WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Plush performers take the stage in 'Avenue Q'

Plush performers take the stage in 'Avenue Q'

Weston, Vermont - July 14, 2010

On the Weston Playhouse's main stage, you're in a neighborhood that's on the other side of the tracks from "Sesame Street." It is "Avenue Q," complete with talking trash cans. The street is home to creatures like Kate Monster.

Puppeteer Sharon Wheatley has been Kate's human half for several years. Wheatley was in the Broadway cast. "If I'm doing my job really well," she says, "I am making sure you're looking at Kate."

"Avenue Q" won the Tony Award for best musical in 2004. With songs like "What do you do with a B.A. in English?" "The internet is for porn" and "I'm not wearing underwear today," the comedy is what you'd imagine if "The Muppet Show" got drunk at a frat party.

"If you think your life sucks," Wheatley chirps, operating Kate Monster's mouth, "come to see us! Our life sucks more!"

Performer Steven Booth explains, "I definitely think 'Avenue Q' broke the mold. It was something no one had ever seen before."

The human performers are in full view of the audience, with their expressions amplifying the characters'. Running a puppet is similar to how dancers express emotion through movement, but this job is also a juggling act. Each actor handles multiple puppets. "I think that'll surprise a lot of people that there are so few of us making it all happen," Booth says.

The show comes with a PG-13 rating for adult situations, graphic language, discussion of gay and lesbian issues, questionable behavior choices, and puppet nudity.

This is not "Sesame Street," because there, you'd never find Lucy, an adult film star with a plunging neckline and a ravenous appetite for men. She flirts with neighbors, and even with real-life reporters covering her performances.

Lucy is brassy, colorful, and naughty, just like the street where she lives: "Avenue Q."

"Avenue Q" runs through the end of the month at the Weston Playhouse. Click here for ticket information.

Jack Thurston - WCAX News