Avenue Q (Film Adaptation)

Avenue Q is a 2023 adult musical comedy film featuring puppets and human actors based on the 2003 Broadway musical of the same name.

Synopsis
Recent college grad Princeton moves into a shabby New York apartment all the way out on Avenue Q. He soon discovers that, although the residents seem nice, it's clear that this is not your ordinary neighborhood. Together, Princeton and his new-found friends struggle to find jobs, dates and their ever-elusive purpose in life.

Plot
Princeton, a recent college graduate, is anxious to discover his purpose in life; but first, he must find an apartment and a job, with no work experience and an English degree ("What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?"). Beginning his search on Avenue A, he finally finds an affordable apartment on Avenue Q. His new neighbors are Kate Monster, a kindergarten assistant teacher who longs for a boyfriend; Rod, an obsessively neat Republican investment banker; Nicky, Rod's slacker roommate; Brian, an aspiring comedian recently laid off from his catering job; Christmas Eve, Brian's Japanese fiancée and a therapist with no clients; Trekkie Monster, a surly recluse who surfs the Internet all day in search of porn; and Gary Coleman, the building superintendent. Debates ensue over whose life sucks the most ("It Sucks to Be Me"), and they conclude that it is Coleman's.

Nicky, who is straight, suspects that Rod is gay, and assures Rod it is okay with him if he is; but Rod insists otherwise ("If You Were Gay"). Princeton finds a lucky penny and longs to discover his purpose in life ("Purpose"). Kate dreams of starting a "Monstersori" school for young "people of fur". Princeton innocently asks Kate if she and Trekkie are related, since they are both monsters, but Kate angrily pronounces his assumption racist. Princeton, taken aback, counters that Kate's Monstersori School would discriminate against non-monsters. All agree that racism is an adult reality ("Everyone's a Little Bit Racist").

Princeton receives money from his parents. The Bad Idea Bears, two charming troublemakers, convince him to spend it on beer. Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Thistletwat assigns Kate to teach the next morning's kindergarten class, her first solo teaching opportunity. She decides that her lesson will be about the Internet and all its educational attributes, but Trekkie Monster and the neighbors explain another reality of adulthood: many adults, even "normal people", use it to find pornography ("The Internet is for Porn").

Kate begins thinking that she may love Princeton, and after concluding that she does, she wonders if he loves her back. Sure enough, he invites her on a date to the Around the Clock Café. Brian, the café's MC, does his raunchy stand-up act ("I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today") before introducing skanky chanteuse Lucy the Slut, who wows the guys, especially Princeton, with a seductive cabaret number ("Special"). The Bad Idea Bears suggest that Kate and Princeton order some "harmless" Long Island Iced Teas, and once Kate is totally inebriated, Princeton takes her home to bed.

Kate and Princeton have enthusiastic, high-decibel sex. Gary fields angry calls from other tenants but refuses to intercede ("You Can Be as Loud as the Hell You Want When You're Makin' Love"). Meanwhile, Rod hears Nicky say, "I love you, Rod," in his sleep, and is jubilant, but he eventually realizes he was dreaming. Kate and Princeton profess their mutual love, and he gives her his lucky penny ("Fantasies Come True"). The next morning, a hung-over Kate oversleeps and misses her teaching assignment. Mrs. Thistletwat berates her, and Kate angrily quits her job before she can be fired. Christmas Eve decides unilaterally that it is time she and Brian were married. At the wedding, Nicky blurts out his suspicion that Rod is gay. Rod, furious, insists he has a girlfriend named Alberta in Vancouver ("My Girlfriend Who Lives in Canada") and tells Nicky he is no longer welcome in their apartment.

When Kate catches Christmas Eve's wedding bouquet, Princeton panics, confesses his fear of commitment, and asks Kate if they can just be friends. Kate retorts that she already has many friends, and ends their relationship ("There's a Fine, Fine Line").

A despondent Princeton has been holed up in his apartment after breaking up with Kate, but the neighbors coax him outside ("There is Life Outside Your Apartment"). Lucy, looking for a place to crash, seduces the rebounding Princeton. Kate is angry, but Christmas Eve explains that it means she is in love with him ("The More You Ruv Someone"). Kate writes a note to Princeton suggesting that they rendezvous at the Empire State Building and leaves it with Lucy, who promptly destroys it.

On the Empire State Building's viewing platform, Kate, thinking that Princeton has stood her up, throws his lucky penny away. A hundred stories below, Lucy, walking by on Fifth Avenue, is knocked unconscious by the penny. Kate and Princeton unsuccessfully try to work out their problems over Lucy's comatose body. Rod is too proud to accept Nicky's repeated apologies, despite clearly missing him, and tearfully consults Christmas Eve. Princeton, Kate, and Nicky dream of returning to happier times ("I Wish I Could Go Back to College").

Princeton gives a homeless panhandling Nicky a quarter, and marvels at how fantastic he feels. Since thinking only about himself has gotten him nowhere, he decides to raise money to build Kate's Monstersori School. He, along with the rest of the cast, go all around the street and solicit people for their money, but results are disappointing. Then Trekkie Monster, recalling his own traumatic school experiences, donates ten million dollars – and explains to the astonished cast, "In volatile market, only stable investment is porn!" ("The Money Song").

Kate joyfully opens her new school. Brian lands a consulting job, and Christmas Eve finally has a paying client (Rod), so the newlyweds move to a better neighborhood (Avenue P). Rod finally comes out, unsurprisingly, and takes Nicky back in. Nicky finds Rod a boyfriend – Ricky, a muscle-bound hunk who otherwise looks and sounds exactly like Nicky. The Bad Idea Bears discover Scientology. Lucy, having recovered from her head injury, becomes a born-again Christian and takes a vow of chastity. Gary, off-screen, dies of a hemorrhagic stroke. Kate and Princeton agree to give their relationship another go ("There's a Fine, Fine Line (Reprise)").

Princeton begins to recall everything that's happened since he moved in, and has an epiphany: he concludes that his purpose may be to put everything he has learned into a movie. Everybody immediately ridicules him, however. The cast reminds Princeton that, in the real world, many people never find their purpose, but life goes on, and everything, both good and bad, is "only for now." ("For Now").

After the credits, a message states that "Avenue Q was brought to you by the letters F and U, and the number 69".

Cast

 * Tartaglia''' as Princeton and Rod
 * D'Abruzzo''' as Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut
 * Lyon''' as Nicky, Trekkie Monster, Bad Idea Bear 1 and Ricky
 * Levi''' as Brian
 * Cho''' as Christmas Eve
 * as Gary Coleman
 * Barnhart''' as Bad Idea Bear 2 and Mrs. Lavinia Thistletwat

Production
TBA

Soundtrack

 * 1) The Avenue Q Theme
 * 2) What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?
 * 3) It Sucks to Be Me
 * 4) If You Were Gay
 * 5) Purpose
 * 6) Everyone's a Little Bit Racist
 * 7) The Internet Is for Porn
 * 8) I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today
 * 9) Special
 * 10) You Can Be as Loud as the Hell You Want (When You're Makin' Love)
 * 11) Fantasies Come True
 * 12) My Girlfriend, Who Lives in Canada
 * 13) There's a Fine, Fine Line
 * 14) There Is Life Outside Your Apartment
 * 15) The More You Ruv Someone
 * 16) I Wish I Could Go Back to College
 * 17) The Money Song
 * 18) There's a Fine, Fine Line (Reprise)
 * 19) For Now

Trivia

 * Unlike most versions of the show, the film actually hides the puppeteers playing the puppet characters.
 * The film version cuts out the songs Mixtape and Schadenfreude. However, Schadenfreude does play during the credits, and Mixtape is kept as background music when Kate thinks about her and Princeton.
 * The original musical ends with Princeton deciding that his purpose may be to put everything he has learned into a Broadway musical after seeing a new college graduate move into Avenue Q, only for everybody to shut his idea down flat. However, in the movie, the newcomer is cut out entirely and Princeton instead decides to create a movie after recapping the events of the film to the audience.

[[Category:R]]