Porn

On Nov. 27, the nationwide tour of Broadway’s highly acclaimed “Avenue Q” will kick off a two-week stint at Washington’s National Theatre.

A far cry from your average musical, “Avenue Q” takes place on a street in New York City (guess which one) where optimistic college grad Princeton struggles to find a purpose in life. The catch? Avenue Q is a street that looks eerily familiar to Sesame, where all the puppets sing songs about self-hatred, homosexuality, and mix tapes.

People and puppets share the stage as characters—a daunting task for actors whose previous experience as puppeteers was largely nonexistent. For actors like Minglie Chen, who played several roles on Broadway before going on tour with Avenue Q” this past June, learning how to portray a character whose brain is made of foam presents a unique challenge.

“The hard thing about not being a puppeteer first,” says Chen, “is that having a puppet on your hand you don’t know if you’re translating what you’re feeling.”

And these puppets are not hard up for feelings: lust, frustration, flirtation and ennui flare up on Avenue Q with regularity. But how to portray songs like “The Internet is for Porn”? Chen believes that the puppets create a buffer between subject matter and audience response. “I think what the puppets and the layout of the show accomplishes is teaching people building blocks for life in a way that strikes home…it’s nostalgic, and it’s clever.”