s UNBC Life

Kelley Ware
Multimedia Coordinator

E year, the UNBC Musical Productions
club presents a musical to the public in
the Canfor Theatre. This year, they selected
the puppet-centric Broadway musical Avenue
Qand absolutely outdid themselves.

Described by many cast members as “Sesame
Street for Adults,” Avenue Q follows the trials of
early adulthood with both human and puppet
characters. With songs such as “What Do You
Do with a B.A. in English?”, the content of the
musical is extremely relevant for university
students who will soon be graduating and
entering the real world. In many ways, Avenue
Qwas the perfect choice for a musical to
perform at a university. Not only are we the
right demographic to target with a story
about the journey of young adulthood, but we

are also a generation that grew up learning
lessons from Sesame Street on television.

When we were children, we watched
colourful puppets teach us lessons about
friendship and believing in yourself. It
only feels appropriate to follow equally
colourful characters as they struggle
with relationships, jobs, porn addictions,
and Bad Idea Bears (the personification
of those terrible ideas that sound so
awesome at the time that you just have
to do them, such as spending your rent
money on beer). Avenue Q held the right
amount of heart, humour, and nostalgia
to make it both charming and hilarious.

The cast and crew of Avenue Q did not fail to
impress. Many times it was hard to remember
that the performers, technicians, and set-
designers are students. The quality of the

puppets used (all hand-made by the cast
and crew) were incredibly impressive. They
looked like they belonged in a Jim Henson
production. That alone is an enormous
success for the Musical Production club.
The only problems that I was able to see

on opening night were small technical
issues (such as a couple actors’ mics cutting
out slightly at times). However, these

small issues did not truly affect the level

of enjoyment gained from the show.

The acting and singing talent of the cast
was also remarkable. Most notably Franco
Celli (Princeton), Adrienne Legault (Kate
Monster), and Michelyn Rutledge (Gary
Coleman) absolutely blew me away on
multiple occasions during their solos.
However, the entire cast was quite good
and vastly entertaining. Likewise, all
music played was performed by a live

band behind the set, something that
also brought in an impressive amount of
professional-level skill to the production.

There were heartfelt moments, slightly
depressing moments, hilarious moments,
and incredibly raunchy moments. Most
memorable of the latter was the drunken
sex scene between Princeton and Kate
Monster. It was both hilarious and
awkward as we watched Celli and Legault
mash naked puppets against each other
(yes, they designed the puppets to be
naked). I’m not sure I needed to know
that they gave Kate Monster nipples, but
I don’t necessarily regret finding out.

UNBC Musical Productions has set the bar
incredibly high this year, I’m not sure how
they will be able to top it in the future.