No strings attached
Puppets
Elmo rarely wears clothing, but in all his years on Sesame Street, his bare red fuzz has never gotten as much attention as the "full puppet nudity" in Avenue Q, the new musical that's the toast of Broadway. But then, Elmo and his pals don't guzzle Long Island iced teas, cavort in the bedroom, or sing off-color ditties like "The Internet is for Porn" either.
Fueled by nostalgia and a growing recognition of the puppet arts, a new wave of puppets has taken Manhattan and more. Besides Avenue Q, the great white way also boasts The Lion King's rod, shadow, and life-size puppets as well as the man-eating houseplant in a revival of Little Shop of Horrors. On the successful Comedy Central TV series Crank Yankers, dummies lip-sync prank phone calls made by comedians to unsuspecting targets. Rapper Eminem is such a fan that he will appear as himself--in the guise of a puppet--this season. On the big screen, the creators of the animated TV show South Park are preparing a sendup of the war on terrorism titled Team America with an all-marionette cast.
Affection for Jim Henson's Muppets is driving the boom. After more than three decades of rubber duckies and Oscar's trash can, virtually every American has watched Sesame Street as a child, a parent, or both. "It's a common language everyone can speak," says Avenue Q co-composer and lyricist Robert Lopez. "There's the Bible and then there's children's TV." Post-pubescent--and possibly even gray-haired--consumers are expected to buy Songs From the Street, a new CD kicking off Sesame Street's yearlong 35th- anniversary celebration, featuring classics like "People in Your Neighborhood" and celeb performances by the likes of R.E.M., Destiny's Child, and Johnny Cash. Viewers tuned in two weeks ago to watch Kermit's stint as a commentator on the VH1 series I Love the '70s. Teens are even snapping up Muppet T's, bellybutton rings, and tongue studs.
Other cultures have long embraced puppetry as an adult art form. The Japanese 16th-century Bunraku-style theater often deals with love and death. In Europe, Punch has been beating Judy for more than 400 years. In the United States, fringe groups like Vermont's Bread and Puppet and Philadelphia's Spiral Q have used puppets for cutting political commentary. By showcasing work penned for mature minds, more mainstream theaters have begun drawing audiences ready to see a puppet that makes them cry as well as laugh (box, facing page).
Avenue Q manages to do just that, by giving its raunchy characters a human soul. "Most children's shows don't deal with issues of broken hearts, lost jobs, lost homes, and lost friends," says Stephanie D'Abruzzo, who voices kindergarten aide Kate Monster and sexpot Lucy T. Slut. "We're not just wiggling dolls," adds John Tartaglia, who performs as the naive, commitment-phobic Princeton and a closeted investment banker named Rod. "We're really moving people." If that's the case, fuzzy creatures might want to take the advice of Crank Yankers' cocreator Adam Carolla: "What about puppet governments? They should have the chance to be governor of California."
The Guide
New York isn't the only adult puppet show in town.
PUPPET SHOWPLACE THEATRE (Brookline, Mass., 617-731-6400, puppetshowplace.org). Newbies show off at the popular "PuppetSLAMS." The "Puppets at Night" series features pros performing full-length works (like the one pictured at left).
GREAT ARIZONA PUPPET THEATER (Phoenix, 602-262-2050, azpuppets.org). The 20-year-old theater just added darkly comic adults-only slams.
CENTER FOR PUPPETRY ARTS (Atlanta, 404-873-3391, puppet.org). Its "New Direction Series" and "Xperimental Puppetry Theater" include everything from opera to the annual 18-and-over Spooky Puppet Horror Show. -Vicky Hallett
This story appears in the September 8, 2003 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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