I now blog over at The Eyre Guide! This blog is an archive of my past posts.


Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Awesome Adaptations (21) - Avenue Q

Posted by Charlene // Tags: ,

Awesome Adaptations is a weekly bookish meme, hosted at Alisa Selene’s books blog, Picturemereading.  Anyone can play along! Each week there is a new category of adaptation to blog about. Any format (television series, film, web series, etc.) is acceptable as long as it is based in some form on a book. If you’re playing along on your own blog, just mention Picturemereading in your post and include the banner above. Let them know which film you’d pick and why it is an awesome adaptation worth watching. Oh, and don’t forget to share the link to your own post in the comments for that week’s challenge so that everyone can read your thoughts!

An Awesome Adaptation Musical with Puppets!
Title: Avenue Q

What is my life going to be?
Four years of college and plenty of knowledge
Have earned me this useless degree
I can't pay the bills yet
Cause I have no skills yet
The world is a big scary place.

I'm totally cheating on today's Awesome Adaptations post because Avenue Q is not an adaptation of a book.  It's just a musical I really like with puppets.  I could not think of a good pick for this week's theme!  I don't watch enough films with puppets sadly.

Avenue Q is a stage musical with puppeteers who are onstage as they manipulate their puppet characters and some human characters thrown into the mix.  The show is like Sesame Street for adults, where the puppets learn real life problems that include post-college adjustment, relationships, making money, racism and homosexuality and just growing up in general.  It's about finding your direction in life, with little nuggets of wisdom in every song.  It's hilarious and irreverent - definitely not for people who are easily offended.  And what adds to the humor is the contrast between seeing these very nice puppets saying and doing such um... unexpected things.  And my favorite puppets are definitely the Bad Idea Bears.  They look and sound so sweet, but do not listen to them!

I've seen the stage show a couple times, and I think part of the fun of seeing this show live is seeing how the actors manage the different puppets - many double up on manipulating one, and some play more than one character. It's even interesting to see the actors faces as they play the puppets.  They are emoting along with them.   What I love so much about the story is how it moves from silly and fun to poignant and thoughtful, with such an upbeat but realistic resolution.  The music is catchy and almost every song has that unexpected-direction punchline that keeps you laughing.  It's so entertaining!

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6 comments:

  1. I've yet to be able to get to see a production of Avenue Q on stage but I have loved the soundtrack ever since I first heard it. As you say, it's utterly hilarious and those songs will get lodged in your brain for days after hearing them! :)

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    1. Oh yay you like the album! Do you have a favorite song? I love "It Sucks to Be Me" and "I Wish I Could Go Back to College". I'm sure you'll get a chance to see the show live, it seems like a show that would do alot of tours.

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    2. It's hard to pick just one but it would either be "It Sucks to Be Me" or "The Internet...". Both are incredibly funny.

      There was a production in Atlanta a year or so ago but I kept putting it off until it was too late to catch it. I'm hoping it comes by again at some point soon. :)

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    3. LOL, "The Internet" is also a really good one! Ah, I'm sure it will come by soon!

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  2. Aidan introduced me to this musical and I love it..it's so funny and so sarcastic in bits..love it!

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    1. Oh yay! I can ask you too - do you have a fave song? And the musical is especially funny cause some of the things they say in it are too true! :)

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