Avenue Q School Edition- Page 2

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 10:44pm

With Songs:

if you were depressed (if you were gay)

"You can be as loud as the hell you want, when your making food"

Lucy The Sloppy Eater

[Julian2]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 10:44pm

All this made me think of was how sad it is what a show has to go through to be approved by a high school. Jesus christ! Just let them do the ****ing shows! Not "freaking" shows, ****ing. Most of them already know this stuff already, and will just go backstage at Guys and Dolls and sing "Screw Me" anyways. So just let them do the show.

[Anakela]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 11:07pm

ok not to threadjack, but- there's a high school version of "Rent??" What happens in it, does Mimi o.d. on cough syrup or something? I'm guessing that she no longer works at the Cat Scratch Club, so Roger what, knows her from her job at Blockbuster or something? And I don't even wanna know what they do with "Contact."

Sorry- I just got all distracted by the idea of Rent: High School Musical, I think that is stranger than removing the 'questionable' material to make Avenue Q: High School Musical.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 11:16pm

not saying the puppetry will be well done,but I think it is a learnable skill. We did a whole month or so of working with puppets (just like the ones in "Q") and had them "sing" a song when I was in Elementry school...

and I think I was pretty damn good at it:)

EDIT: I forgot to say, that YES, I too think this is a horrible idea.

Updated On: 5/7/07 at 11:16 PM

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 11:32pm

I have been studying puppetry for three years. It's not that easy. I hate to brag, but I am good at it, and that's only because have been studying it for so long. Go to the stage door and ask the cast of Avenue Q, they will tell ya, it ain't easy.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 11:44pm

Wow. Hmmm... I don't even know what to think.

~Steven

[misto625]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 12:40am

Worst idea since Melanie Griffith was cast in Chicago. I guess the thought of Tara Conner was worse. Anyway, BAD BAD IDEA. Even the Bad Idea Bears wouldn't go for this, (unless there's a bunch of beer involved.) I'm totally with SweetQ and NathanLaneStalker on this. Puppetry is HARD WORK and not to be taken lightly. Nothing I hate more than watching bad puppetry performances. I actually get annoyed when Avenue Q hires non-puppeteers, although most of their hires turn out quite good. Still, I'd rather see Peter Linz in the show than Robert McClure. Just saying. As mentioned earlier, Avenue Q is what it is because of the questionable content and it's a bunch of nothing without puppets or its original lyrics. I can't imagine the appeal of a censored show if you know the original, and if you don't know the original, why would someone pick to do this show?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 12:42am

Wow. I just can't wait for the HS edition of Take Me Out.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 12:43am

I am in NO way saying puppetry is easy...and I'm sure it would be very hard to do for that long of a show!


but have all the performers that have been in Avenue Q really study it for more than 3 months or so before they start?
honest question, I really do wonder.

[misto625]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 12:56am

"but have all the performers that have been in Avenue Q really study it for more than 3 months or so before they start?
honest question, I really do wonder. "

Well the original cast of the show was made up entirely of people who had made their adult careers out of puppetry, 10+ years of real-life experience each, college degrees, except for Aymee Garcia, but she's from my hometown so I forgive her. Plus, she puppeteers on PBS's "It's A Big Big World" so she is applying the experience. I am pretty sure she had studied puppetry before Avenue Q though.

As written on this thread earlier, all the cast members are asked to perform a puppet at the audition to see how well they can lip-synch and whether there is hope for them to continue further. Rick Lyon and Jennifer Barnhart have been in charge of teaching the new cast members in auditions/rehersals and even during performances. Just as a dance captain would be in charge of maintaining a show's choreography, the puppet captain is in charge of the upkeep of puppetry and gives notes before shows.

Three months isn't necessarily a lot of time. Think of it as learning a new language. You have acquired some vocabulary and can write and read some sentences after learning for three months, but you can't converse and speak it fluently or write an essay in the new language. (And if you can, please teach me!)

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 1:01am

Isn't Ave Q just full of "questionable" numbers? If they make a school version, all that's just going to be left is sock puppets performing the opening number.

ETA: I'm not even questioning how talented the kids might or might not be at puppetry. That's actually the least of my worries. Shows drastically revolving around more mature adult humor should not be butchered to allow high schools to perform it. It's a disgrace to the show. There are so many other suitable shows that high schools can perform.

Updated On: 5/8/07 at 01:01 AM

[BeingAlive]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 1:12am

I don't know what you guys are talking about. This is a great idea. Don't you remember how successful the high school version of "Oh! Calcutta!" was?!

[caitlinette]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 2:29am

ok not to threadjack, but- there's a high school version of "Rent??" What happens in it, does Mimi o.d. on cough syrup or something?

Yeah! I wonder.

[mygfdontliveincanada]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 2:44am

when there's a "Debbie Does Dallas" school edition, I'll be really thrilled.

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 4:04am

H-O-R-R-E-N-D-O-U-S I-D-E-A

Not a fan. Seriously.

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 6:19am

oxymoron.

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 6:49am

I sent Jeff an e-mail asking him about all of this and sent him a link to this thread. This is the message he sent me:

"I can only say don't worry, we're not looking to bastardize the show, just to do enough to get it past the school principal censors. Some schools would NEVER do the show, but some would do it if not for the most explicit things like "****!" and "****" -- but we've actually found we can include most of the content without using the objectionable expletives. And without harming the show. That would make the show acceptable for those schools that would be on the borderline... Though the schools that would NEVER do it will still never do it.

That's all. We're actually changing as little as possible. We don't want it to be Avenue G.

Jeff"

So, we really don't have to much to worry about, but I'm still on the fence. We'll see how it goes.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 6:55am

I want to know what principal on the planet is going to let this fly.

There may be a rare arts high school. But that's all I can see. Parents are pitching fits about Urinetown's title and some mildly objectionable content in Grease (not to mention the endless hub bub about The Vagina Monologues). I had a parent complain because I played a track from Wicked in my middle school music class (witches are evil, y'all). This isn't going to fly.

[Jon]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 7:00am

I found a clip on you-know-what-website of a producton of Avenue Q from somewhere in Central or South America. The performers are singing and speaking in English, but with thick accents, and it sounds like they learned the lines by rote and don't really know exactly what they are saying. Here's the thing - there are NO PUPPETS. But the actors playing Nicky and Rod do the goofy Ernie and Bert voices! Very bizarre. Kate is called Kate Monster, yet she doesn't have fur or anything to differentiate her from the other humans.

This appears to be a full production, but how did they get the rights?

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 7:08am

Jon, I saw those videos too. The answer is simple, they did not get the rights. You can tell by the way the production is set up and everything. Oh, and they are horrible videos.

I am actually a little excited about this now, if it's true to the Broadway version without changing to much, I could get them to do this in my local theatre...and I'm great with puppets and I can easily do Rick Lyon's parts....listen to me go on. lol. It won't even be available for at least another year.

[Producer2]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 7:33am

Without the filth, they might as well offer Sesame Street Live instead!

And I can't wait to eat her "pizza" again?

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 8:17am

Ok, just to defend High Schoolers and the lack of puppet skills.

We did "Children of a Lesser God" one year. In three months the entire cast KNEW sign language for that show. Sign is tough to learn, and then apply (Suprisingly, to me at least, easy to read) and do show after show with some accuracy.

That said, puppety IS tough, however, a large portion of it, is matching syllables, and since the mouth makes about 4 or 5, if you can master those 4 or 5 and just drill and kill what order they go into, you can pull it off with marginal success.

Edit: also, BAD IDEA. The End.

Updated On: 5/8/07 at 08:17 AM

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 8:22am

This does show how lucrative the school theater market is. I've heard that Suessical is considered to be incredibly profitable because of all the school productions that have been done, in spite of having been a resounding Broadway flop.

Besides, this isn't as bad as the upcoming "Naked Boys SInging" high school edition. ("Scantily Clad Boys and Girls Singing")

[Urban]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 8:40am

That message from Jeff an above poster reposted, it reminds me of the quote Mrs. Cartman said in the South Park movie - "Horrific, deplorable violence is okay, as long as people don't say any naughty words."

[chicolini]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 11:00am

Just use finger puppets instead!