Avenue Q London example changes
Avenue Q London example changes
#1Avenue Q London example changes
Posted: 4/11/26 at 5:09am
- Subtle updates to bring it to the present - in internet is for porn instead of buy things on amazon.com it's just amazon, instead of eBay it's now Facebook marketplace (sorry eBay)
- Another example they refer to needing to buy a 'Netflix subscription'
- Making fun of the idea of a 'mix tape' being old fashioned and iPhones are now present
- In Fantasies come true, You look like Benedict Cumberbatch instead of you look like David Hasselhoff
- everyone's a little bit racist:
- "thinking that Mexican Busboys should learn to speak goddamn English" is "thinking people in call centres should learn to speak goddamn English"
- "laugh because they're based on truth" is directed so the line is a bit quieter and more hush hush/apologetic/with a bit of self awareness of sensitivity (not sure if it was always this way I thought they used to just say the line loudly)
- Instead of "I bet you tell Polak jokes" the line is something like (can't recall it exactly):
- "I bet you make fun of white people, right?" "Sure I do those flat ass, can't dance, bland cooking, pumpkin spice latte loving mother f******kers"
- Donald Trump is only For Now
Zeppie2022
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/12/22
#2Avenue Q London example changes
Posted: 4/11/26 at 8:07am
binau said: "
- Subtle updates to bring it to the present - in internet is for porn instead of buy things on amazon.com it's just amazon, instead of eBay it's now Facebook marketplace (sorry eBay)
- Another example they refer to needing to buy a 'Netflix subscription'
- Making fun of the idea of a 'mix tape' being old fashioned and iPhones are now present
- In Fantasies come true, You look like Benedict Cumberbatchinstead of you look like David Hasselhoff
- everyone's a little bit racist:
- "thinking that Mexican Busboys should learn to speak goddamn English" is "thinking people in call centres should learn to speak goddamn English"
- "laugh because they're based on truth" is directed so the line is a bit quieter and more hush hush/apologetic/with a bit of self awareness of sensitivity (not sure if it was always this way I thought they used to just say the line loudly)
- Instead of "I bet you tell Polak jokes" the line is something like (can't recall it exactly):
- "I bet you make fun of white people, right?" "Sure I do those flat ass, can't dance, bland cooking, pumpkin spice latte lovingmother f******kers"
- Donald Trump is only For Now
Good examples and the Trump line is a "no brainer". I think you have to update the Gary Coleman character with some other child star.
"
Theatrefan2
Stand-by Joined: 3/27/22
#3Avenue Q London example changes
Posted: 4/11/26 at 8:33am
Im not sure Gary Coleman matters, at least in the UK. Many, probably the majority, in the audience dont know who he is anyway (both the original production and the new one). So just knowing hes a former child star is enough for the jokes to land.
#4Avenue Q London example changes
Posted: 4/11/26 at 9:41am
A non-English-speaking production (German? Hungarian?) replaced Gary Coleman with Michael Jackson, who had faked his death to get out of the public eye.
Funny story: this is one of my craziest nights in my theatrical career. I was playing keyboards for a small semi-pro production of Avenue Q in probably 2014-2015. It was a tiny cast production with I think six actors instead of the usual nine or ten. Anyway, one day during the run, there was a wreck on the highway causing congestion and hours-long delays all over the city, and our Gary Coleman was HUGELY delayed. We didn't know if she'd make it in at all. So the director came up to me and said, "you know the show, you're an improv guy... worst case scenario, you have to go on as Gary tonight."
All well and good, but I'm white. We tossed ideas around for about ten minutes and then settled on a worst-case-scenario alternative: somebody pulled basketball shorts and an undersized basketball jersey for me. Since most of Gary's lines are describing himself, instead of "Gary Coleman, washed-up child star," I was going to be "Zac Efron, washed-up former heartthrob who's really let himself go." Luckily, midway through a quick choreo rehearsal for "Loud as the Hell You Want," our real Gary walked in and I was sent back to the pit... but I didn't have time to change, so I played the show that night in a seventh-grader's basketball uniform.
#5Avenue Q London example changes
Posted: 4/11/26 at 10:19am
Thanks for sharing this list! I think it's fairly standard for there to be a sort of subito piano effect where the words "based on truth" are said in a whispered voice amidst the otherwise raucous lyrics; at any rate, that's what I think I've usually heard when I've seen the show.
The off-Broadway production used Donald Trump in "Only For Now" when I saw it (back during the first term).
Rentaholic2
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/14/04
#6Avenue Q London example changes
Posted: 4/11/26 at 2:44pm
I'm surprised they made these updates - to me, the show is so rooted in the early 2000s that I would have thought they would have kept it in that time period. It would be like moving Rent to the present day (ok, maybe not that dramatic, but still). I guess if they can make it work in present day, that's better. But I'm curious how well the updates work. I'm not sure just making a few changes to The Internet is for Porn is enough given the whole song is based on the notion that the Internet is still a new thing.
I'm confused about Gary Coleman, though - is he still actually supposed to be Gary Coleman? Does it address the fact that he's supposed to be dead? And even if the show just ignores his death, he would be 20 years older now than he was in 2003. How is this handled?
#7Avenue Q London example changes
Posted: 4/11/26 at 3:19pm
kdogg36 said: "Thanks for sharing this list! I think it's fairly standard for there to be a sort ofsubito pianoeffect where the words "based on truth" are said in a whispered voice amidst the otherwise raucous lyrics; at any rate, that's what I think I've usually heard when I've seen the show.
The off-Broadway production used Donald Trump in "Only For Now" when I saw it (back during the first term)."
They had tee shirts that said that with the show logo on the back, for a limited time. I have one.
#8Avenue Q London example changes
Posted: 4/11/26 at 3:34pm
I don’t remember any large changes with Gary. Ie it’s still Gary and Gary is alive. The cast are very talented and the set feels larger and more elaborate than I recall seeing before. I actually thought the show worked surprisingly well and felt surprisingly fresh/timely/topical. The obscenity/shock value a little sharper and more biting than I remember feeling when I first saw the show about 16 years ago…back then the novelty of the show had started to wear dry to me and I remember the songs making rounds on the internet back then. So a long break and a more sensitive culture kind of makes it all much more thrilling and exciting. I was waiting in eager anticipation to see how the audience would respond. They seemed to love it with a standing ovation (but according to the west end board people didn’t all stand earlier in the week)
#9Avenue Q London example changes
Posted: 4/11/26 at 3:35pm
My sister saw this in London a couple weeks ago and didn't know the show at all. She said it came across as extremely dated with the Christmas Eve jokes being very uncomfortable and offensive.
Ptero2
Featured Actor Joined: 6/18/22
#10Avenue Q London example changes
Posted: 4/11/26 at 6:01pm
When I saw this a few weeks back the Polack joke was replaced with a joke about French people being mean. I thought it might have just been pandering to the English, but sounds like they changed it around again!
I also thought the mixtape thing was handled awkwardly. The book dialogue is updated to make it a Spotify playlist but the song still calls it a mixtape. Not sure if they cleaned that up or not yet.
Ptero2
Featured Actor Joined: 6/18/22
#11Avenue Q London example changes
Posted: 4/11/26 at 6:02pm
Oh, also, "if everyone stops being so PC" was changed to "if everyone stops being so extreme"
#12Avenue Q London example changes
Posted: 4/11/26 at 6:11pm
binau said: "
- "I bet you make fun of white people, right?" "Sure I do those flat ass, can't dance, bland cooking, pumpkin spice latte loving mother f******kers" "
I think this would be much funnier if these kinds of jokes were allowed to be made about all races.
I support jokes about all groups. That means all groups belong.
For example, what if we replace the word flat with fat, the word dance with ski, bland cooking with fried farting and pumpkin with watermelon?
Like this: "Sure I do those fat ass, can't ski, fried farting, watermelon loving mother f******kers". If you don't see this as the same category or as just as funny, we have a problem.
This is hypothetical, of course, but it is something to think about: to what extent are jokes about all groups funny? I think they get funnier when allowed for all.
Zeppie2022
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/12/22
#13Avenue Q London example changes
Posted: 4/12/26 at 8:37am
Theatrefan2 said: "Im not sure Gary Coleman matters, at least in the UK. Many, probably the majority, in the audience dont know who he is anyway (both the original production and the new one). So just knowing hes a former child star is enough for the jokes to land."
It still IMO be better if they could find a former UK child star to make fun of than Gary Coleman.
Tag
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/19/05
DaveyG
Broadway Star Joined: 8/11/05
#15Avenue Q London example changes
Posted: 4/12/26 at 11:03am
Tag said: "Are Lopez & Marx involved?"
Is Whitty?
Theatrefan2
Stand-by Joined: 3/27/22
#16Avenue Q London example changes
Posted: 4/12/26 at 11:44am
Zeppie2022 said: "Theatrefan2 said: "Im not sure Gary Coleman matters, at least in the UK. Many, probably the majority, in the audience dont know who he is anyway (both the original production and the new one). So just knowing hes a former child star is enough for the jokes to land."
It still IMO be better if they could find a former UK child star to make fun of than Gary Coleman.
"
Struggling to think of any we have had, especially one so widely known that everyone across generations would know, and would be any different to having Gary Coleman. And the ones we have had that are known have either had sad lives that wouldn't be appropriate to make jokes from, or (like the HP) kids have had successful lives that also wouldn't work.
#17Avenue Q London example changes
Posted: 4/12/26 at 12:12pm
The Zac Efron improv story is hilarious, but would it have worked with the song everyone’s a little bit racist? Also, I think the aesthetics, personality of character, score and story really are served well by the character being a black American and having a female actor. Some of the singing was absolutely gorgeous in this production. I struggle to think of a viable alternative that would work better.
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