Recently the Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx and Jeff Whitty musical comedy “Avenue Q” has opened on Long Island. This Tony Award winning musical is now in production at Bellport’s Gateway Theatre. In 2003 “Avenue Q” opened on broadway and that year won Best Musical. After 6 years on broadway the show can now be seen at Gateway Theatre. “Avenue Q” is a show about cute, innocent, Sesame Street look alikes who face real world problems that are a little more relevant to adults than “The Letter B”. The songs in this musical are not exactly kid friendly and include “The Internet is for Porn”, “Everyone’s A Little Racist” and “If You Were Gay”. The common perception of muppets is that they are friendly and educational. This is not the case in Avenue Q and this irony ultimately translates into hilarity. I have personally tried to see this show several times only to have the plans fall through again and again. As a native Long Islander I’m excited to know that the show has moved so close and I can finaly see it in person rather than on Youtube.
The New York Times review can be found here
“Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist” can be seen on Youtube here. Just a fair warning, it might be a bit offensive but it’s meant as a joke. It’s one of the less offensive of the main songs form this show that I could find.
this show has been around for a long time and I think the joke has worn out its welcome. However, the puppets represent an important aspect of theater in that characters (whether puppets or just the characters played by actors) allow us to explore not only what is beautiful, but also the darker corners of the world. The mask of the theater allows the playwright, the actor and the audience to collude in the exploration of the human condition and the artist’s imagination. Puppets and characters let us say things and be things we couldn’t normally be.