Head movements, hand movements, foot movements, blocking. “And, you know, different things you can do. He and the cast spent the previous day with Jacoby on the rudiments of puppeteering basics – “how to make a puppet look sad, and how to make a puppet look happy,” says McGrath, another veteran of several Park Playhouse stagings, “Ragtime” included. “With someone like that in the mix, it makes a world of difference,” he says. From the outset, Smith had him in mind as coach. Jacoby has a long association with Park Playhouse summer shows and the company’s year-round productions, having played the emcee in “Cabaret” and other roles. It’s almost like, ‘We’re gonna do ‘Singin’ in the Rain,’ but with people who’ve never tap-danced before.” “And while that’s all true, the challenge of the show is in the puppetry. Yes, there are only seven in the cast and four in the orchestra. For a regional theater, the play can be “deceptively challenging,” Jacoby says. “Like, real relationships and heartbreak.”Īll of this would be complex enough were it acted by humans alone. But despite the lollipop color scheme, “Avenue” is grounded in emotional realism. Non-humans include Kate Monster, a kindergarten teaching assistant (Molly Rose McGrath) Trekkie Monster, an Internet-surfing loner with a Cookie Monster growl (Chris Frazier) college grad Princeton (also McDonald) slacker Nicky (also Frazier, along with Kirchner) and his banker roomie, the pink-faced Rod.Īccording to Smith, the puppets to be used in Cohoes are more brightly hued – “ with a more vibrant, pastel-y aesthetic” – than their New York counterparts, a deliberate choice he made in renting them. Set in a fictional New York City neighborhood, the play features a few human characters: Brian, a laid-black, laid-off aspiring comic (Marc Christopher) his Japanese fiancée, Christmas Eve (Hiroko Yonekura) and Gary Coleman, the former child star from “Diff’rent Strokes,” now a superintendent on Avenue Q (Brandon Jones). “Whereas, if ‘Sesame’ is about teaching 5-year-olds how to read and write their ABC’s, 123s, then ‘Q’ is, like, teaching 25- and 35-year-olds what the real world is like.”įinding a purpose, dealing with roommates, navigating relationships, grappling with race and sexuality, facing the pressures of money – all of that is fodder for “Avenue Q,” which was written and composed by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, with a book by Jeff Whitty. “A lot of times it gets billed as ‘Sesame Street’ for adults, you know?” says Jacoby, puppet captain and longtime cast member of the Off-Broadway show closing Sunday. Helmed by Smith, choreographed by Ashley-Simone Kirchner and running this Thursday through May 5, “Q” plays like a “Muppet Show” or “Sesame Street” decked out with visible puppeteers, but with adult themes and language. The confrontation between roommates is taking place on the 16 th floor of Manhattan’s Ripley Grier Studios, where members of a new Playhouse Stage Company production at Cohoes Music Hall are working through their first day of rehearsals earlier this month with producing artistic director Owen Smith and puppet coach Jason Jacoby. And he can’t object to anything without the aid of Jefferson McDonald, the actor who gives him a voice.īut Rod is a star in “Avenue Q,” the R-rated musical comedy pairing humans and puppets in a story of young adults fumbling through life and love. His face always blazes pink, a nice shade of cotton candy that offsets his blue nose and banana-yellow hair.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |