THE STREET VS. THE AVENUE
Avenue Q – Lucy The Slut, Kelli Sawyer
AVENUE Q is NOT Sesame Street. Sesame Street may be the location where many of those under 40 spent their childhoods while Avenue Q very well might be where they relocated as young adults.
The residents of Avenue Q may seem very familiar to anyone acquainted with Sesame Street, but the musical is both a loving homage to the long-running children’s TV show and a spoof of it.
Even though AVENUE Q is similar in style – especially in the puppets – and format, the show is NOT meant for children! There is an official disclaimer that comes with the show: AVENUE Q has not been authorized or approved by The Jim Henson Company or Sesame Workshop, which have no responsibility for its content. Let’s take a look to see why:
Sesame Street |
AVENUE Q |
Musical numbers include
“Rubber Duckie,” “Everyone Makes
Mistakes,” and “Just Happy to Be Me”
|
Musical numbers include “What Do You Do
with a B.A. in English?,” “The Internet is for
Porn,” “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist,” and
“It Sucks to Be Me”
|
Roommates Bert and Ernie
|
Rod, a closeted gay man, is secretly in love
with roommate Nicky
|
Cookie Monster |
Trekkie Monster, whose addiction is Internet
porn instead of cookies
|
Prairie Dawn
|
Lucy the Slut
|
Characters share in the achievements
of others
|
Characters sing “Schadenfreude,” in which
they admit taking pleasure in the misfortunes of others
|
There are more, of course, but we’ll let you see how many you can find. Keep in mind that the whole idea is that a cozy, familiar kids’ TV show had to grow up. Not just the characters, but the subject matter, the songs and the attitude. It definitely had to move from the Street to the Avenue. |
