The Purpose in Life

Street sign of Avenue Q on the stage set.

Ever wonder what it would be like if Sesame Street was for adults? This could possibly be the one and that’s what the audience saw in the latest production at Illinois Central College.

On Sept. 26, the ICC Arts and Communication Department Theatre Program presented “Avenue Q:  The Musical” in the main stage at the Performing Arts Center. Based on the book by Jeff Whitty, the story is about a newly graduated student is on the hunt for what his purpose is in life while meeting his new friends on Avenue Q. 

The characters in the story are puppets,  the actors performing with lot of expression of vocal and facial as they sang and performed. So think of it as Sesame Street plus The Muppets plus Comedy Central and you got a production that will just make you laugh out loud out of your seats. 

“I really thought that this show was simply hilarious,” said Alex Johnson, 45, of East Peoria, of the play. “They had so many funny songs that were catchy.”

 Johnson was mentioning the songs in the show. Since this was a musical, there were many songs that got the audience simply laughing out loud; songs from “Sucks to Be Me,” “If You Were Gay,” “The Internet is For Porn” “The Money Song” and “Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist,”

But one song got the audience really laughing, “You Can Be As Loud As The Hell You Want (When You’re Making Love).” That song number came when Gary Coleman and the Bad Idea Bears, portrayed by Matthew Henry and puppeteers Emilie Dierks and Christopher McHenry, this came when Princeton and Kate Monster, puppeteer by Ryan Groves and Trisha Bagby, had a night of drinking and decided to go to her apartment and have some fun, in a way.

“That number really had me laughing so hard,” said Johnson.

The set on stage was of a neighborhood like of a New York City suburb, with an apartment building and an old store which is used for other things like an apartment and etc.  The show used the projector screen during the show to help audience to where they are located at and also with word pronunciation with words like “purpose” and “commitment.”

The show also used music a lot and not just for musical numbers but for each of the character’s theme,. It symbolizes of its character’s own character. There was an orchestra that was conducted by Tony Jones.

“I thought that the characters of Nicky and Rod were familiar to me in a way,” said Susan Kelly, of Peoria. “They reminded me of Burt and Ernie from Sesame Street; they had almost the same characteristic and were very funny.”

“Avenue Q” is a musical about how sometimes you are not always going to find what you want to do and that it has turns to something that you don’t expect. There’s humor, education and some romance as well.

You can see “Avenue Q: The Musical” playing now on Sept. 26 through the 28 and again on Oct. 3 through the 5, at the Performing Arts Center. For tickets contact the box office at 694-5136 or order them online at www.ArtsAtICC.com.