PREVIEW: Puppets Gone Wild! But love story is real in APT’s ‘Avenue Q’

Whether Princeton and Kate Monster find their happy ending on “Avenue Q” is in the hands of the puppet gods — and the wacky minds who conceived a musical tale definitely not set on the street where the big yellow bird lives.

But there’s a real love story behind the scenes in the Arkansas Public Theatre production opening Sept. 10, and insiders who know about it might just enjoy the play on a whole different level.

[DON'T SEE THE PODCAST ABOVE, CLICK HERE: nwaonline.com/95avenueq/]

“Avenue Q” opened on Broadway in 2003, and in 2004 beat out “Wicked” to win the Tony Awards for Best Musical, Book and Score — one of the biggest upsets in Broadway history, says APT artistic director Ed McClure. Its puppets — all pretty normal-looking “people” except Trekkie Monster — don’t just sing about their ABCs and how to be a good friend; their topics (and song titles) are more … adult … and risque … and probably more realistic: “What do you do with a BA in English?” “It sucks to be me.” “Everyone’s a little bit racist.” And of course, the classic “The internet is for porn.”

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