AVENUE Q Opens at York Little Theatre, Nov 9

Don't let the muppet-like celebrity puppet stars of Avenue Q fool you -- this is not your children's Broadway smash hit. Avenue Q, presented by York Little Theatre November 9 – 18, is an irreverent musical about urban adults struggling with careers, relationships, and frustrations. It has decidedly adult themes of sexuality, racism, political correctness, and hypocrisy but addresses them with great humor and abundant heart. The show is the winner of the Tony "Triple Crown" for Best Musical, Score and Book.

Part of the show's magic comes from the irony of its puppet characters taking adult, no-holds-barred jabs at modern society all while maintaining a "Sesame Street" look and feel. This contrast is the basis for a great deal of the show's humor, but is also brilliant for a coming-of-age show which examines the difficulties and anxieties associated with entering adulthood.

The original puppet stars of Avenue Q, which cost up to $10,000 each and require about 120 hours to create, have been at YLT rehearsing and preparing for their South Central Pennsylvania premiere. They include: Kate Monster (played by Marissa Hoover), an assistant kindergarten teacher who would like to open a school for monsters someday and is in love with Princeton; Princeton (played by Randy Robbins), a fresh-faced college graduate looking for his purpose in life; Rod (played by Aaron Dalton), a parody of Sesame Street's Bert, and a closeted homosexual who lives with Nicky (played by Blake Aburn), a parody of Ernie; Lucy The Slut (played by Megan Pohland), a vixenish night club singer; Mrs. Thistletwat (played by Rachel Thomas), the kindergarten teacher and Kate Monster's boss; Trekkie Monster (played by Andrew Matseur), a Cookie Monster parody who is obsessed with collecting and looking at internet porn rather than cookies; and The Bad Idea Bears (played by Kaytlyn Hunt and Josh Miller), adorable but sinister teddy bears who try to get people to do irresponsible things. Human characters in the show include Brian (played by Sean McComas), Christmas Eve (played by Dimitra Skouras), Gary Coleman (played by Olivia Mendez), and Newcomer (played by Chris McGuinness).

The production is directed by Tatiana Dalton who saw this show many times on Broadway and on tour and loved it from the first time she saw it. "This show is so different from other shows-the use of puppets onstage with adult actors was really innovative and works so beautifully. Audiences will be amazed at how they don't even notice the actors – you really watch the puppets and see them as the characters."

The Broadway puppets, who "have had many a famous hand up their behinds," talk about their York puppeteers. "He has very cold hands, but is lovely to look at-I mean, is a lovely person," says Rod of actor/puppeteer Aaron Dalton. Rod's room-mate Nicky is operated by Blake Aburn. "Blake's a cool guy," explains Nicky, "a little uptight and overly dramatic at times, but I live with Rod, so it's like my every day life, minus the bad three-piece suit." About York, Rod says, "Everyone here is so friendly and I keep getting invited to Club XS, which I have not visited yet, but I hear they make a great appletini, which I just love." When asked about the professionalism found in York, Nicky snaps, "next question, please!" Rod quickly explained that on Broadway they had personal dressers and make-up artists but in this production they have to fend for themselves. "But luckily I am an expert make-up artist," says Rod, "so it has not been a problem for me. In fact, I have been helping out all the girls."

Avenue Q is sponsored by Rodd Robertson and Richard Nath, season sponsor Capital BlueCross, with media sponsor FlipSidePA.com. Performances run November 9, 10, 15, 16 and 17 at 7:30 p.m., and November 11 and 18 at 3:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased round-the-clock at www.ylt.org, or 854-5715, from 11 - 5 weekdays.

York Little Theatre, celebrating its 80th Anniversary Season, is a nonprofit community theatre which values and nurtures the irreplaceable role of the arts and is dedicated to engaging and enriching its entire, diverse community in the dramatic arts through a broad range of entertaining, stimulating, and sometimes provocative performances. York Little Theatre is located at 27 South Belmont Street, York, Penn., just south of Market Street at the intersection of I83.

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