ACTOR Richard Lowe owes everything he's achieved over the last 12 months to his right hand man - or more precisely his right hand puppet.

For Richard plays the key role of Princeton in the cult musical Avenue Q which comes to Manchester's Palace Theatre next week.

"It's certainly an acting job with a difference," said Richard. "I'm an actor who has had to learn puppetry.

"At first it's really difficult to get your head around because as an actor you are trained to perform as yourself but with Avenue Q you have this puppet on your arm and everything has to go through the puppet.

"From day one, it's drummed into you that the show is all about the puppet and after a while in rehearsal I found it suddenly clicked and that the puppet just became an extension of me."

Avenue Q is the story of Princeton a graduate who comes to New York and discovers a range of interesting characters along the way.

"It's an incredibly clever script," said Richard, " and I don't think a lot of people expect it to be so funny. You can see audiences are surprised by it.

"It's also quite rude, we have a 14-plus rating on the show, and has some moments or real emotion which again surprise people."

The real life actors in Avenue Q make no attempt to hide themselves from the audience.

"That's the trick really," said Richard. "You have to get the audience to almost forget you are there. After the first five or 10 minutes they are concentrating wholly on the puppets which is what we want."

Richard appreciates the new skills he has learned from this revolutionary show.

"We started with a four week rehearsal period and we were told then that it would take six to nine months to become really good at it and they were right.

"I've been in the show for about a year now and it has become second nature to me.

"At first the temptation is to interact with your puppet but that just doesn't work.

"Also the puppets are brilliantly made and the slightest head movement can be so funny. You can't be making these big wild gestures."

Richard is clearly loving being in the show - a feeling shared by all the cast.

"You can't help be enjoy being part of it," he said.. "There is such great detail in it with the songs and the clever characterisation. No matter what kind of day you may have had beforehand, the moment the first chords strike up at the start you feel instantly upbeat."

"I'm particularly fortunate because the Princeton character really drives the show and I also play Rod, an uptight close gay Republican who is a real comic character so I get to play this huge emotional arc through the show."

As the stars of the show, the Avenue Q puppets are well looked after.

"They are far more valuable than we are," laughed Richard. "They are always carefully locked away, we can''t take them home with us after a show."

The show ends its UK tour in June but until then Richard is determined to make the most of working with his foam chums.

"I'll be very sorry to see them go, that's for sure," he said.

Avenue Q, Palace Theatre, Manchester, Tuesday, May 3 to Saturday, May 7.Details from 0844 871 3019.