Avenue Q movie

[Oldies m]

So after the failure of HappyTime Murders ive gotten back into Avenue Q ,I feel we desperately need a movie version. Happytime Murders pissed me off so much, in all it’s everything Avenue Q already done terribly. Plus Avenue Q has kind of fallen out of the public conscious as oddly enough I've met more people that who have herd of Meet Feebles and Wonder Showzen which I consider more obscure ,which is sad as it the best adult puppet show as is both rude and crude but also intelligent and insightful at the sametime.So I strongly feel we need a film adaptation.As much as people of Broadway don't like think,more people watch and know of the film adaption then the theater version.Plus a lot of people could use right now and if done right could be a Box office and critical success. Even be that one musical that people who dislike musicals actually like.

The only thing is the show would be hard to adapted screen as there are so many things to take into consideration like, do you update a lot of the dialogue and characters to make it more relevant,Or keep it in 2003? Do you show the puppeteers on a screen like in the show or not? lots of stuff to questions.

Anyway, how would you do an Avenue Q movie,and do you think it's something that needs or should be made?

I personally would hire Jeff Whitty to write modernized version of the show and get Lopez and Jeff Marx to update some of the lyrics and write mabye one or two new songs that relate to modern issues. I would also do the controversial decision to not show the puppeteers in favour of making it look as much like a episode of Sesame Street lighting,set,and the way it's shot. Also I would maybe even change the Garry Colmen to a more relevant forgotten Child celebrity or make it the Ghost of Gary Coleman(Wich would make him more of a tragic character then he already is . What ever celberiy

Also I would try and find a way to work in "Taer it up,and throw it away", and "Time" back into the story as the amazing songs.And despite having cast Celebrities in all the roles (Expect for Steve Whitmire who I would cast as Nicky as a joke) I would have them have professional Puppeteering trianning from jim henson stiduos(Mabye even ask them to design the puppets)

[LightsOut90]

Happtime Murders no pun intended killed any chance of an Avenue Q movie happening anytime soon

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

If this were to happen, I would really bring it home that Avenue Q is really a Sesame Street for young adults entering the working world and realizing life can be really complicated (though it really is quite simple too). The theme of adulting and teaching lessons on how to function as a competent adult needs to be THE theme of the film version and be the focus. The Broadway show is already like that, but maybe it needs to be hit harder. I would update some of the lessons for 2018 and put in some that are more relevant for the youth today. I mean Princeton talks about being right out of college but they don't even talk about student debt which is the reality for most college grads today. I also don't know if Trekkie Monster's investment in porn would pay out today as it would then. I would also revamp the existing songs in the score a bit both in lyrics and in sound.

[Islander_fan]

To the OP.

Just to give you some context regarding the making of Happy Time Murders, One member of the creative team, And the director was Brian Henson. He’s Jim Henson’s son.

Two branches of the muppets that weren’t sold to Disney are the Sesame Street muppets which were sold to Children’s television workshop ( the ones who make Sesame Street) and a muppet project Brian created called Henson Alternative. Over the years, when filming with Mupptes, the puppeteers would do more adult things with the muppets in between takes. Brian liked that and found it funny. So he created and didn’t sell that to Disney. In fact, he created an adult improv show with various “ensemble” muppets doing adult things called Stuffed and Unstrung. Brian himself even preformed in it. It even had a run for a bit a few years back at the Union Square Theatre. So the movie is in that vein. Whether or not it’s good isn’t not something I can answer since, though I really wanna see it, haven’t gotten a chance to do so yet

[Oldies m]

To be fair,

The show has some brand recognition,and has Robert Lopez attached,who has major ties to Disney,so it is possible  If Robert wanted  to he could maybe convince Disney to do it, and they might say yes as a reward for Frozen and Coco.But when  20th century  Fox merger is finalized of course 

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

See, I think that Avenue Q as a movie wouldn't work for the same reason that The Happytime Murders doesn't: it's a one-joke project with diminishing returns. Hilarious, naughty, and original as they are (in the case of Q) or may have been with more thought (Happytime), put the ideas on screen and it's just a rude Muppet movie, an idea much better executed in a short-form sketch (such as The Chappelle Show's "Knee-high Park" segment) than at feature-length.

Plus, a movie completely kills one of the stage show's most unique, interesting features: you blatantly see the puppeteers and yet, somehow, totally engage with the puppet itself, disregarding (for the most part) the human being performing it. While certainly not the only reason people are seeing it, it's a big part of the show.

That aside, I'll give it this: in an era where movies like Airplane! could simply parody a common genre like disaster flicks, it might have passed muster on screen. But the Scary Movie franchise, and other similar knock-offs, killed that "send up a genre" premise stone dead for today's audience, as far as I'm concerned. Simply being a parody of Sesame Street and other Jim Henson creations may work on stage, but on film now, it's passé.

Could it work on film without feeling forced or odd? Absolutely. But whether it would sell is another question.

[Xman8]

The problem with Happy Time Murders is that it focused on shocking us with puppets doing outrageous things like drugs, sex, and violence. What it failed to do was create a cohesive story that engaged us. I actually fell asleep around the last 15 minutes of the movie. It had to work more on the plot than the puppet action. Meet the Feebles is successful in capturing the adult puppet humor because it didn't shove in our faces the fact that we were watching puppets and made us believe in them as characters. It had potential but Brian needs to try again.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Avenue Q has much more to it than what one post is giving it credit for. It's not just a one-joke concept nor is it simply just a parody of Sesame Street and Jim Henson. I do think it's a little dated now and needs a face lift, but the show was really about something and was truly relatable for people at the time it came out.

[GavestonPS]

I agree with Scotty and would like to add that one of the "oddities" that makes AVENUE Q fun is the specific and graphic focus on real-life issues. So, yes, of course update it. (Yeah!) But be prepared for the film to be out of date again next decade.

More important to me (and I love the show) is the number of songs that reflect what works in the context of the BMI Workshop, where insider jokes about Canadian girlfriends and Gary Coleman work just because they offer novelty in what is a rather incestuous creative environment. (I'm not knocking the Workshop, just acknowledging my experience in presenting work, month after month, to the same small audience.) There's plenty of fat to trim if a movie focuses on universal (at least to young, American adults) issues.

Personally, I LOVE seeing the puppeteers act their roles along with their puppets, but it's an effect that works beautifully in live theater, but not so well on film or video. So I tend to agree with those who want a filmed version where the puppeteers aren't visible.

Maybe AVENUE Q should be a TV special that looks like an episode of SESAME STREET. Since all the networks seem committed to periodic "live" musicals, couldn't AVENUE Q be a perfect choice?

[DeeSand]

I enjoyed Happy Time Murders. I also enjoy the songs and characters from Avenue Q.  However hated the stage performance. Like many of my friends I found the puppeteers' silly expressions too distracting from the puppets. 
I definitely think they need to hide the puppeteers or at least train them them to to upstage the puppets with their exaggerated theatrical expressions.