Avenue Q, the Sesame Street-based musical that won three Tony Awards in 2004, is back on tour and coming to Boston. The 2009 touring cast will be hitting the Colonial Theatre from Tuesday, Nov. 17 through Sunday, Nov. 22.Written by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, Avenue Q tells the cheerful, expletive-heavy story of Princeton (Brent Michael DiRoma), a recent college grad with an exceptionally useless degree (in English-Brandeis students, can we relate?), who moves into a new neighborhood in New York. There, he meets a slew of fun people, including Kate Monster (Jacqueline Grabois), roommates Rod and Nicky (Diroma and Jason Heymann), porn-obsessed Trekkie Monster (Heymann), engaged couple Brian (Tim Kornblum) and Christmas Eve (Lisa Helmi Johanson), and of course the superintendent of the apartment complex, Gary Coleman-yes, that Gary Coleman (Nigel Jamaal Clark).

Several of the characters of Avenue Q have clear resemblances to their Sesame Street counterparts. Rod and Nicky play homage to Bert and Ernie (though they aren't as subtle about the gay undertones as the kid-friendly versions of their characters), while Trekkie Monster is a shoutout to Cookie Monster-just replace the cookie addiction with Internet porn. Despite the obvious homage to Sesame Street, though, no one can really call Avenue Q family-friendly. Through overly cheerful songs, the show addresses issues like racism ("Everyone's A Little Bit Racist"), homosexuality ("If You Were Gay") and pornography ("The Internet is for Porn"). On the bright side, the show also touches on the importance of love ("The More You Ruv Someone") and charity ("The Money Song").

What makes the show so unique is the puppetry. Out of the entire cast, only Brian, Christmas Eve, and Gary Coleman ("Gaaaaaaary Coleman!") are played as real humans. All the other characters are puppets: Sesame Street-inspired, dancing, singing, copulating puppets. And when I say copulating, by the way, I mean copulating-the song "Loud as the Hell You Want (When You're Making Love)" comes complete with a very vocally graphic puppet sex scene. Think Team America but with a much catchier soundtrack.

The show begins with Princeton, fresh out of college, coming to Avenue Q looking for a place to live. Once he moves in, he begins to learn about all the hardships that come with "real life"-bills, job searches, relationship woes and other such delightful things. Brandeisians, take note-Avenue Q can be taken as a lighthearted preview of life post-graduation! (Though chances are, our lives will involve a little less coordinated song and dance, with the exception of our wonderful Theater Arts majors.) Deciding that his life needs some meaning, Princeton dedicates himself to finding his purpose in life. He also gets into a romance with Kate Monster, which causes all sorts of drama.

In addition to Princeton's story, the sub-plots of the show are just as fun. Rod and Nicky, longtime roommates, dance around the issue of Rod's possible homosexuality until the metaphorical you-know-what hits the fan, Kate Monster deals with the troubles and trials of being a kindergarten teacher while still maintaining a social life, and Gary Coleman . is Gary Coleman. Enough said.

With a Tony Award for Best Original Score, the music is possibly the best part of Avenue Q. While absolutely shameless in its lyrics, the bright, cheerful songs are easy to follow and even easier to enjoy. They might seem simple-again, when you're basing your music off of Sesame Street, it's easy to see why the songs can feel a bit childish, until you listen to the lyrics, at least-but they're well performed and catchy as hell. It's no surprise that most audiences leave the theater singing.

While the show itself is a blast, die-hard fans of the original cast might find the touring cast a bit hard to adjust to. The casting of Clark as Gary Coleman is definitely unorthodox (the part is usually played by a woman), and it's surprisingly hard to get used to the changes in octave and notes that make the part work. Grabois, who plays both the lovable Kate Monster and the aptly named Lucy the Slut, has pitch problems in multiple songs.

Despite the occasional sharp-flat issue, the show is a ton of fun. As a longtime lover of both Sesame Street and Avenue Q, I absolutely adored this playful, adult version of my childhood favorite. Tickets are already available online, but don't wait-a show like this is going to sell out fast. Don't forget your Brandeis ID when you're buying; student discounts can be fantastic, especially in the Boston area.

And don't worry: The show is much funnier than it is offensive. I promise.