Metro Theatre opens its 64th season with a riotous production of the Tony award-winning musical comedy, Avenue Q, on stage until October 10th. Metro Theatre welcomes audiences back for this can’t miss production with a renewed energy, and a renewed lobby – the result of its ongoing Royal Flush Fundraising.
Like last season, Metro begins its season with a visit to New York’s vibrantly diverse Alphabet City, however Avenue Q is quite the opposite of last September’s Rent. While also focusing on young-adults starting out in life and their struggles with themes of careers, relationships, racism, homosexuality, Avenue Q faces them in very different ways – outrageously adult humour perfectly mixes puppets, people and parody.
With music and lyrics by two time EGOT-winner Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx and a book by Jeff Whitty, Avenue Q follows the people and puppet residents of a downtown tenement. Covering all walks of life, the audience meets puppet newcomer Princeton – a fresh-faced college graduate, humans Brian (Zak Stevens) and his Japanese fiancée Christmas Eve (Jaclyn Sim), Kate Monster (a puppet Kindergarten teacher), puppet roommates Rod & Nicky, Trekkie Monster (a reclusive puppet, believing The Internet of for Porn). Watching over the tenants as Building Superintendent is an adult Gary Coleman (Britney Mocca), of Different Strokes child-actor fame – the character humourously but honourably highlights the plight of the child star’s fall from Hollywood heights, preventing the character from giving us a case of Schadenfreude.
Chris King directs the talented cast of actors and puppets, with Music Direction and Conductor, Arielle Ballance leading the live band of Marquis Byrd, Jennifer Chen, Jennifer Innanen, Monica Sumulong, and Peter Servalle. Avenue Q’s seemingly innocent, Sesame Street-like world (created by set and costume designer Starlynn Chen) draws in audiences before slapping them with a very smartly-written, book and lyrics featuring some quite bawdy adult-humour, double-entendres and sight-gags with full-puppet nudity and intimate situations thrown in for more outright awkward laughter.
The visible puppeteers do such a great job of drawing attention to their charges you don’t even notice them after a few minutes. Most of them perform more than one puppet, often having to switch characters on the fly or voicing another while performing a different one. Leah Dubbin-Steckel performs Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut, Rachel Scheibel is Mrs T, a Bad Idea Bear and ensemble member, Liam Reitsma is the other Bad Idea Bear, Trekkie Monster and Nicky, Richard Lloyd White is Princeton and Rod.
Truly an ensemble work, every performer comes together to form a completely perfect production; tightly-timed, smart, hilarious and heartfelt. Avenue Q continues until October 10, 2026 at Metro Theatre, 1370 Marine Drive SW visit metrotheatre.com
Up next for Metro is Nuncrackers – another presentation from the Little Sisters of Hoboken, who brought us Nunsense last season – on stage October 23 to November 14, 2026