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10 April 2012

She has great eyes, long lashes and a winning smile. And I think she just waved at me. If she wasn't knee-high, covered in fur and hollow, I'd say I was in.

Welcome to Avenue Q - or rather, a rehearsal for the musical Avenue Q - the Broadway hit set on a downtrodden New York street where puppets and people live side by side. Sound familiar?

If Avenue Q's 'adult Sesame Street tag' has stuck, it certainly hasn't bothered the creators of the classic children's TV show. 'The Jim Henson company has been very supportive - thankfully,' says director Jason Moore.

'We realised that the show was going to be presented to more people than just us in our living rooms, so we wanted to get Jim Henson's widow and his children there to see it, to get their opinion.'

The show tells the story of Princeton, who arrives in New York wondering what you do with a BA in English. There he meets his new neighbours, who cope with life's little crises with a tune or two.

It's more Family Guy than The Simpsons, and nothing like anything the Children's Television Workshop produced. Suffice to say, if Avenue Q were brought to you by any letters at all, they would probably spell a swear word. So what did the Henson family say?

'They said, "Jim had always wanted to do a Broadway show, he loved anything that perpetuated puppets in the greater population and he would have loved this".'

It's easy to see why. The show, a 'love letter to Jim's puppets', was originally conceived as an adult TV series before it mutated into an off-Broadway hit with Moore at the helm. Was it a huge change from his previous job, directing Dawson's Creek?

'Both are about a group of friends who help and support each other,' he points out. 'But teenagers do stay in their trailer and pout more than puppets.'

The play soon transferred to Broadway, where it was the shock winner of the Tony Awards for best music, book and musical. Five years since his first involvement, Moore now finds himself in London, directing an almost entirely new cast, who admit they've never done anything quite like this.

'But everybody loves puppets,' says Giles Terera, who plays one of the three human characters in the show.

'Especially puppets who swear,' adds Julie Atherton, who plays Kate Monster and Lucy The Slut. No, Sesame Street this is not.

Despite the profanities, the songs about Schadenfreude and how everyone's a little bit racist, this is a warmhearted tale which Moore reckons will cross the Atlantic with ease. 'This country already has a tradition of adult puppets,' he says. 'You had Spitting Image for many years. And you can push the line further here.'

Has anything been deemed too risque? 'Yes,' admits Moore. 'Part of what this show does is find that line where you're really pressing buttons in a comic way but also in a topical way. We had to find out how far is too far.

There's a song about all the things that go wrong when you move to New York: jackhammers and parking tickets and traffic. One line alluded to the possibility of a terrorist attack. And that went too far.'

So is there an age restriction for the show? 'Fourteen,' he says, without pause. 'Maybe down to 12 if they are really urban, jaded kids. Our puppets don't show much that wouldn't be on TV. It's just funny and outrageous because they're puppets. Yes, it's a bit more graphic at times - the puppet sex scene, for example.' There's puppet sex?

'Yeah. It's dirty and furry.' But how do you do puppet sex when they exist only from the waist up? 'Aha,' he grins. 'That's the trick.'

Avenue Q, previewing now, opens tomorrow, NoÃl Coward Theatre (formerly Albery Theatre), St Martin's Lane WC2, tomorrow 7pm, otherwise Mon to Thu and Sat 8pm, Fri 5.45pm and 8.45pm, Sat mats 3pm, £10 to £50. Tel: 0870 950 0920. Tube: Leicester Square

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Cameron Mackintosh

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