Avenue Q Brings Musical Puppet Mayhem to Miners Alley Playhouse

Cory Gilstrap has been a puppeteer in the Denver theater scene for decades. He has some advice for the community.

“My only criticism of the theater in this town is that there are not enough puppets,” Gilstrap says.

“We can be anything on stage, and that’s beautiful, so why can’t more characters be puppets? I wish more directors would think creatively about how they could integrate puppets into their shows,” he continues. “I am always on the lookout for new opportunities around town to explore how puppetry can be used creatively, as it is in Avenue Q. I will always love this musical because when it first debuted, Avenue Q kind of broke the mold of how puppetry was used on Broadway.”

The hilarious musical comedy, with music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx and a book by Jeff Whitty, was an instant hit when it debuted in New York City in 2003. The satirical parody of Sesame Street won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2004 – over Wicked! – for its clever depiction of adult-oriented topics, such as racism, pornography and coming out, using puppets. It has been performed more than 2,500 times on Broadway and has since gained popularity in theaters all over the world. Local audiences can check out a first-rate production of the musical at Miners Alley Playhouse in Golden now through September 17.

“With Avenue Q, you kind of just have to do it the way it’s written,” says director Warren Sherrill. “You don’t want to set it in post-apocalyptic America or anything like that; you can’t get too conceptual with it. I think the biggest thing that we all wanted to make sure of was that it was based on realism. That’s what the writers of the show say in the libretto’s forward: ‘Make sure these characters and situations feel real, because that’s the only way it’s going to affect people.’ Even though Avenue Q has puppets, music and all this crazy stuff, at its core, the musical is a grounded story based on reality.”

It follows a recent college graduate, Princeton, who started his apartment hunt bright-eyed and buzzy-tailed on Avenue A, but, due to budgetary constraints, lands down on Avenue Q. He soon finds out that while his neighbors are friendly, they also have baggage of their own. Together, Princeton and his new friends struggle to find meaningful careers, lasting relationships and their elusive purpose in life.

Miners Alley’s music director, Susan Draus, saw the musical on Broadway and admired the show’s catchy songs. So when Colorado-based composer David Nehls assisted in arranging a meeting with Miners Alley’s artistic producer, Len Matheo, to discuss the project, Draus was thrilled.

“Len said he wanted to meet, and right as we started chatting, I was on board,” Draus says. “Although I had seen Avenue Q in New York, I had never really dug into the music until preparing for this, and that’s been a blast. Boy, talk about earworms! The music is going to be stuck in your head for weeks, and it’s so good, you won’t even mind.”

One of Draus’s major projects was to reduce the score’s nine-piece band to a four-piece ensemble consisting of drums, bass and two keyboards while keeping the music cartoonish and upbeat. From the comedic (“The Internet Is for Porn” and “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist”) to the contemplative (“Purpose” and “There Is a Fine, Fine Line”), Avenue Q‘s Tony Award-winning score packs a powerful punch in Miners Alley’s cozy theater.

“A few months ago, when Len called and asked if I wanted to do the show, I agreed immediately, but it scared me to death because it’s a big musical and he wanted to do it in that little, tiny space,” Sherrill says. “I know Len was hoping we would be in their new building by now, but that couldn’t happen. I remember him saying, ‘I know it will be a challenge, but can we do it?’ And I told him we could definitely make it work.”

Miners Alley’s production has seven actors, including David Otto, Ava Francis, Mike Martinkus, Keandra Hunt, Emily Gerhard, Carter Edward Smith and Corey Exline, who operate 29 puppets. “Luckily, we have Corey Gilstrap on the project, who already had a lot of these puppets built,” Sherrill says. “He was able to give the actors rehearsal puppets to work with. This whole time, the cast has been brilliant about getting off-book early so they have a lot of time to work with their puppets.”

“Not everyone was a puppeteer, but everyone in the cast was eager to learn and is doing an excellent job,” Gilstrap says. “It’s a very tight production with a great cast. I just love that little theater. And to be honest, I believe Avenue Q works so well because Miners Alley’s current space is so small. You’re going to have puppets doing wacky things all around you.”

The promised puppet mayhem is reason enough to drive to Golden. And while the evening will undoubtedly be outrageous and wild, the creative team asserts that the show will also have a lot of heartfelt moments.

“When I was first approached to do Avenue Q, my initial thought was that it might be a little dated,” Sherrill says. “It’s been a while since it’s been out, but when I read through the show again, I felt like it’s almost even more relevant today because the issues they are talking about – homelessness, homophobia and racism – we are still talking about today. Most importantly, I want people to have a good time. First and foremost, the musical is a good escape, and secondly, I hope that some of those issues sink in a little bit, because they are all still relevant to modern times.”

Avenue Q, through September 17, Miners Alley Playhouse, 1224 Washington Avenue, Golden. Find tickets, times and more information at minersalley.com.