“Sunny Day, Sweepin’ the clouds away, On my way to where the air is sweet…
Can you tell me how to get, how to get to… errr… Avenue Q?”

Now, I realise this review could be considered a little late, seeing as the show first dropped in the early 2000s and is actually ending its current run in January. But that’s exactly why we were here: we’d received an invite that included this show AND the launch of a ‘new’ bar in London. How could anyone turn down swearing Muppets and fancy drinks?

More on the latter later, but at this point in the evening I was standing outside the Shaftesbury Theatre (where I’d been for about half an hour), my pal still hadn’t arrived, and it was 7.26pm. The show starts at 7.30.

Suddenly, she appears, running down the pavement from Tottenham Court Road, before actually sprinting across a street full of moving cars with her hand raised to signal them to stop. Like a cop racing to apprehend a major villain, rather than a journo who was late for the Muppet show!

We headed in as the last to arrive, found our seats and, once her heart had stopped racing and she was able to breathe normally again, settled in to watch the show.

The plot is simple enough. Princeton (our hero?) has just graduated with an essentially worthless degree and ends up renting an apartment in a rundown part of New York City known as Avenue Q. There, he meets his new neighbours and friends, and struggles to find his ‘purpose’ (a great song, by the way), while they collectively navigate relationships, life, sexuality, race, homelessness and, essentially, whose life sucks the most (another catchy tune).

Despite some of the original material from this once ‘punk musical’ having lost a little of its shock value with age, Avenue Q remains truly enjoyable, largely thanks to the strength of its cast.

Emily Benjamin and Noah Harrison are fantastic in the leading roles, both juggling multiple major puppet characters and, at some points, even holding conversations with themselves. They bring so much heart to their performances that it’s impossible not to enjoy them.

But they wouldn’t shine quite so brightly without the rest of the cast delivering everything at 11. Meg Hately, Oliver Jacobson, Charlie McCullagh and Amelia Kinu Muus all excel, as does Dionne Ward-Anderson, who portrays ’80s child star Gary Coleman. This is a nod to the celebrity hosts who randomly appeared on Sesame Street – a connection that, if I’m honest, I had to look up!

Lastly, I need to shout out my favourite characters: the Bad Idea Bears. I feel they’re very unfairly named, as these adorable anti-Jiminy-Cricket characters are simply misunderstood. Because if suggesting you buy booze in bulk to save money, drink Long Island iced teas and pursue ‘love’ are bad ideas, then I just don’t know what to think…

Okay, the suicide may have been slightly off.

Avenue Q essentially does for Sesame Street what Team America did for the Thunderbirds (yes, including the sex scene). It takes something much-loved and familiar and gives it a naughty twist that only adds to the enjoyment.

After the show, we took the short walk into Soho for the opening night of NQ JPN, the new makeover of the old NQ64. Think spoof ‘7-Eleven’ selling cocktail slushies, neon anime posters covering the walls, candy cabs featuring Japanese classics like Samurai Shodown, Tekken and Metal Slug, and more weird, random rhythm games than you can shake a stick at.

A great novelty way to end the evening… even if the bouncer left us standing in the rain while failing to successfully flirt with the girl in front of us. So much for being on the VIP guest list, eh!

Clown Stars: * * * *

@Shaftesbury Theatre, London

Avenue Q is playing at the Shaftesbury Theatre until January 3rd and there are some great ticket deals if you’d like to catch it before it leaves