‘Avenue Q’ Opens Friday At Conant Performing Arts Center
Leica Wilde, Nick Arapoglou, Spencer Stephens, and Natalie Gray practice a dance number for “Avenue Q.”
BRENNA BEECH / WABE
Raunchy-themed, award-winning, singing puppet-populated Broadway hit “Avenue Q” returns to Horizon Theatre Company for a third time.
“Avenue Q” is filled with puppet nudity, foul language and suggestive material not suitable for children or even teenagers. But, Horizon Theatre Company is also running a limited number of PG-13 rated versions of the show. They did a run of these PG-13 versions at Piedmont Park last week.
WABE spoke with two actors in the show: Nick Arapoglou, who plays the puppet Princeton, and Spencer G. Stephens, who plays Gary Coleman — just as a normal human actor. Oddly enough, Stephens was the only cast member who knew anything about puppeteering before “Avenue Q.”
“Well, the funny thing is I do not operate a puppet, but I am the puppetry coach,” Stephens said. “I am a seasoned puppeteer, residence puppeteer at the Center for Puppetry Arts.”
“Avenue Q,” an adult-themed “Sesame Street” of sorts, includes clever songs addressing political and cultural issues.
As Princeton, Aparapoglou sings “What do you do with a B.A. in English,” which hits home for recent college grads. He said, however, that “Everyone’s a little bit racist” is most of the cast’s favorite song.
“When you look into the audience with people of all different races … you see them all laughing hysterically because they all relate to that song,” he said.
“Avenue Q” opens Friday and goes through July 12 at the Conant Performing Arts Center at Oglethrope University.
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