AVENUE Q
Music & Lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx. Book by Jeff Whitty. Based on an original concept by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx
Vineyard Theatre (off-Broadway) March
2003, (72 perfs)
Winner of the 2003 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding New Musical,
as well as a nomination for the 2003 Outer Critics Circle Outstanding
Off-Broadway Musical award.
John Golden Theatre, New York - previews July 11th, 2003, with a July
31, 2003 opening.
SYNOPSIS
ACT 1
At the opening we meet Princeton, in a graduation cap and gown, who wonders what he is now going to do after graduation.
On a dilapidated street in an outer-outer borough of the city, Brian and Kate Monster both agree that life is not treating them fairly. He is unemployed; she is single. Joining in the chorus are embattled room-mates, Nicky and Rod; Brian's Japanese fiancée, Christmas Eve; and finally Gary Coleman — yes, that Gary Coleman — who's the neighbourhood's superintendant. He helps new arrival Princeton get an apartment.
Nicky swears he'd stand by Rod though Rod protests he's not gay. Meanwhile, Princeton decides to find his role in life. He runs into Kate Monster, who declares that her purpose is to open a school devoted to Monsters. Princeton makes a racist statement about Monsters, and he and Kate explore the notion that everyone's a little bit racist.
At her teaching job, Kate is assigned an important lesson. She decides to teach the kids about the Internet, but neighbour Trekkie Monster upstages her by insisting that the internet is for porn!
Princeton asks Kate for a date that night. They go to a club, where Brian warms up the crowd. Chanteuse, Lucy The Slut, then sings that she can make anyone feel special. The trouble-making Bad Idea Bears get Kate and Princeton drunk and send them home, where they "get it on" noisily.
Meanwhile, a sleeping Rod dreams that Nicky is in love with him; in real life, Kate expresses her fondness for Princeton and he gives her a lucky penny.
Brian and Christmas Eve get married. At the reception, Nicky suggests that Rod is gay. Rod overhears and defensively brags about his girlfriend in Canada. He kicks Nicky out of the apartment. Princeton realises he's forgotten his purpose in life, and he breaks up with Kate, who recognises the fine line between love and a waste of time.
ACT 2
A few weeks later, Princeton is in a funk. In the city, Princeton hooks up with Lucy. Kate Monster sees them together and gets upset, so Christmas Eve helpfully explains the hatred that arises. Kate writes Princeton a note asking him to meet her on top of the Empire State building. Lucy reads the note and destroys it.
Meanwhile, Nicky has no place to live, and asks Gary for help. Gary explains the concept of taking pleasure in other people's pain.
Kate waits in vain for Princeton atop the Empire State Building. She throws his lucky penny off the side, and it lands in Lucy's skull 102 stories below. Princeton, Nicky, and Kate all remember a simpler time.
Meeting homeless Nicky on the street, Princeton decides to help Kate open her Monster school, and they enlist others to help raise money. Falling very short, they turn to Trekkie Monster, who saves the day. A thrilled Kate gets her school. Rod appears and comes triumphantly out of the closet. He asks Nicky to move back in, and in return Nicky brings out someone who looks just like himself: a boyfriend he found for Rod! Meanwhile Kate, touched by Princeton's generous action, agrees to try a relationship again.
A newcomer to the street makes Princeton finally realiSe his purpose: to put on a show about struggling through your twenties! Everyone agrees that it's a bad idea. Seeing his sadness and frustration, his friends console him, teaching him that everything in life, good and bad, is only for now.
Musical Numbers
- The Avenue Q Theme - Company
- What Do You Do with a B.A. in English? - Princeton
- It Sucks To Be Me - Brian, Kate Monster, Princeton, Nicky, Christmas
Eve, Gary Coleman, Mrs T.
- If You Were Gay - Nicky with Princeton
- Purpose - Princeton & Company
- Everyone's A Little Bit Racist - Princeton, Kate Monster, Gary
Coleman, Brian, Christmas Eve
- The Internet Is For Porn - Kate Monster, Nicky & the Guys
- Mix Tape - Kate Monster, Princeton
- I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today - Brian with Christmas Eve
- Special - Lucy the Slut with the Guys
- You Can Be as Loud as the Hell You Want (When You're Makin' Love)
- Gary Coleman, Nicky, Mrs T. & Ensemble with Kate Monster, Princeton,
Brian, Christmas Eve
- Fantasies Come True - Rod, Lucy with Nicky
- My Girlfriend, Who Lives in Canada - Rod
- There's a Fine, Fine Line - Kate Monster
- There Is Life Outside Your Apartment - Brian; Princeton & Company
- The More You Ruv Someone - Christmas Eve, Kate Monster
- Schadenfreude - Gary Coleman, Nicky
- I Wish I Could Go Back to College - Kate Monster, Nicky, Princeton
- The Money Song - Nicky, Princeton, Gary Coleman with Brian, Christmas
Eve, Mrs T.
- School for Monsters - Trekkie Monsters
- The Money Song Reprise - Nicky & Company
- There's A Fine, Fine Line (Reprise) - Princeton, Kate with Christmas
Eve
- What Do You Do With A B.A. In English? (Reprise) Nicky with Gary
Coleman, Princeton, Kate Monster, Brian & Mrs T.
- For Now - Kate Monster, Brian, Gary Coleman, Christmas Eve, Nicky, Princeton, Mrs T.
ORIGINAL CAST (in order of appearance)
- Princeton, a fresh-faced kid just out of college - JOHN TARTAGLIA
- Brian, a laid-back guy engaged to Christmas Eve - JORDAN GELBER
- Kate Monster, a kindergarten teaching assistant - STEPHANIE D'ABRUZZO
- Rod, a Republican investment banker with a secret - JOHN TARTAGLIA
- Nicky, a bit of a slacker, who lives with Rod - RICK LYON
- Christmas Eve, a therapist who moved here from Japan - ANN HARADA
- Gary Coleman, Yes, that Gary Coleman, superintendent - NATALIE VENETIA BELCON
- Bad Idea Bear #1, snuggly, cute teddy-bear type - RICK LYON
- Bad Idea Bear #2, snuggly, cute teddy-bear type - JENNIFER BARNHART
- Trekkie Monster, a reclusive creature obsessed with the Internet - RICK LYON
- Lucy, a vixenish vamp with a dangerous edge - STEPHANIE D'ABRUZZO
- Mrs. T, Kate's ancient boss - JENNIFER BARNHART
- Newcomer, a fresh-faced kid just out of college - RICK LYON
Ensemble JODI EICHELBERGER, PETER LINZ
Instrumentation
Piano/Synthesizer, Alto Sax, Flute, Clarinet, Guitar, Banjo, Acoustic & Electric Bass, Drums & Percussion