Rayleigh Stevens
TECH N EWS WRITER

“‘Avenue Q’ is a dirtyiminded
Sesame Street for adults that everyone should
come and see," says Stage Manager, Aesha
Jackson, about 33rd Street Production’s
upcoming performance Hilarious, offensive,
and disgusting were all words used to describe
the show that the cast members have been
rehearsing for seven weeks All of the cast is
extremely excited for the show and can’t wait
to perform for students and faculty alike

The musical “Avenue Q," according
to stageagenttcom, is about the interaction
of puppets and humans in New York City A
newlyigraduated college alumnus tries to find
his place among the rest of the community
Other puppets and humans roam the avenue,
lending a hand and a helpful song to guide him
through this rough patch Lucy T Slut, Kate
Monster, and Nicky are just a few names of the
different puppets in the show

Danny Wittig, the cast member
portraying Princeton, was excited to have
finally received his puppet on October 27, and
he was not alone After practicing for weeks
with bare hands and 51b arm weights, many in
the cast were excited to begin rehearsals with
puppetst Wittig was also excited to perform
the song “I Wish I Could Go Back to College,"

 

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33rd Street Productions cast members finalize preparations for ‘Avenue Q'

as he thought it was a cool reflection that he
thinks may happen to many people in the years
after their graduation

Kate Monster is the female lead ofthe
musical, played by Jessica Buehler Buehler’s
favorite song in the musical is “There’s a Fine,
Fine Line," as it is the perfect climax to the
show It is a “seriously deep song," she says,
and it really leads into the second act Buehler
was ecstatic upon receiving her puppet, as the
entire cast had to work hard to get used to
holding them and using them properly

The Bad Idea Bears, depicted by
Jenna Disandro and Gianni Carvajal, are
“sweet, cuddly, malicious bears," according to
Disandrot They both are enjoying finishing the
blocking of the play, especially with the new
puppetst The Bears, though cute and cuddly,
voice the opinions you get in the back of your
head of bad things to do

A cast favorite, Kurt Olson, plays
the puppet Trekkie Monster Trekkie Monster
is a loner on the avenue, and stays to himself
mostly He has only one interestiLucy T Slutt
Olson’s favorite characters (besides Trekkie,
of course) are the Bad Idea Bearst He enjoys
these characters because he thinks of them as
the voice everyone has in their head, but never
acts upon

Lucy T Slut, illustrated by Robbi
Hicks, is a performer in the Avenue Q

worldt Hicks’ favorite song in the musical
is “Schadenfreude" She thinks that it is a
funny, true song that many can connect to
Hicks is struggling with her “sexy walk" in the
show, and has been working on it the most
throughout all of the rehearsalst

Sharing song favorites with Robbi
Hicks is Kristal Copeland, who characterizes
the superintendant of the apartment complex,
Gary Coleman This is Copeland’s first time
singing in a performance, and she feels
terrifiedt She has been getting lessons from
cast member Alex Hunt, on singing and
performing She may be terrified, but others
are confident in her ability to pull through and
perform what she needs

Margaret Lee, the Artistic Director,
warns to you to “be prepared to be offended,
touched, and rolling on the ground of
laughter” She is also very happy that 33rd
Street Productions is producing this play,
as this is her last chance to direct any sort of
art form here at UT, and she looks forward to
closing out her career on a good note Lee also
plays Christmas Eve, a human on Avenue Q

The Assistant Director, Dave
Coxhead, is excited to perform the finished
product He also plays the part of Brian, a
human on Avenue Q His favorite song, “For
Now" is the perfect message, says Coxhead,
and warns that “happiness is fleeting" He is

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excited for the show, and loves working with
the other cast members to put together a great
show

The Music Director, Alex Hunt, is
currently working on character development
for his character, Rodi Rod is a puppet that is
struggling with his identity Hunt is excited for
the harmonies to come together in the songs of
the musical As Hunt progressed through the
rehearsals of the play, he has expressed a like
towards the character Nicky, Rod’s roommatet

Nicky is the lazy roommate to
Rod’s cleanliness and stress Nicky helps Rod
throughout the musical trying to find himself
Nicky is played by Brendan Kerrigan Kerrigan
is excited to sing “The Money Song" as he feels
it sends a good message about giving to others
Kerrigan says that the song illustrates how it
is “good to give to people, and that makes you
feel good"

Avenue Q is set to be a funny,
touching show that brings tears of
understanding and laughter to everyone’s eyest
There will be a donation hat going around, so,
if you feel so inclined, bring your spare change
to donate to llT’s student theatre group The
show is set to be performed on November
13, 14, 20 and 21, at 7 pm The show will go
on in the Hermann Hall auditorium, and is
approximated to be two hours long

 

Photos by Kevin Zheng