Book: Jeff Whitty; Music and Lyrics: Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx. At: Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport Ave. Tickets: 773-325-1700 or www.handbagproductions.org; $25-$65. Runs through: Oct. 26
Avenue Q shocked the theater world by besting Wicked in the categories of Best Book, Best Score and Best Musical at the 2004 Tony Awards. Not long after that, the critically acclaimed puppet show spoofing Sesame Street angered U.S. Broadway promoters by announcing that Avenue Q would forgo a national tour in favor of an exclusive Las Vegas production.
Ultimately, Avenue Q in Sin City closed much earlier than expected, and the musical finally played Chicago in 2008 and 2010 for brief touring stops. By then, Broadway musical hits like Wicked, Jersey Boys and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee all proved that the Windy City could more than handle a successful long run, and that Avenue Q's favoring of Las Vegas over Chicago was ultimately a bad bet.
To get a sense of what a Chicago sensation Avenue Q might have been, head over to the Mercury Theater for its superlative local staging helmed by L. Walter Stearns. Avenue Q started life off-Broadway in 2003 ( and has since returned there in 2009 ), and the show fits perfectly in an intimate space like the Mercury.
Stearns' take on Avenue Q smartly honors the template of the original production, but differs in some key areas. The cast is bigger, with not so much puppeteer doubling going on. And like the London production, the role of former child star Gary Coleman is played by an African-American man ( an amusing Donterrio Johnson ) instead of a woman.
Russ Walko's puppet designs are appropriately in the same vein of the Sesame Street types they're spoofing, but in different colors and hues. The actors manipulating the puppets may not have the same life-like panache that the original production had with former Jim Henson puppeteers in the cast, but they still do a very good job.
More importantly, you do get to feel for the real-life dilemmas faced by these twenty and thirty-something characters made out of faux fur and felt thanks to strong and comic performances by the likes of Jackson Evans ( Princeton ), Leah Morrow ( Kate Monster ), Adam Fane ( Rod, the closeted gay Republican ), Stephanie Herman ( Lucy ), Daniel Smeriglio ( Nicky ) and Thom Van Ermen ( Trekkie Monster ).
The humans are also great, particularly the spitfire Christine Bunuan as Christmas Eve, partnered to the lovable oversize schlub of Sean Patrick Fawcett as Brian.
So if you've previously missed Avenue Q during its previous two touring stops or the local NightBlue Theater staging at Stage 773, rush now to see it at the Mercury. The real-life lessons in love and relationships presented Sesame Street-style ( complete with profanity and full puppet nudity ) is not only all-out hilarious, but extremely poignant and touching as well.