There was some discussion among the creators of “Avenue Q” as to whether to make a change in their show since the superintendent of the apartment house is purported to be Gary Coleman. Would such a portrayal, which at most could be considered bad taste (as one would expect from a show that proclaims the joys of Internet pørņ), now become something uncomfortable and even distressing?
It turns out…not so much. Although they excised about twenty words of dialogue (for instance, instead of Gary–who, like Peter Pan, another individual who didn’t quite leave childhood behind, is played by a woman–saying that he’s a “former child star,” he now simply says “child star”) his character remains intact and undaunted by mortality. Gary Coleman the man may be gone, but “Gary Coleman,” the unstoppable symbol of soldiering on no matter what life hands you, lives on off-Broadway.
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That was actually one of my first thoughts after hearing that he died: “What does this mean for Avenue Q”? Nice to know that the answer is “nothing.”
While I’d had no idea that “Gary Coleman” was in Avenue Q, it’s nice that they’re leaving him in. Assuming he knew about it (which, in this day and age, is pretty much guaranteed) and approved (I don’t recall hearing anything about him suing the creators or trying to get them to rename the character or anything), I’m thinking he wouldn’t mind the legacy continuing.
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Removing “Gary Coleman” would have been akin to going back through movies and excising the Twin Towers. Maybe made sense for movies that hadn’t been released yet, not so much for something that’s been around for a while now. Releasing a new show with “Gary Coleman” would be in bad taste, keeping him in a current show not so much.
Removing “Gary Coleman” would have been akin to going back through movies and excising the Twin Towers.
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Which, as I recall, did actually happen in some instances. Some television shows, for instance, reedited syndicated versions of already airing programs to remove shots with the Twin Towers. And then there’s the Spider-Man trailer (and scene) that vanished showing a helicopter being hung up between the Towers by a giant spider web.
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Right, but those were works that were still in the process of being created (episode or serial television) or unreleased (the movie), so it was justifiably not only sensitive, but a question of updating. But a single work that’s already been created, IMO, shouldn’t be, unless it’s so dated that it doesn’t work. I don’t think removing Coleman from Avenue Q would’ve been creatively justifiable as with the TV shows or trailer in question. That’s just me. 🙂
I don’t disagree with you, Luigi, but you didn’t pay attention to what I said. I said “reedited syndicated versions.” In other words, they took previously aired episodes that were already in syndication where the Twin Towers were visible and went back and edited them out. They weren’t in the process of being created. They were done and aired multiple times. If I’m recalling correctly (and I don’t guarantee it, but I think I am) one of them was “Taxi,” and that had been out of production for years before 9/11.
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When Sex And The City was syndicated, they removed the towers from the opening credit scenes of the early seasons. I think they may still have been visible in some actual episodes, though. I’m not sure.
They did that to Taxi????? Geez, that’s dumb. What’s next? A nose piercing for the Mona Lisa.
They did that to Taxi????? Geez, that’s dumb. What’s next? A nose piercing for the Mona Lisa.
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Like I said, don’t quote me on it. I know it was done with at least one NY-based sitcom and that’s the name that popped into my mind. It might also have been syndicated repeats of “Friends.”
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I though about it too. I love Avenue Q so much I flew to London just to see it. At one point, spotify and youtube were not enough.
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Coincidentally, a few days prior to Mr.Coleman’s death, I was reading stuff about the show and learned that since Gary Coleman wasnt so well know in some countries, the play there was modified to fill the part with a “generic child star”. But in the Budapest show theyrewrote the part to make it Michael Jackson as the super of the building. He claimed to be forced to work there after beign sued off all his money on molestation lawsuits. After MJackson died, they toned it down a bit and simply said he faked his death to escape debtors.
I suspect that Gary Coleman approved of the character by his name in Avenue Q. The show’s use of his name is largely sympathetic; his life sucks rocks but he’s still cheerful and articulate as can be, and everyone else in the show knows it.
(Also, when I saw Avenue Q in London a few years ago, the dude who played Coleman was probably the best actor in the production. He was hilarious.)
My assumption on seeing the play, was that the original production actually featured Mr Coleman playing ‘himself’. Do I take it this wasn’t actually the case?
According to my original cast CD, the part was originalted by Natalie Venicia Belcon.
Definitely not the case. Although I had always hoped that they would do a movie of “Avenue Q” and Coleman would play himself.
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Obviously not happening.
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I had that same hope. I don’t know if he could sing, though.
According to his “New York Times” obituary, Gary Coleman talked abut suing the producers of the show but never got around to it. Personally, I’d like to believe he thought better of it in the end, but we’ll probably never know.
Gary once said, “I wish there was a lawyer on Earth that would sue them for me,” which seems to imply that the Avenue Q folks must have somehow been able to act without his consent but still enough within the bounds of the law to make any lawsuit legally difficult. He certainly wasn’t amused by it. You can see him talk a little about it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPCOuyGacRs
Well, they WERE within the bounds of the law. Coleman was a public figure, so there’s no privacy invasion. And there was nothing in the portrayal that was remotely slanderous. It’s not as if he were portrayed as a pederast or something; he was a fairly jovial building super, and there’s nothing illegal about that.
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From what I heard of AVENUE Q (haven’t seen the play, listened to the soundtrack numerous times), there’s very little in the character “Gary Coleman” that’s attacking or mocking the real Gary Coleman. There are a few lines about who he is (“What you talkin’ about,” “And Gary, you keep selling your possessions on eBay”) but nothing that’s inherently nasty. Sure he sings “Schadenfreude,” but that could have been sung by any character in the play with the same effect.
I had always hoped that Coleman had gotten some type of compensation for the character in AVENUE Q. They did use his name and likeness, and given Coleman’s financial difficulties (a shame, since in the U.S. he was a household name) it would have been nice for them to pay him a little for using “him” in the play.
I’d never heard of Avenue Q until recently, I’m sad to say. (I don’t pay much attention to Broadway. There’s not much point since I live in the boondocks and never get a chance to see a play, unless it’s at the nearby university.) I did see some Youtube videos with the Internet Is For Pørņ song, but I couldn’t figure out where the song came from. (I didn’t spend a lot of effort trying to track it down.) I think it was about five months ago, that I accidentally stumbled across a Youtube video that actually identified the source.
I’ve since checked out most of the songs on Youtube. It really sounds like a fun show, and I really hope they do a movie some day. Or failing that, show it as a play on PBS.
I really wish I could’ve seen Gary in it, though. Even if he didn’t approve of them using his name, he seems like the sort of guy who might’ve agreed to playing the part in a movie.
I had sent an email out to several people where I wondered about this out loud. I finally saw the road show of AQ in Saint Louis the first Sunday in May, and noticed that, in “For Now” (the last song of the show), they changed the line “George Bush is for now” to “Glenn Beck is for now.” So I thought they’d try something similar.
My line in the email was that Emmanuel Lewis just wouldnt quite fit.
Having seen Avenue Q a couple of times when George Bush was President I wondered how they would handle the line once he was no longer President. Honestly, I was hoping they’d have the guts to continue inserting whoever happened to be President because, whether any individual likes or dislikes the current President (whoever it happens to be at the moment), that person is only “for now” and whoever is next may be someone you like better or someone you like less. Instead they apparently chose to replace “George Bush” with another high profile Republican having two one syllable names. Certainly less likely to challenge or confuse their audience, but kind of cowardly I think.
Well, since the “For now” point is not to discuss the transitory condition of things but specifically of bad things, they get to choose what is a bad but transitory thing. Its their song after all, thus its acceptable for them to channel their own political oppinions.
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In London they sang “Geourge Bush” two years ago (that tells you how widespread the dislike for him was), but after he got out of office they changed it to more local topics like “Gordon Brown” and now the assumed Conservative-liberal entente.
“Well, since the “For now” point is not to discuss the transitory condition of things but specifically of bad things,”
Actually, that’s not true. They also list good things: “sex,” “your hair.” Their point is that everything is temporary, including life.
Just after President Bush left office, the NYC production (can’t remember if it was on or off Broadway at that point) had a contest to suggest things to replace “George Bush” with. They narrowed it down to four choices and tried them all out in performances. I don’t remember all four, but I remember thinking that none were very good. Some of them had too many syllables or the emphasis was in the wrong place and they threw the rhythm off, and some of them just weren’t big enough for the punchline. (One of the finalists that failed on both accounts was “Your mother-in-law.”) I know I heard that shortly after this experiment they decided just to stick with “George Bush” in NYC. I don’t know if the Off-Broadway production has now switched to “Glenn Beck” or if it and the tour are using different versions.
Personally, I’m more interested in whatever they put in there a) fitting the same rhythm as “George Bush” and b) being somebody specific who produces a strong feeling on a national scale than on whether or not I feel the same way about that person as I did about President Bush. “Barack Obama” fits the national figure qualification a lot better than “your mother-in-law,” but the name doesn’t fit the music any better.
I don’t know if I would have picked him specifically as someone who soldiers on despite life’s difficulties (he was reportedly quite angry and bitter much of the time) but I’m glad they aren’t changing things due to the death. Interestingly I went to a theatre Monday and there was a Gary Coleman joke; people gasped slightly but then relaxed again (enough time had passed that no one reacted to the Michael Jackson joke).
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In terms of 9-11 it did seem that for a time the studios wanted to gear things to the most scared person. I don’t mind that the Towers were edited out of one then about-to-air episode of Sex and the City because they were going for a particular mood that at least at the time would have been altered by the scene, but definitely leave older stuff alone. I wish I could recall which movie, but in the commentary for one Troma movie, Lloyd Kaufman says the audience actually cheered when the Towers appeared onscreen, further showing that people didn’t want the Towers erased like they were some great shame.