Best 00s Musical: "Avenue Q"
A perfect blend of "Rent" and "Sesame Street" (with a dash of "South Park"), "Avenue Q" tells the story of trying to bridge the life-gap between college and the Real Worldwith puppets. The moment the fuzzy, orange Princeton stepped onto stage with his cap and gown and sang, "What do you do with a B.A. in English?" I knew I was in love. As if the hilarious puppetsand performersweren't enough, the show also throws in a screaming, indecipherable Asian woman, who's inexplicably named Christmas Eve, and, of course, the late, great Gary Coleman as the characters' superintendent (yes,
that Gary Coleman)played by a woman. The original Gary was actually asked to be in the show, and it's too bad he passed; playing himself would've been the best role of his career. Just reading the list of song titles in the show is enough to prompt more than a few immature giggles: "It Sucks to Be Me," "If You Were Gay," "I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today," "The Internet Is for Porn," "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist," and, of course, "You Can Be As Loud As the Hell You Want (When You're Makin' Love)." But it's not all fun and games. The cute "Mix Tape," when Kate Monster realizes Princeton likes her, is heartwarming, and the breakup ballad, "There's a Fine, Fine Line" is surprisingly moving, considering it's delivered by a torso-less, inanimate object. But the song that really got me, which almost brought a tear to my eye, was "I Wish I Could Go Back to College," especially the line, "I wish I had taken more pictures." Luckily, through the power of Facebook friends, I've discovered a few photos of myself during those days. (You mean I actually used to have hair??) This Little Musical That Could actually beat the big-budget, overhyped "Wicked" for Best Musical Tony that year. I was originally disappointed in the ending, since there's no happy resolution of the various plot threads, but as years have passed since I first saw the show (I saw it again later), I've learned to respect that choice. After all, life is messy tooeven for a bunch of puppets.