Suburban theater artists discover joy of puppetry in Music Theater Works' revival of 'Avenue Q'

Comedy is bread and butter to theater artist Melissa Crabtree, whose resume includes roles in such tuners as "A Christmas Story," "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and "Annie Get Your Gun," among others.

But the Algonquin native never passes up an opportunity to broaden her skills. Last fall, she learned to play the accordion for Metropolis Performing Arts Centre's "Cabaret." And for the past few months, she's powered through "puppet boot camp" preparing for Music Theater Works' revival of "Avenue Q," in which most of the actors double as puppeteers.

"A lot of blood and sweat went into learning this new skill ... I have the sore arms to prove it," said Crabtree, who plays sultry chanteuse Lucy and puppets five other characters in the coming-of-age musical for mature audiences about young adults coping with personal and professional challenges.

"It's exhausting in the best way," said the actress, who brought a duffle bag containing wrist and spine rollers and other physical therapy implements to rehearsals.

She and her castmates initially worked with googly eyes and a string before graduating to actual puppets, Crabtree said. She says the training has improved her hand-eye coordination, which is now "off-the-charts."

"I've learned so much in the past six weeks," said the Music Theater Works' veteran, who explains that the while the puppet provides the outline of the characters, she, the actor, provides the flavor with her vocal and physical choices.

"I'm finding joy in being sharp and crisp with the puppet and layering in that physicality with my body," she said, adding that the camaraderie she and her fellow actors established during puppet boot camp has been equally satisfying.

Crabtree, who has long been a fan of the "Avenue Q" score by composer/lyricists Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, says performing in the show was an opportunity she couldn't pass up.

Neither could Thomas E. Squires, a Hoffman Estates native currently living in Lombard, who plays one of several humans who occupy the fictional New York City neighborhood where the characters reside.

"Interacting with the puppets, we were taught that you look at the puppet, you don't look at the human actor," said Squires, who interacts with the puppets as he would with any other scene partner, except this scene partner is made of cloth and has no legs.

"The difficult part is that these actors are fantastic and it's really hard not to be drawn in by their individual performances," he said.

The puppets, who recall Jim Henson's puppets from "Sesame Street" and "The Muppet Show," "have such life in them," said Squires, who recalled watching Jimmy Hogan, who plays Princeton, practicing with his puppet offstage.

Using the puppet to tell a story from his own life, Hogan was so adept, "all I could see was Princeton," Squires said.

"It's amazing to see how much emoting you can get from these puppets," he said. "It's a reason 'Sesame Street' and 'The Muppet Show' lasted for as long as they did."

Crabtree believes theater fans will be impressed by her colleagues' creativity and passion.

"Every day I go to rehearsal and am in awe of the performances of these people," she said. "It's inspiring to see what everyone has created with a puppet on their hand."

“Avenue Q”

When: 1 p.m. Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday through April 2. Also 2 p.m. March 18. No 7:30 p.m. show March 16

Where: Music Theater Works at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, (847) 673-6300,

musictheaterworks.comTickets: $39 and upCOVID-19 precautions: Masks recommended