Get ready to laugh — and perhaps be offended — by “Avenue Q,” opening at Kelsey Theater on Friday, March 1. The puppets and the set — all resembling a long-running PBS show for children — deliver adult humor. A reception with the human members of the cast and crew follows the opening night performance.
Winner of the 2004 Tony Award for Best Musical, “Avenue Q” presents a look at real life in New York City, as told by a colorful and furry cast of people and puppets. Through raucous, adult-oriented musical numbers, “Avenue Q” tells the story of Princeton, a recent college graduate with a bachelor’s degree in English. He moves to New York to seek his life’s purpose, and the only apartment he can afford is way out on Avenue Q. His new neighbors and friends are also searching for decent jobs and stable relationships. The songs include “It Sucks to be Me,” “I’m not Wearing Underwear Today,” “You Can Be as Loud as the Hell You Want,” “The Internet Is For Porn,” “Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist,” and “If You Were Gay.”
The show is produced by former West Windsor residents John Maurer, his wife, Diana Gilman Maurer, and his brother, Dan Maurer. Maurer Productions OnStage has been honored with a dozen NJACT Perry Awards for outstanding achievements in technical and performance categories. They also received numerous awards at the annual awards night at Kelsey Theater. Included among the acclaimed shows are the team’s recent productions of “The Drowsy Chaperone” and “Elton John & Tim Rice’s AIDA.”
John Maurer has been planning the production since he saw the show on Broadway. “It’s hip, it’s crazy, it’s adult, and it’s fun,” says Maurer. “We’re always looking for something exciting and new to bring to Kelsey Theater, which is why we picked this show.”
Working with puppets and turning talented actors into puppeteers is not new to Maurer Productions. In 2005 the team produced two stage puppet productions at Kelsey Theater, “Winnie the Pooh” and “A Winnie the Pooh Birthday Tail.” The shows were well received and were used as tests to develop the workflow for designing and creating the “Avenue Q” puppets, teaching puppetry to the cast, and refining the rehearsal process for blocking puppets in a stage production.
All 15 puppets are being created from more than 100 yards of fabric and foam by the MPO team, modeling the look and feel of the original Broadway characters. Trivia alert: When “Avenue Q” first opened on Broadway the puppets had costumes and were changed backstage between scenes. The team soon realized that the puppets were getting too much wear and tear, and now each puppet has clones with different outfits.
Maurer worked closely with the cast in special puppetry workshops. After several days of workshops, each cast member was given the prototype of their character to take home and practice with. They brought their alter egos to each rehearsal to use in blocking the scenes. The puppet designs include hand and rod, human arm, and vent styles of construction. Some of the puppets are operated by two people. “We don’t like to shy away from great shows because of the technical hurdles,” says Maurer. “We always find a way to deliver the fun.”
The cast of “Avenue Q” includes Kyla Mostello Donnelly of Levittown, PA, as Kate Monster. Raised in West Windsor, she graduated from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School in 1993. She received a bachelor’s degree in English and theater from Vanderbilt University, and recently completed her MBA at Holy Family University. She is a vice president at BlackRock.
Her past roles include Nancy in “Oliver” at Kelsey (The News, November 5, 2004); “Roebling: The Story of the Brooklyn Bridge” at Actors’ Net (The News, September 25, 2009); Sister Amnesia in “Nunsense” at Kelsey in 2005; and Queen Gueneviere at Washington Crossing Open Air Theater in 2003. She has also appeared in Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey in “The Crucible” and “Romeo and Juliet.”
Mostello Donnelly also assisted Don Gilpin with Pirate Players at High School South for many years. Her father, Wesley, and brother, David, live in West Windsor. Her mother, Bernadette Morris, lives in Hamilton.
“Kate is a younger and purer version of me,” says Mostello Donnelly, who raises the pitch of her voice to give her character a personality. She thinks back to her voice in high school.
“Normal singing, dancing, and acting is a lot to handle, but the puppet also needs to sing and dance,” she says. “People with puppets also have to learn to look at the puppets, not the actors.”
“Physically holding a puppet for one-and-a-half hours is different from using a ventriloquist puppet in one scene,” she says about her past experience as a puppeteer in “Nunsense” at Kelsey in 2005.
Though Mostello Donnelly is the only one in the cast who has never seen a production of “Avenue Q,” she was familiar with bits and pieces of the show. “I knew it was a cool show, and I am fine with puppets having sex.”
Mostello met Chuck Donnelly during a performance of “The Tempest” in 2005. She played Miranda, and he was Caliban. They did several plays together and married in 2008. He died in 2011 at age 43. His son, Shane, now 22 and in graduate school, will be attending one of the performances.
Mostello Donnelly took a break from the stage only coming out to do a production of “Rabbit Hole” in Pennsylvania. This is her first musical in seven years and “it is nice to be on stage in something lighter. I wanted to see if I could still sing,” she says. “Everyone else has been doing back-to-back shows so it was intimidating.”
“This is a talented cast and crew,” says Mostello Donnelly. “The work behind the scenes, creating the puppets, and making this a creative show is extraordinary.”
— Lynn Miller
Avenue Q, Kelsey Theater, Mercer County Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor. Musical about young adults presented by Maurer Productions is for mature adults only. With three Tony Awards, and one of the longest running musicals, the production officially disclaims any connection with either Sesame Workshop or the Jim Henson Company. $18. Opening night reception with the cast and crew follows the performance. Friday, March 1, 8 p.m., through Sunday, March 10. 609-570-3333. www.kelseytheatre.net.
