AVENUE Q @ SACRAMENTO STATE;

[DISCLAIMER: I apologize for not having pictures of the show. I was sitting in the very front and I find it would have been rude to every so often take a picture. Again, I apologize, but see it for yourself and experience the wonders!]

On Wednesday, April 8th, I joined a large group of my friends to support our friend Liam in the opening night of Avenue Q.


Avenue Q: The Musical is..well, a musical type play that features people and puppets alike separated into two acts. It can be described as a "Sesame Street for Adults." You get the full exposure to what you sort of remember from Sesame Street. The serious issues, some comic relief, and even some videos or visuals on the sides of the theater. The only difference is that this type of show portrays the life after graduating college and the social issues and anxieties individuals encounter in the "REAL WORLD."

The main character, Princeton, who just graduated college with a BA in English and trying to find his purpose, or at least what makes him special, in life, more so "What do I do now after college?" besides getting a job. While looking for a place to live, he works his way down from Avenue A(Rather pricey) all the way down to Avenue Q, cheap, affordable, and not so run-down as we should imagine that Avenue Z would be. It features an array of residents: a  kindergarten aide puppet, named Kate Monster, a couple of roommates, a monster upstairs who invests his time and money into watching pornography, an interracial couple, and the building supervisor, Gary Coleman, as played by a woman.

They all together tell each other their ambitions and even try to attempt with issues. Sometimes, decisions Princeton tries to make are persuaded to go the other way by a couple of characters called the Bad Idea Bears. Their enthusiasm and cute and cuddliness persuade Princeton to at first use rent money to buy beer, drink, and other things. They added comic relief to some very serious issues just because they're so darn cute and happy all the time.


Upon reading the handed out program, the cast went through a two-week puppetry boot camp to learn how to handle the puppets. Might I say, they did a wonderful job. From what I've learned from blog posts and documentaries about Sesame Street, when kids and adults who grew up with the show, they zone out or don't even pay attention to the actors at all. The cast put a lot of moment and emotion into these puppets that you forget they're being handled by an actual person.

This theatrical production was my first ever at the University and it was something quite amazing! Especially that I had a friend in the theater department playing the Blue Bad Idea Bear (HI, LIAM). Although there were some microphone-timing issues, and the music was a tad bit too loud to hear the actors, it was an amazing show and I highly recommend it.  I was exposed to Avenue Q before within my household.My brother sings the songs all the time and without context they were confusing and rather inappropriate.