What Do You Do With a B.A. in English?

Do you ever wish there was an adult version of Sesame Street? Well there is, and that would be the Tony award winning musical Avenue Q. For those of us who watched sesame street as kids, this show is a lot of fun because it addresses issues that are relative to our age now. But it is definitely not a show for children. The official website for Avenue Q tells parents to use discretion when deciding if their children are old enough because the show addresses issues of sex, drinking, and surfing the internet for porn. Yes, surfing the internet for porn. If you are wondering how that topic could be turned into a song, listen to "The Internet is for Porn".

I know I said Avenue Q is like Sesame Street for adults, but it has no affiliations with the Jim Henson creation, although creator Jeff Marx and puppet designer Rick Lyon both worked on Sesame Street. They consider it be a homage to the show. The reason it is similar to Sesame Street is due to the fact that the show contains puppets and humans working side by side on the stage. Pam Harbaugh in her blog Extreme Culture, said that disclaimers had to be posted when Avenue Q came to Melbourne so people would not think that the show was endorsed by Henson's company. It would be bad publicity if it was thought that the Henson Company was endorsing a show with puppet nudity.

The show revolves around the lives of the residents of Avenue Q. The main character, Princeton, is a recent college graduate looking for his purpose in life. Kate Monster is a kindergarten teacher who falls in love with Princeton. Rod is an investment banker, who is secretly gay, and lives with Nicky, who is unemployed. Brain is a Jewish comedian who is engaged to Christmas Eve, a Japanese therapist. Trekkie Monster is addicted to internet porn, and secretly rich from investments in pornography. Lucy the Slut is a night club singer and regular on Girls Gone Wild, and Gary Coleman ("What you talkin bout Willis?") is the superintendent. The best part about Avenue Q is most definitely the characters. You can tell from some of their back stories that it is definitely not a show for children. There is also puppet nudity and a sex scene. Somehow it does not seem as vulgar because it is puppets and not people, but still it is pretty racy.

Avenue Q is an absolute riot from beginning to end. Not only is the show humorous but through its' comedy it presents issues that are relevant in today's society. In this musical you will find songs discussing racism ("Everyone's a Little bit Racist), homosexuality ("If You Were Gay"), money (The Money Song), and the purpose of Life ("What do you do with a BA in English?"). I believe it is a show that everybody can relate to it one way or another.

Avenue Q has been in the news recently, but not because of rave reviews. Colorado Springs refused to put up ads that featured Lucy the Sluts cleavage when the show was playing there in February. I first read about this controversy on the blog site The Frisky, but found quite a few news articles about it. The advertising company, Lamar, refused to display the ad because of its raciness and the conservative nature of the city. The responses to the blog post concerning this topic were interesting, because they were from people who actually live in Colorado Springs. They were all shocked that the show was even allowed to play in the city. One guy commented that one should expect to find "ultra conservative, Palin loving people" in the city. My favorite was from a woman who exclaimed "I think that the billboard issue is ridiculous, considering that there’s been some hot tub ad with living, real-person sideboob hovering over a main street near downtown for months." I would agree that it is somewhat ridiculous, I did not find the picture to be that obscene. I have definitely seen worse advertisements. But I have been to Colorado Springs several times and it really is a predominately conservative Christian town. I also applaud the advertising companies decision, because they showed respect for the residence who do not want to be subjected to cleavage, even a puppets cleavage.

Aside from the all the controvery to do with the raciness of the show, I highly recommend seeing it. I have never laughed so hard in a musical. The show definitely crosses some lines, but I did not find it offensive in any way. And puppet nudity is always exciting.