STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Princeton, a recent college graduate, is trying to find his purpose in life…and learn what’s entailed in the word “commitment.”

Kate Monster is an assistant kindergarten teacher who wants a boyfriend and the opportunity to build a Monsterssori school.

Rod is an obsessively neat Republican investment banker who’s trying pretend he isn’t in love with another guy.

Paul Rescigno, who has appeared in Sun Valley Shakespeare in the Park productions, handles Princeton and other puppets.

And deadbeat comedian Brian and Asian immigrant Christmas Eve have gotten married, thanks to Christmas Eve’s unilateral decision that they should be married. But now they have to work to keep their marriage.

These are some of the characters that pop out at you through the windows of a stage-to-ceiling apartment building on Avenue Q, a derelict place where “it sucks to be me.”

You’ll find “Avenue Q” at The Spot in Ketchum for the next couple weeks as The Spot theater company stages the triple Tony Award-winning musical comedy.

The musical comedy is a spoof on “Sesame Street, employing puppets and adults to go beyond the lessons of the popular children’s show to examine more complicated adult themes.

Jos Banks plays Gary Coleman, the building superintendent.

“It is an enduring piece,” said Director Brett Moellenberg. “They managed to capture the human spirit in a timeless way that also challenged the norms of musical theater, making it one of the most exciting shows in the new century.”

While the puppets are adorable, this is a R-rated—if not X-rated—show, thanks to high-decibel puppet sex and songs like “Internet Porn” that seems to do a deep dive into male hormones. Or, at least, Trekkie Monster’s hormones.

But adults in the audience will find themselves charmed by the puppets and their handlers who emote right along with the puppets. It’s kind of like a two-for-one watching puppets and their handlers at the same time.

As with “Sesame Street,” there are life lessons to be learned as characters weave their way such relatable musings as “What Do You do With a B.A. In English/?” and “I Wish I Could Go Back to College.”

Aly Wepplo assists an assortment of puppets with their roles, including one of the Bad Idea Bears.

The musical starts out with a happy, upbeat “Sesame Street”-type song as everyone looks out their apartment windows singing, “The sun is shining; it’s a lovely day. A perfect morning for a kid to play.”

But the simplistic, usually happy, resolutions found on “Sesame Street” quickly transition to “But you’ve got lots of bills to pay. What can you do?”

Kate Monster sings “There’s a fine, fine line between a lover and a friend; there’s a fine, fine line between reality and pretend…”

Gary Coleman sings of how “the world needs people like you and me who’ve been knocked around by fate ‘cause when people see us, they don’t want to be us, and that makes them feel great,” in the song “Schadenfreude.”

Nicky requires two handlers—Aly Wepplo and Austin Anderson.

Even the song “For Now” speaks to the impermanence of things in life.

“I think the best lesson is that we are all the same more than we are different,” said Moellenberg.

The musical parody with its catchy foot-tapping tunes debuted off-Broadway in 2003 and went on to win the Tony Awards’ Best Musical, Book and Score the next year.

The play’s 11 rod puppets are worked by New York-based Paul Rescigno, Aly Wepplo, Megan Mahoney, Elyse Duffield and Austin Anderson.

The Spot rented the puppets through the licensing company. The company sent both rehearsal puppets and performance puppets—all with their own costumes.

Chad Ethan Shohet, an Idaho Shakespeare Festival actor and Boise puppeteer, trained the puppeteers, who seem to be working with them seamlessly and meaningfully, rather than flailing them around.

Eryn Alvey and David Janeski retain human forms in their portrayal of the Asian therapist who has no clients and her laidback boyfriend-turned-husband. And Jos Banks portrays Gary Coleman, who starred in the 1980s sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes” and later sued his parents for stealing his earnings—something he keeps reminding the audience of.

R.L. Rowsey directs a band that includes Chip Booth on guitar, Tess Makena on keys and Michael Kelly on drums.

“Avenue Q” runs through Feb. 1 at The Spot, 220 Lewis St., in Ketchum. Donation-based concessions are available before each show.

The show starts at 7 p.m. tonight and Friday, Jan. 22-23; 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24; 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 25; 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, Jan. 27-31, and 6 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 1.

Tickets start at $33 with three-person tables costing $125. Students and those under 30 can avail themselves of $20 and $25 tickets at https://www.spotsunvalley.com/spotseason/avenueq