Saturday, November 22, 2008

Puppets can say things humans can't

I saw the musical Avenue Q last evening and quite enjoyed it. Definitely hilarious! A word of warning: due to actions and language it is definitely not for kids. The show is about a guy named Princeton, a puppet, who has just earned his degree in English and is realizing it won't get him much. He moves into the low-rent area of Avenue Q where a mix of humans and puppets live. He tries to find his purpose in life while falling in love with the woman next door and getting entangled with Lucy the Slut (yep, the character's name).

I mentioned this show to my lunch friend who grew up in New York. No, Avenue Q is not in Manhattan. The program describes the setting as "An outer borough of New York City" and Princeton says he had to come all the way out to Avenue Q before he found a place with rent he could afford. Some of the songs reminded me of my friend's favorite singer Tom Lehrer's subversive lyrics: "It Sucks to be Me," "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist," "The Internet is for Porn," and song about the joys of "Schadenfreude."

I saw the national touring company. They will be in Detroit through Sunday afternoon. The website has the tour schedule and photos of the Broadway and touring companies.

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