Avenue Q Critique

From when we were small child, many of us would watch the magical, “Sesame Street.” “Avenue Q” is a well cooperated, adult version of our childhood TV show with their own agitated touch. Created by Jeff Whitty, and directed by, Jason Moore, First opened as an Off-Broadway in the beginning of a new millennium, March 2003, at the Vineyard Theatre. You can never get tired of these vulgar, yet, lovable puppets, whether it’s your first time watching it or your tenth. Princeton, a college grad, with a B.A. in English, finds an apartment and decides to move into, and that’s where all the extraordinary excitement commences. We are greeted by most-to the rest of the cast, also the neighbors of Princeton.
With music-writer and lyricist Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, this luxurious play triumphed a number of awards including: the 2003 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding New Musical, three Tony Awards in 2004, and two Theatre World Awards the same year (alongside with many more nominations). The comical musical’s success can be derived from the actors and actresses, themselves, not to mention the multiple roles the actors and actresses had to play, at times during coequal scenes. Though it may cause discomfort at peculiar
times, for instance when Kate Monster had to manage and teach the kids in the school anything of her desire, while her boss was gone, her lesson was ingeniously ruined, or some may say, ten times better after Trekkie Monster came out, resulting in the scene called, “The Internet is for Porn.”
You can easily condone Trekkie Monster’s behavior, of course, unless you’re resentful. Theatre should be for laugh and cry, not hate and anger. “Avenue Q” presents exotically, unique themes of the following: racism, homosexuality, pornography and Schadenfreude. Princeton articulates in a well-concise manner that everybody’s a little bit racist from the color of the flesh to the type of creature you are, with possible intentions that it’s okay to be a little racist as well. There is a substantial boundary between racism and discrimination. Similarly, Nicky also outstandingly and remarkably articulates a point, that homosexuality is fine. Keep in mind that the musical launched in 2003, and back then, people were not as open, and as conformed as they are now. Some healthy civilians may not enjoy the topic of pornography, and that is where they would give this musical a low rating. Boy, you thought that was egregious? Listen to this, Avenue Q introduces you to an unconventional type of pornography: puppet pornography. I don’t have an opinion for pornography, it’s just a business like anything else, but some people freak out over about it. There is another unique theme used in this musical: Schadenfreude. Horrendous as it may sound, it is a mixture of both, good and bad. Ever sat in the classroom, and disliked someone inside your head, but had to like them anyways because that’s part of your job? Yes, picture that loathed ogre. What if one day, he or she fell down while going up to do a task, in the middle of the classroom? Don’t worry, he or she isn’t hurt or anything, just tripped and lost balance. Inside, you’d have a stupendous laugh, outside, you’d question him or her in false, bewilderment if he or she is okay, but let’s not look at the outside. That is what this fancy word, Schadenfreude, means, the pleasing effect of another’s misfortune.
Couples aren’t just born from thin air, and most of them meet by chance. The story behind Avenue Q is to find a purpose in life. Princeton, as broke as he is, he tumbles down to an apartment which he foresees he can manage. He and Kate Monster gets close together, and who knew a human puppet would be dating a monster puppet? This is not your ordinary romance. This shows that love can come in all shapes and sizes, and Avenue Q has done a spectacular job at proving this. Princeton thinks he might have not found his purpose, but I found his purpose to be with Kate Monster.
While neglecting the fact that one can attain myriad, without having to go to college, this musical attempts to target the youngsters to stay in college.
The musical had a song named, “I Wish I Could Go Back to College,” which exclaims how life without a good college degree nowadays is horrible. “What would I give to go back and live in a dorm with a meal plan again,” says Nicky. This is substantial because it expounds a problem which we don’t experience yet. Most of us get our meals handed to us. The view of the musical causes you to feel that you’re part of the act. When the cast was singing this song, I felt like I knew how it feels like to not have food some days, even though I really never went a day without food, that’s just how compelling the musical
is.
This extravaganza musical also consisted of drama. Of course like most relationships nowadays, Princeton and Kate Monster didn’t last as long as I’d expect them to. Princeton decides to ask Kate if they could just stay friends. Sounds like a one-night-stand to me. Kate, being in distress ends Act I. Act II displays how easy it is for an average man to move on from his past relationships. It’s depicted that Princeton gets together with the Lucy the Slut. I wouldn’t call Lucy a slut, however, that’s just her name, so with due respect, Lucy the Slut.
Princeton and Kate does eventually become a whole, again. “One should be willing to sacrifice for the person one loves,” an old saying, and that’s what Princeton did. He raised money for Kate to start her own school, which showed that he loves her. This brings flashback to the earlier part of the musical when Princeton composed a mixtape for Kate, and I learned something new from that scene. I was informed that if you compose a fascinating, unanticipated mixtape to someone, it’s considered as love, and it shows that you care for them. I might go compose a mixtape right now…
The lighting was elusive, however I remember it being acceptable. I do quite frankly remember once during the musical, during the end of one scene, going into another, that Elizabeth Ann Berg, the puppeteer for Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut, I remember her running to her position, but the lighting didn’t do such a good job at hiding it. There was also a change in the cast handling different puppets. I remember one of the other women from the cast having to handle Kate, because Elizabeth Ann Berg was handling Lucy. The musical is definitely not made for the younger adults going through adolescence (age 15 and under), due to intense profanity and puppets going too loud in bed.
The storyline was based off in New York City. It looked like a broken up neighborhood, but yet, fancy at the same time. The set design did a great job, by keeping the set simple. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
The puppeteers did a marvelous job reenacting the storyline with the use of just puppets. The puppets were obviously not that good at showing emotions, so I relied on the puppeteers to do that job, and they did! They didn’t keep a straight face all the time, rather they showed emotions too, to heighten the storyline.
I must admit, my favorite part of the musical were the songs. I did some research on the musical before watching it so I wasn’t a blind bat. In Act one, there were fourteen songs, and in Act two, there were eleven songs, a few of them being reprises. “It Sucks to Be Me,” was a good song because, to me, it shows that everyone goes through problems, and that we shouldn’t complain about our problems, because we need to be wary that the other person might be going through worse problems. In Act two, the song, “There Is Life outside Your Apartment,” is also good because it gives you a feeling of wanting to go explore what’s out there in this world, instead of living your short life at home. The world is too big to leave unexplored. Other good songs were: “Purpose,” “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist,” “Mix Tape,” “There’s a Fine, Fine Line,” “Schadenfreude,” and “I Wish I Could Go Back to College.”
We have such big dreams in life, but so little money. Avenue Q is perfect for college students because we can learn quite a bit off of this musical. Broke college grads can relate most with this musical, and if you have a B.A. in English, forget about it, you’re already part of the musical. Overall, I’ve enjoyed this musical, and would pay to watch it again when I, well, if I have enough money to watch it again later on in life (now I know that some people will be broke after college).