By RICK de YAMPERT
ENTERTAINMENT WRITER

The Broadway musical coming to Daytona Beach includes a warning from the show's creators: It contains nudity!
     
But its characters' lack of clothing isn't going to place this Tony-winning play in league with "Hair" or Equus." After all, this tale about Princeton, a "bright-eyed college grad who comes to New York City with big dreams and a tiny bank account," features what the show trumpets as "full-puppet nudity."
     
Such is life on ... er, in "Avenue Q," where humans with human foibles and puppets with human foibles (such as racist attitudes and addiction to Internet porn) cavort in the same semi-mythical, funky Big Apple neighborhood. The whimsical Broadway smash won Tony Awards in 2004 for Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book.
     
The touring production plays Peabody Auditorium on Dec. 12.
     
"It is so unexpected, so funny, all this hilarious, racy stuff coming out of the mouths of innocent-looking puppets," says cast member Kerri Brackin. The Oklahoma native manipulates most of the puppets in the show, switching with other cast members from one fuzzy character to another.
 
The musical features such songs as "You Can Be as Loud as the Hell You Want (When You're Makin' Love)," "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist," "The Internet Is for Porn," "If You Were Gay" and "It Sucks to Be Me." The CD of the cast recording even includes an "explicit lyrics" warning sticker.


     
The idea for the musical was conceived by Robert Lopez, who also co-wrote the musical version of the Disney animated film "Finding Nemo." "Avenue Q" features music and lyrics by Lopez and Jeff Marx, and book by Jeff Whitty.
     
Brackin has not only a hand (pardon the pun) but also a voice in the bawdiness: She provides the voices of two of the puppets -- Bad Idea Bear and a risque-named character she calls "Mrs. T."
     
Speaking by phone from a tour stop in Columbus, Mo., Brackin giggles at the mention of Mrs. T's full name.
     
"She is the kindergarten teacher," Brackin says. "She's just a crabby old school marm to a 'T.' She gets very mad at Kate (her assistant) and ultimately her racism comes out. She's a lot of fun to do."
     
The musical features seven on-stage performers. Three portray human characters (including "Gary Coleman" -- a character supposedly modeled on the actor). The other performers alternate between seven puppet characters akin to, yes, the residents of "Sesame Street." Except "Avenue Q" includes such puppets as Lucy the Slut, Trekkie Monster and the main character, Princeton.
     
Brackin and the other puppet manipulators are not hidden, and they don't speak using ventriloquism. She and other cast members learned puppeteering during a workshop before final auditions for the touring production.
     
The musical's Web site, avenueq.com, poses the question: "Who is 'Avenue Q' appropriate for?" The answer posted is that the show "is great for teenagers because it's about real life. It may not be appropriate for young children because 'Avenue Q' addresses issues like sex, drinking and surfing the web for porn ... Parents should use their discretion based on the maturity level of their children."
     
Trekkie Monster's big song, "The Internet Is for Porn," "is always very shocking to the audience, but it's done in such a way that it's really funny," Brackin says. The show's lyrics and themes usually provoke "a good kind of shock -- the audiences laugh and think it's funny."
 
If You Go
WHAT: "Avenue Q"
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 12
WHERE: Peabody Auditorium, 600 Auditorium Blvd., Daytona Beach
TICKETS: $45, $50 and $55 plus service fee, available at the auditorium box office and Ticketmaster
INFORMATION: 386-671-3462