). The excessively absurd nature of their characters and the commitment (inside show joke, there) they had to them was positively infectious -- whatever warming up the audience might have needed was well-delivered by them. This goes double for Scruggs, whose Mrs. Thistletwat was a damnably clever performance and whose enthusiasm for her parts in the show was unnervingly energetic. Scruggs and Kirkpatrick are clearly the kind of character actors for whom this show is written.

Scenic and Lighting Designers Shy Iverson and Mike Monsos (respectively) have also done the show a great service in their work. The atmosphere of Avenue Q retains with it all the griminess of Little Shop's Skid Row with the childish whimsy of Sesame Street, which the show is clearly meant to parody. Of particular cleverness was the utilization of the video projections onto a roof-top billboard, which was a clear and savvy improvement on the proscenium screens used in the original Broadway production (despite not being set up correctly during pre-show and displaying the control booth's computer cursor) Sound Design and sound in general deserve a nod as the work of Music Director Lizzie Hatfield filled a 500-seat auditorium with a 20-piece orchestra sound created from only five extraordinarily talented players.

With all of these successes and more unmentioned, I was thrilled to find very few artistic choices that ruffled my feathers, and most I have come to assume were done out of practicality. For example, the casting of a young woman with alabaster skin and flaming red hair as Gary Coleman proved necessary for the metamorphosis of the role, typically played only by an actor, into a puppet. The small bit of disquiet one may have at such a choice is quickly chided away by Claire Edgerton (Coleman) whose sassy, gifted voice and clear understanding of the part brings as much energy and vitality to the character as should be expected. Other strange choices to me were the changing of Princeton's "Purpose" back-up singing boxes into literal back-up girls drawn from various members of the company, waving glittering packages, instead. These effects seemed practical and bothered me little compared to some of the changes in script, of which a couple seemed gratuitous.

These include changing Rod's show-stopping line from "I can't wait to eat her pussy again!" to "I can't wait for cunnilingus again!" (I can't assume this was done for reasons of offensive or anatomical content, as the line "Grab your dick and douple-click!" from the song "The Internet is for Porn" was kept intact), and the removal of the lyric "I'd sit in the quad / and think 'Oh, my God!'" to be replaced with "In the Oval I'd sit / and think 'Holy shit!'". (The "Oval" is the centerpiece and the most notorious place on the University of Montana campus -- a cute insider joke for the average Missoulian audience, but unless Nikki is a Griz alumnus, it probably isn't a choice that's very congruent to the character.)

The most glaring of lyric changes came in "Schadenfreude", when character Gary Coleman typically sings "Or watching a frat boy realize / just what he put his dick in!", and instead belted "Or watching Sarah Palin / try to be a politician!" This kind of change, again while adorable for Leftists, is possibly a statement that the creators of the show maybe would not have intended -- or maybe would have appreciated, considering the original joke in the finale of the show stated: "George Bush is only for now." Either way, though I always enjoy a good Sarah Palin dig, it is an ambitious change, especially in the wake of another Missoula theatre inserting a Palin joke (the headsman from The Mikado sang about decapitating the Alaskan governor) and receiving national attention for it. Considering that the original line is much funnier, they might have done well to keep it intact.

These, along with a few other minor line changes here and there, were the worst of the liberties taken from the original book and score and this reviewer doesn't hold any particular enmity toward them except to ask the age-old question: "How many changes can we make to a script before we do injustice to the original work of its creators?" No matter the answer, it is clear that the choices made in this performance were done effectively, with taste and talent, and therefore were no bar to the success of the show. Another great example of this was the decision not to keep the original doubling of characters and instead cast all the roles separately, which I found I didn't miss at all and in many ways preferred it in this fashion.

In short, Avenue Q at the University of Montana is one of the few must-sees that pop up around our State. Thoroughly enjoyable, beautifully performed, effectively staged and designed, and exceptionally presented -- it is, as they say, well worth the cost of admission.

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