William Blount

Weathervane Playhouse managing artistic director Kevin Connell had a sense of trepidation leading up to the July 27 opening night for AVENUE Q. Written by Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx and Jeff Whitty, AVENUE Q is classified as 'Sesame Street for adults' and is the only show on the Newark theatre's summer calendar to come with a warning label about strong language and adult content. It also may be the only Weathervane production to rhyme the lines 'We'll be fine, thank you! See ya' with 'Hope you don't get gonorrhea.'

The Weathervane Playhouse in Newark has taken a shotgun approach to the musicals it is presenting this summer. The theater company opened its summer season with RENT, the edgy rock musical by Jonathan Larson. Then it staged with THE PAJAMA GAME, a light-hearted musical by Richard Alder and Jerry Ross, as its second musical of the season.

How do you write a song when the chords sound wrong Though they once sounded right and rare? When the notes are sour Where is the power you once had to ignite the air?