Avenue Q (2024 film)

Avenue Q is a 2024 American musical comedy film directed by Jason Moore and written by Jeff Whitty based on the 2003 Broadway musical of the same name by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx. The film stars Bobby Moynihan, Ne-Yo, and Margaret Cho as Brian, Gary Coleman, and Christmas Eve, respectively. The main cast of puppets are performed by John Tartaglia, Stephanie D'Abruzzo (reprising their Broadway roles as Princeton and Kate Monster), Kevin Clash (as Nicky), Noel MacNeal (as Trekkie Monster), Leslie Carrara-Rudolph (as Lucy the Slut), and Karen Prell (as one of the Bad Idea Bears). It also features voice performances by Brian Henson as Rod, Dave Goelz as the other Bad Idea Bear, Louise Gold as Mrs. Thistletwat, Bill Barretta as Ricky, and Steve Whitmire, in his first performing role since his departure from The Muppets Studio in 2016, as a newspaper salesman. Other characters are performed by David Rudman, Martin P. Robinson, and Joey Mazzarino.
Like the musical, the film centers around Princeton, a puppet character with big dreams and a tiny bank account, who is trying to figure out what is his purpose in life. He moves into a shabby apartment on Avenue Q and hooks up with many of its residents, including aspiring teacher Kate Monster, homosexual investment banker Rod and his roommate Nicky, broke and unemployed Brian, Japanese therapist Christmas Eve, washed-up former child star turned superintendent Gary Coleman, and Internet pornography-addicted Trekkie Monster. Throughout the film, the cast has to deal with the hardships of real life, and briefly wish to return to a time when everything in life wasn't so difficult, but eventually accept their hard lives, knowing that everything in life, good or bad, is only "for now."
Also like the musical, the film touches on such adult themes as racism (mainly, that everyone is racist to some extent), homosexuality (Nicky tries to assure Rod he wouldn't care if Rod was gay), Internet pornography (as Trekkie points out, lots of people watch it), schadenfreude (Gary points out to Nicky that lots of people show it), the hardships of relationships (Kate stresses over not having a boyfriend and struggles to maintain one with Princeton, Rod and Nicky can't get along as roommates) and employment (Brian is laid off and penniless, Kate struggles to open a new school for monsters), and the consequences of actively trying to seek out your life's purpose (Princeton ends up feeling more miserable the longer he searches). One minor difference is the alteration of some dialogue to fit the story's medium (Princeton suggests his purpose in life is to put everything he's learned into a movie rather than a musical, and the whole cast sings, "This film is only for now!" during the final number).
The puppets for the film were designed by Ed Eyth (based on original Broadway designs by Rick Lyon) and built by Jim Henson's Creature Shop in New York (which also builds the Sesame Street Muppets), which also built over 90 new puppets exclusive to the film, all of whom appear throughout the film as extras (as everything from cabaret patrons to neighbors to wedding attendees to college students to hospital staff and patients). To perform each puppet (and to provide assistance for the lead performers), the film's puppeteers hired Jennifer Barnhart, Peter Linz, and around 50 of their fellow puppeteers from the Jim Henson Company and Sesame Workshop to help perform the characters. Avenue Q was dedicated in memory to the real Gary Coleman, who died in 2010 and was supposed to play himself in the original musical; in his dedication, he's referred to as "A great friend of Avenue Q."
The film was released in the United States by Universal Pictures on November 25, 2024 (with Columbia Pictures handling international distribution). It garnered generally positive reviews (praising the direction, acting, music, and puppetry) but bombed at the box office, earning $70 million worldwide on a $40 million budget.
==Plot==
The film opens with an extended version of the Avenue Q theme song as the camera moves down a suburban New York neighborhood, passing by apartments, parks, and busy streets, until it reaches a large university. An orange-skinned puppet character named Princeton, wearing a navy blue graduate hat and gown, walks in holding a scroll containing his B.A. English degree, which he believes is of no use to him ("What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?"), but still feels he can change the world for the better.
The scene changes to the titular avenue, where its residents explain their dilemmas through song ("It Sucks to Be Me"); Brian, a 32-year-old wannabe late night comic, just got fired by Starbucks and is now left with no job or money; Kate, a monster who aspires to be a kindergarten teacher, can't seem to find a boyfriend in spite of her lovable personality; Rod and Nicky, two puppets who became best friends the day they met, prove to be terrible roommates, with Rod annoyed by Nicky's laziness and Nicky frustrated with Rod being such a hot-headed neat freak; and Christmas Eve, a Japanese therapist, can't find a client or make money. Princeton arrives on the avenue looking for a place to live; everywhere he's checked thus far is outside his price range. Brian suggests talking to the superintendent: former child actor Gary Coleman himself, who explains that ever since his "folks" stole his earnings and his stardom went down the toilet, he moved to Avenue Q as their landlord. Despite their problems, everyone is strangely happy, knowing that everyone else's lives suck, too.
In Rod and Nicky's apartment, Rod prepares to read his favorite book, Motion Pictures of the 1940s', until Nicky barges in, ecstatic about a man he met on the subway, who believed Nicky was gay. When Rod tries to quickly change the subject to what Nicky had for lunch, Nicky starts to think that Rod may be getting defensive about being gay himself, and tells Rod ("If You Were Gay") that if he were, he wouldn't mind it at all. Rod, of course, tries to argue that he's not gay. Outside the apartment, Princeton reveals that he's looking for his purpose in life ("Purpose"). When he finds a penny minted the year he was born, he takes it as a sign. During the song, Princeton gets backup from his six moving boxes. He then bumps into Kate, who reveals her dream of opening a school for little monsters. She is offended when Princeton implies that she and Trekkie Monster, the avenue's resident social outsider, are somehow related just because they're monsters, finding such a question racist. She quickly proves herself to not be above this, however, as she claims to not want non-monsters like Princeton to go there ("Everybody's a Little Racist"). Gary, Brian and Christmas Eve also prove themselves racist to an extent, as for example, Gary tells jokes about "stupid" Polacks, and Brian calls Christmas Eve an "Oriental wife".
After receiving a check for $13 in the mail, Princeton encounters the Bad Idea Bears, who try to convince him to waste the money on beer. He initially refuses, but then sees minimal harm in the beverage, much to the Bears' joy. Meanwhile, Kate gets a call from Principal Lavinia Thistletwat, who tells her she can teach a class tomorrow, and she can even choose the subject. An excited Kate decides to teach the virtues of the Internet. That is, until Trekkie appears to tell Kate that the Internet is really all about the porn ("The Internet is for Porn"). A disgusted Kate labels Trekkie a pervert, believing that no normal person would enjoy sitting at home and watching porn on the Internet. In turn, Trekkie reveals that the "normal" people on the avenue (Brian, Gary, Rod, even Princeton) look at Internet porn as well. Kate tries to argue that they all use the Internet for other reasons; Rod trades stocks online, Brian shops on Amazon.com, Gary keeps selling his stuff on eBay, and Princeton sent Kate a "sweet" online birthday card, to which they all agree. Trekkie, however, asks Kate what she thinks they did after, to which Princeton gleefully reveals his guilty pleasure. A further demoralized Kate marches off.
==Cast==
Bobby Moynihan as Brian
Ne-Yo as Gary Coleman
Margaret Cho as Christmas Eve
John Tartaglia as Princeton and Lavinia Thistletwat (puppetry)
Stephanie D'Abruzzo as Kate Monster, Newspaper Salesman (puppetry), and Box
Brian Henson as Rod (voice)
Kevin Clash as Nicky, Blue Bad Idea Bear (puppetry), and Box
Noel MacNeal as Trekkie Monster, Ricky (puppetry), and Box
Leslie Carrara-Rudolph as Lucy the Slut, Rose the Redbird, and Box
Dave Goelz as Blue Bad Idea Bear (voice)
Karen Prell as Yellow Bad Idea Bear, Belle the Bluebird, and Box
Louise Gold as Lavinia Thistletwat (voice)
Bill Barretta as Ricky (voice)
David Rudman as Rod (puppetry), Newcomer, and Box
Steve Whitmire as Newspaper Salesman (voice)
Martin P. Robinson as College Teacher
Joseph Mazzarino as Hospital Doctor
Puppet Captain: Rick Lyon
Assistant Puppet Captain: Jason Jacoby
2nd Assistant Puppet Captain: Ben Durocher
Additional PuppeteersLatoryah Alexander, Christian Anderson, Pam Arciero, Heather Asch, Connor Asher, Billy Barkhurst, Jennifer Barnhart, Jake Bazel, Tau Bennett, Josh Bernaski, Carol Binion, Ron Binion, Dave Bizzaro, Darren Bluestone, Marcelo R. Bottaro, Lindsey "Z." Briggs, Matt Brooks, Lisa Buckley, Tyler Bunch, Mel Campbell, Andrew Cano, Raymond Carr, Frank Cesario, John Cody, Jimmica Collins, Frankie Cordero, Austin Michael Costello, Elizabeth Cowperthwaite, Melissa Creighton, Emilie Danno, Ryan Dillon, Kristina Dizon, Jamie Donmoyer, Vicki Kenderes Eibner, Jodi Eichelberger, Emmanuel Elpenord, David Matthew Feldman, David Fino, Bradley Freeman Jr., Mark Gale, Aymee Garcia, Cam Garrity, Noah Ginex, James Godwin, B.J. Guyer, Zachary Haumesser, Chris Thomas Hayes, Andy Hayward, Patrick Daniel Holmes, Cedwan Hooks, Eric Jacobson, Haley Jenkins, Avery Lee Jones, James Kemp, John Kennedy, Kathleen Kim, Adam Kreutinger, James Kroupa, Matt Krygier, Tim Lagasse, Michael Latini, Peter Linz, Weston Long, Spencer Lott, Kaitlyn Lunardi, Lara MacLean, Amanda Maddock, Jim Martin, Ed May, Paul McGinnis, Tracie Mick, Kirsty Moon, Alison Mork, Carmen Osbahr, Anney Fresh Ozar, Chris Palmieri, Annie Peterle, Marc Petrosino, Sebastiano Ricci, Blake Rushing, Ben Schrader, Michael Schupbach, Yinan Shentu, Carole Simms D'Agostino, Brandon Smith, Andy Stone, Alice Dinnean-Vernon, Matt Vogel, Hannah Wilson, James Wojtal, Eric Wright (Uncredited: Colleen Smith)
==Credits==
Dedicated toGary Coleman1968-2010A great friend of Avenue Q.
Directed by Jason Moore
Written by Jeff Whitty and Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx
Produced by Robyn Goodman, Kevin McCollum, Jeffrey Seller
Executive Producer: Lisa Henson
Based on the musical of the same name by Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx
:Produced as an off-Broadway production by the Vineyard Theatre and The New Group
Director of Photography: Charles Minsky
Production Designer: David Gallo
Art Director: Eve Stewart
Choreographer: Ken Roberson
Puppets for the film designed by Edward Eyth and built by Jim Henson's Creature Shop, New York
Puppets for the musical designed by Rick Lyon
"Avenue Q" set designed for the show by Anna Louizos
Edited by Steven Weisberg
Original Score by John Debney
Music and lyrics from the show written by Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx
Music for the show directed by Gary Adler and supervised by Stephen Oremus
Costume Designers: Mirena Rada and Polly Smith
Casting by Pat McCorkle
Puppet Design Supervisor: Rick Lyon
Puppet Workshop: Edward G. Christie (Puppet Supervisor, NY), Melissa Creighton (Jim Henson Company Supervisor), Jane A. Gootnick (Puppet Supervisor, L.A.), Scott Johnson (Creature Shop Supervisor, LA), Rollie Krewson (Workshop Supervisor, NY), Peter MacKennan (Workshop Supervisor, L.A.), Constance Peterson (NY Workshop General Manager), Jason Weber (Creature Shop Supervisor, NY), Paul Hartis, James Kroupa, Lara MacLean, Tom Newby, Polly Smith, Paul Andrejco, Heather Asch, Carol Binion, Ron Binion, Dave Bizzaro, Mary Brehmer, Jamie Bressler, Matt Brennan, Matt Brooks, Michael Bush, Ceili Clemens, Andrea Detwiler, Isabelle Dufour, Ben Durocher, Richard Dyar, Victoria Ellis, Henri Ewaskio, Rob Gardner, Vanessa Gifford Gillis, James Godwin, B.J. Guyer, Elizabeth Hara, Deborah Hertzberg, Michelle Hickey, Joshua Holden, Ann Marie Holdgruen, Cedwan Hooks, J. Douglas James, James Kemp, Adam Kreutinger, Tim Lagasse, Sara Lafferty, Kari Love, Spencer Lott, Amanda Maddock, Laura Manns, Cathy McCullough, Tom McLaughlin, Casey Miller, John Orberg, Anney Fresh Ozar, Jane Pien, Ken Rainey, Stephen Rotondaro, Kate Rusek, Sierra Schoening, Michael Schupbach, Carole Simms D'Agostino, Erin Slattery Black, Keely Snook, Muriel Stockdale Grabe, Mari Tobita, David Parkinson Valentine, Stacey Weingarten, James Wojtal
Category:Avenue Q
Category:2021 films
Category:Musical films
Category:Musical comedy films