Navji Dixon

TA 237-001
Timothy Hull
2 MAR 2015

I was recently involved in a production of Avenue Q: The Musical at Eastern

Kentucky University directed by Matt Johnson. Avenue Q is a laugh-out-loud musical
that tells the timeless story of a recent college grad named Princeton who moves
into a shabby New York apartment all the way out on Avenue Q. There, he meets
Kate (the girl next door), Rod (the Republican), Trekkie (the internet sexpert), Lucy
the Slut, and other colorful types who help Princeton finally discover his purpose in
life.
Playing former child star, Gary Coleman, there was a lot of character work
that was required in the [process of building this show. Each character is faced with
the struggle of realizing that life only gets harder as you grow up. Playing an
exaggerated version of Gary Coleman required me to make a lot of angry choices in
what I did on stage. The way I interacted with others was always determined by my
current situation. Its interesting playing a human character when everyone
surrounding you is puppets. Surprisingly, your creative process is challenged more
as you help to bring these characters to life. The character, Rod, is a closeted
homosexual which affected a lot of his character choices on stage. Often times, he
would try to prove his masculinity and deny the fact that he was gay. As stated
previously, many of the main characters were puppets, which required a lot more

process to help bring these inanimate objects to life. Director, Matthew Johnson,
says, As soon as the puppet meets your hand, it must be alive and taking on a
character of its own, even if you arent on stage. Another difficulty when working
with characters was cast members working an arm of a puppet. As a puppet pair
you must constantly be in sync with your partner and how they move and think on
stage.
The theme of the show is that Everything in life is only for now. This central
theme weaves its way through the trials and tribulations of every character living on
Avenue Q, and is addressed in the final musical number, For Now in which the
characters tell the audience, Well accept the things we cannot avoid for now.
Everything in life is only for now. My character, Gary Coleman is the poster child for
life being great as a kid, and it getting progressively worse as you grow up. With my
presence on stage, my character is important for sharing this theme with other
characters, especially Princeton, who is fresh out of college and still learning. At the
end of the show, every character is content with their life and has accepted that not
everything goes your way.
Being a musical, not a moment passed by when a cast member wasnt
singing. However, there were different types of music throughout the show. For
example, every time my character winked, or money was put into a jar, a triangle
was struck backstage to create an effect, and even added in some comedy to the
show. Another element of music was my set of keys I had hooked on to my tool belt.
Any time I would stomp down my metal stairs from my apartment, my keys would
jingle, which would let the audience know I was approaching.

Language was an important element in the show. Especially for the character
of Christmas Eve. Played by UK junior, Beau Mcghee, Christmas Eve is a Japanese
therapist living in New York with a thick foreign accent. The way she uses her
language throughout the script often sets up many jokes and racial nuances to the
show. The character of Nicky was played by EKU senior, Alex Mankin, who made an
interesting choice in the language of his character. Throughout the rehearsal
process, Mankin explored with the voice of Ernie from popular childrens puppet
show, Sesame Street, creating an allusion to the show during our musical and
setting a parody type of tone for the show from his emergence on the stage.
This show is loaded with spectacle. One could even say that the entire show
is spectacle in itself. As soon as the curtains open, the stage is filled with colorful
puppets moving throughout the space. A big part of the spectacle was the two
metal trash cans set in front of my apartment in the set. These trash cans were an
important base for many of my comedic entrances as well as an essential element
to comedic beats as characters slam the lids down after comedic lines.