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January 01, 2004

Ring in 2004 on "Avenue Q"

Happy New Year! It’s a quarter to nine in the morning on New Year's Day, and I seem to be the only one in the apartment who is awake. I’m not sure why this is, as A) I’m a late sleeper by habit, and B) I got to bed no earlier than three a.m. this morning. Anyhow, I made the wise decision to shower and get dressed before I lost all gumption and spent the rest of the day padding around in my atrocious robe and grimy-haired glory.

Anyhow, in the spirit of the new year and all, I want to take a moment to introduce you to what is going to be your new favorite musical: "Avenue Q". I’m sure you’ll love it, if for no other reason that my own transformation from ignorant bystander to defender of the figurative faith was so quick. I first heard the music for this on the evening of the 30th, when I was at the Redlands Footlighters theater for a production meeting. Yesterday, I ventured down to the local Best Buy to purchase the soundtrack. That might not sound too amazing, but seeing as how I don't remember the last time I actually bought a CD, I was moderately shocked by my own behavior. I played it for some folks yesterday afternoon, three or four of whom are also now intent on buying it. And presently, less than a full 48 hours after my first contact with "Avenue Q," I’m e-proselytizing on its behalf in my journal.

"Avenue Q" is a new show, apparently the hot ticket on Broadway right now, having opened off-Broadway in March and on-Broadway at the end of July. It’s "Sesame Street" meets "South Park," with humans and puppets interacting in a familiar way on…well…unfamiliar topics. The song titles include "If You Were Gay," "Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist," "The Internet Is For Porn," "You Can Be as Loud as the Hell You Want (When You're Makin' Love)" and "Schadenfreude".

Click here to hear the song that first got my attention—"What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?" I don’t technically have permission to post it, but I'm doing it because I'm confident that some of you—many of you, hopefully—will like it enough to then click over to this page of 30-second RealAudio intros of each song, and, liking them in turn, either purchase the CD from the official website, Amazon.com, or your local music retailer. I'm no big fan of paying for music, as the prices of CDs never went down as the technology became ubiquitous and it’s not worth $16 for the one or two good songs on most albums, anyway. That said, though, I was more than happy to shell out my $15 for the "Avenue Q" cast recording. Those guys deserve the 37 cents of it they’ll see after the rapacious record label (aren't they all subsidiaries of BMI now, anyway?) takes its gigantic cut.

Take a listen and let me know what you think!

Posted by patrick at January 1, 2004 11:32 AM

Comments

Posted by: James at January 3, 2004 10:34 PM

Posted by: Jan at July 27, 2004 09:48 AM

Posted by: Kevin at December 8, 2004 08:59 PM

Posted by: Kevin at December 8, 2004 08:59 PM

Posted by: Jake at January 3, 2005 04:50 PM

Posted by: Jake at January 3, 2005 04:50 PM

Posted by: Jeff at January 8, 2005 11:04 PM

Posted by: Melissa at January 9, 2005 09:37 PM

Posted by: Melissa at January 9, 2005 09:37 PM

Posted by: Melissa at January 9, 2005 09:37 PM

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