Puppets with attitude
<p>From left, Jesse Hampsch, Jerrod Galles, Kristen Navditt and Kayla Mueller act out a scene from Lake City Playhouse’s production of “Avenue Q” which opens Friday, July 25 and runs on select dates through Saturday, August 9.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - It's like Sesame Street, only more grown-up.
The summer encore performance of the musical "Avenue Q" is opening at Lake City Playhouse tonight at 7:30.
It's the story of the character Princeton, a recent college graduate who moves into a shabby apartment on Avenue Q in New York. He makes friends along the way, and together they work to find jobs, love and hopefully stumble upon their purposes in life.
And it's mostly done with puppets.
"It has the feeling of those childhood TV shows," said director Troy Nickerson. "'Avenue Q' expresses more of the reality of what life is really like."
'Avenue Q' contains adult humor and themes, but Nickerson said if audiences are aware of the kind of show they are stepping into, "they will have an evening where they will laugh themselves silly." He said it's a very, very funny show, but it has moments where audience members become emotionally invested and may even be moved to tears.
"It's something to experience," he said. "They've probably never seen anything like it."
The cast includes about eight leads and 12 characters, with three of them who are actual people portraying humans rather than puppets. One puppet character is kindergarten teaching assistant Kate Monster, puppeteered by actress Kayla Mueller, and one of the "real" people is the character of aspiring comedian Brian, played by actor Mark Pleasant.
"It's a superb, talented young cast," Nickerson said. "It's just a wonderful evening."
The edgy, comedic, puppet-driven musical 'Avenue Q' plays at Lake City Playhouse until Aug 9. Tickets range from $17 to $25.
Tickets and info: www.lakecityplayhouse.org