RALEIGH - Kids learn a lot from "Sesame Street": math and grammar, Spanish greetings, kindness.

Broadway's delightful "Avenue Q" teaches different lessons: Everyone's a little bit racist; buying a case of beer makes more financial sense than a six-pack; a college degree in English has limited practical applications; and when you're having sex, louder is better.

These were unexpected lessons for Broadway Series South's opening night audience Tuesday, judging from the contrasting responses. Many people laughed so hard they sounded as if they were choking, while some crossed their arms and stared in stony silence.

For the latter, there's another lesson in "Avenue Q": When a Broadway show is rated PG-13, you might want to ask why.

The lyrics alone are largely unprintable here. Every naughty word you can think of gets uttered by these Muppet-like puppets at some point, as they curse their postcollege, dead-end lives, indulge in puppet sex and contend with career and relationship frustrations.

Rod is a closeted gay puppet and is secretly in love with his roommate, Nicky. Kate Monster is a boyfriend-starved kindergarten teaching assistant who dreams of opening a school open only to "her kind." Trekkie Monster is addicted to online porn. Princeton mooches off his parents, and even Lucy the Slut won't endure him for more than a one-night stand.

There are humans, too. Christmas Eve (Angela Ai) is a Japanese woman whose two master's degrees in social work have gotten her nowhere. Her live-in lover, Brian (Cole Porter -- really), is an unemployed aspiring comedian. And former "Diff'rent Strokes" child star Gary Coleman (played by Carla Renata), an apartment superintendent, is bitter that he has become a pop culture joke.

You'll learn some of this in "It Sucks to Be Me," an early tune that sets the tone for the evening. The show's plain-spoken lyrics are full of clever surprises, as is the music. Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx's tuneful score earned a Tony Award, as did Jeff Whitty's colorful and irreverent script. The show also won Best Musical, and it has been running on Broadway for almost five years.

Unlike the "Sesame Street" Muppets, "Avenue Q" puppets are operated Bunraku-style, with the actors visible and their own expressions mirroring the puppets'. So casting is crucial, and the original Broadway cast was superb. But the touring troupe -- some of whom performed in the Broadway production -- earns high marks, too.

Robert McClure is funny and endearing in the dual roles of Rod and Princeton, at times operating one puppet while providing the voice for the other. Kelli Sawyer blends dreamy innocence with vengefulness and crass sexuality as Kate Monster and her nemesis Lucy the Slut.

Cullen R. Titmas captures the easygoing charm of Nicky and Trekkie Monster, the roles that puppet creator Rick Lyon played on Broadway. And Titmas and Minglie Chen's manipulative Bad Idea Bears are hysterical.

The sound mix in the cavernous Memorial Auditorium made some lyrics inaudible under the band accompaniment. You may need to buy the Broadway recording to catch every last word.

But homework doesn't get any better than that.