Lessons from Avenue Q!

We went downtown on Sunday night to catch the touring edition of Avenue Q.  Side Note – there must be something to this Kansas City downtown revival – there were at least 3 major events going on during a Sunday night and parking was a challenge.  It was great to see that many people out and about and having fun.

Anyway, we were there to see Avenue Q.  It’s a Tony winning Broadway musical that mixes puppets with live action actors…somewhat similar to Sesame Street – for adults!

It’s a little unusual, especially during the puppet on puppet scenes…but it’s really funny!

From the Broadway website:

AVENUE Q is the story of Princeton, a bright-eyed college grad who comes to New York City with big dreams and a tiny bank account. He soon discovers that the only neighborhood in his price range is Avenue Q; still, the neighbors seem nice. There’s Brian the out-of-work comedian and his therapist fianceé Christmas Eve; Nicky the good-hearted slacker and his roommate Rod — a Republican investment banker who seems to have some sort of secret; an Internet addict called Trekkie Monster; and a very cute kindergarten teaching assistant named Kate. And would you believe the building’s superintendent is Gary Coleman?!? (Yes, that Gary Coleman.) Together, Princeton and his newfound friends struggle to find jobs, dates, and their ever-elusive purpose in life.

There are a lot of life lessons covered in this fairly short show, here are a few that I thought were especially good!

1. The opening song is “What do you do with a BA in English”.  The lead character is a very bright and idealistic young puppet that soon realizes that academics don’t exactly prepare you for the real world.

2. It’s very important to find your purpose…or the purpose of your business.  You will drift, not be productive and generally be unhappy without knowing what your doing or why.

3. Everyone at some point in time really wishes they could go back to when they were in college.

4. When you give something to someone in need, you will feel great about yourself and gain much, much more than you gave.

5. Even though life can be difficult, it’s best not to get too hung up on it, it’s only ‘For Now’ and you can always change it later…!

Great show and I would highly recommend it to anyone that hasn’t seen it.

 Shawn Kinkade   www.aspirekc.com