Life Outside My Aprtment

To paraphrase Kate Monster, I like romantic things like music and art and food.

Kate Monster was one of the myriad characters in VCU Theater's production of "Avenue Q: The Musical."

That's the irreverent and unabashedly politically incorrect one that uses puppets and actors to express what's going on.

I met a friend, I brought a friend and I laughed a lot at the story of  the generation raised to think they were special, only to find in the real world that they really aren't such a big deal.

From the hysterical opening notes of "Sucks to Be Me," a song about finding your way in the world armed only with a degree in English, the crowd was laughing.

It's like going naked to a party. You really can't be prepared for what might happen to you.

VCU's production had drawn a great crowd tonight, old and young and almost completely full.

Using two screens that showed "Avenue Q" programming (think "Sesame Street" meets "The Electric Company"), we saw takeoffs on important concepts.

Like, "A purpose is direction to your life," a concept echoed by the singing cardboard boxes.

It was relevant because Princeton was looking for a direction in his life. Aren't we all?

Or 1,2,3,4,5 nightstands. Take four away and you have a one night stand.

Lesson learned.

There were the "Bad Idea Bears," those pesky voices that tell us to celebrate when we should be making wise choices instead.

Characters were aptly named - Mrs. Fizzletwat, Lucy the Slut - with hilarious lines to deliver.

"My friend isn't an artist, he's a Republican."

Because, you know, the two are mutually exclusive.

Given the generation being skewered in the movie, it was no surprise when Princeton made a mix tape to prove his interest in Kate Monster.

The play used puppets as a way of expressing the characters' feelings and words and it was fascinating to adjust to which of the two you watched when any given actor was speaking.

In some cases, your eyes were riveted by the puppet and other times, the actor made sure you noticed him or her instead of the puppet.

I liked how the puppets imitated whatever the actor did, whether smacking his head or looking bewildered.

Or having sex.

Oh, yes, these puppets definitely got it on. And not just in the missionary position.

"I dated a monster once, but I got tired of picking fur out of my teeth."

Just to be clear there were also truisms, like, "Crabby bitches are the bedrock of this nation."

During intermission in the bathroom, I heard a woman say she was visiting from San Francisco and had come to see the play with her nephew.

Not a bad evening in Richmond, I wanted to tell her.

A song that delivered many laughs was "The More You Love Someone," with lines like, "The more you love someone, the more you want to kill him."

Truth in theater.

In a clever nod to reality, during the song "School for Monsters," where they were asking for donations for an important project, the cast moved into the audience, seeking donations for Richmond's Freedom House.

Serve the script, serve the community. Bravo, VCU.

The point of the song was that it feels good to do for others and we got our very own life lesson on that subject during that number.

But mostly I loved all the whining that the characters did as they learned the harsh realities of life.

Things like, why does life have to be so hard? 

And the internet is for porn.

And my fave song title: "There is Life Outside Your Apartment."

Perhaps because I wasn't the generation being skewered, I found myself laughing long and hard throughout the play.

With a live band, appealing puppets and a cast all but bursting with youthful exuberance, the evening's entertainment ended up being a play I will tell all my friends to see before it closes on December 2.

When the play ended, I tried to talk a friend into joining us for duck fat, but she had an early morning ahead.

So it was that only two of us Avenue Q graduates went to Belmont Food Shop for post-theater explorations.

I'd heard tell of a cook's menu after 9:30 and I wanted to know what was on it.

When we rolled in, we found a few industry types at the bar and we joined them for Blauer Zweigelt Skeleton, a fine peppery red for a cold night.

The good news was that the cook's menu was available, so we began at the top with duck confit, which arrived with a frisee and clementine salad and a clementine puree.

The fatty goodness of the confit was obscenely rich, made all the better with the peppery contrast of the greens and tang of the citrus.

We could have stopped there, but with chicken liver mousse calling, we said yes and the delicate mousse with matchstick apples on top turned out to be a brilliant choice and a decadent treat.

Don't tell me you don't like chicken livers until you've had Belmont's mousse.

As we sat listening to '20s music ("Would you like to dance?" I was asked), we got to talking wine with the bartender, leading us straight to talk of orange wine.

Since I'd just yesterday been discussing an orange wine tasting with a friend, I was thrilled when the bartender offered to let us taste one.

Looking decidedly coral in color, the white wine was so dry and tannic as to be surprising after its floral nose.

And floral led to thoughts of sweet and next thing you know, we were thinking dessert.

Not that we needed it, but who can resist a housemade dark chocolate silk pie?

With a chocolate cookie crust and a (there's no other way to say it) silky texture, it had the unexpected benefit of being surrounded by elderflower gele and a raspberry puree.

The delicate notes of the elderflower made for a distinctive flavor combination.

When the owner came out, I told him how much I was enjoying the cook's menu in particular and the idea of it in general.

He said he was trying it to have a chance to try some more offbeat menu items after the dinner rush.

A stop, so to speak, on the way to somewhere else, perhaps to imbibe.

As someone who often does something early in the evening, the idea of a place with taste delights like grilled lamb's heart and duck confit afterwards is music to my ears.

Twenties music, that is.

It certainly doesn't suck to be me.