TAMPA, Fla. — It’s been described as the R-rated version of Sesame Street; puppets and actors work together to make audiences laugh. It’s called Avenue Q, and it’s currently playing at The Straz.
Actress Fo’i Meleah never realized how exciting and challenging it would be to share the stage with a co-star who has googly eyes.
“It is so different acting with puppets,” said Meleah.
Puppeteer Spencer Meyers is the talented hand behind two of the many characters in the show.
“I’m a huge Jim Henson fan, so to do a show like this is a dream come true,” Meyers.
For The Straz, the puppet push has been a huge success coming out of the pandemic, starting with Hand to God, followed by Little Shop of Horrors, and now Avenue Q.
“These puppeteers, these actors, they have to switch puppets, but do the voice of one puppet while they are holding another puppet while someone else voices this puppet,” said Meleah. “Shot out of a cannon is a perfect way to explain it, and I have so much admiration for what they do.”
“I really enjoy that where you can really hide behind an entirely different image, you lose all of yourself and become just the character,” said Meyers.
Meleah, who also voiced the killer plant, Audrey 2, from Little Shop of Horrors, said it’s refreshing to give the cast and audience a little something different than your typical theater experience.
“Anything you are not comfortable with, that you have not done, shoot the shot, it's only going to deepen your availability to portray a character honestly,” said Meleah.
“There’s some comfort when you get to see a puppet on stage or on screen that kind of brings back a little bit of a childhood joy,” said Meyers.
There is a parental advisory for Avenue Q. It’s meant for adults, not children.
For more information on Avenue Q, click here.
