"What do you do with a B.A. in English?"
This quote is taken from one of the opening numbers of "Avenue Q," a musical that hit the broadway stage in 2003. Written by Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx, and Jeff Whitty, the musical hits home on all of the key elements of transitioning into adulthood. Based off of the children's tv show "Sesame Street," "Avenue Q" teaches college-age and older adults about the difficulties faced by everyone coming of age.
So back to the opening lyric, the quote comes from the number "It Sucks To Be Me," where the cast each tries to outdo each other with who has the worst things happening in their life. Princeton, a "Sesame Street" type puppet, has just graduated college and is trying to find an apartment he can afford. Well, he starts at Avenue A and winds up only able to afford an apartment 17 streets below that. He thinks his life sucks the most because he has a B.A. in English and has no clue what to do with it.
He soon meets Brian, whose life sucks because he is "broke, and unemployed, and turning 33," and Kate, whose life sucks because she can't get a boyfriend. They help him get an apartment in their building by calling out their superintendent, Gary Coleman, whose life sucks because his parents took all of his money he made from filming "Different Strokes." Along the way, we also learn about Rod and Nicky who are roommates with very different tastes, and Brian's fiancee, Christmas Eve, who came from Japan and got two masters degrees in social work but cannot get any clients. Everyone can find a character in this musical who hits home with their own personal struggles.
From here, the musical goes on to discuss sexuality in the number "If You Were Gay," where Nicky tries to get his roommate Rod to be open about his true feelings for him. Nicky wants to make Rod feel comfortable being who he is because he loves him as his close friend. With each passing year, the LGBT community becomes more and more present in our everyday lives, and this number seeks to remind everyone that love and support are the best way to help friends no matter what they're going through.
Next, Princeton comes back into the musical with a rousing number called "Purpose," where he says the things that I know most college age people deal with, "what is my purpose in life? What are we meant to do?" As Princeton says "gotta find my purpose, gotta find me," which I know I am personally trying to do, and I change it more often than anything else. This ties back into the opening number where the characters all give insight into what they think their purpose should be through the things in their lives that suck.
For example, Kate says her life sucks because she doesn't have a boyfriend, well it seems a major part of her purpose in life is to have a partner whom she loves, a noble purpose many of us may feel in our lives. I believe that when you sit down and think about all the things in your life that you wish were better, therein lies what you want your purpose to be.
Another great lesson for today's world also comes up in the number "Everyones A Little Bit Racist." And I would like to clarify, I do not think that the traditional sense in which we classify racism today is the only one mentioned. In the number, each character of several different races, discuss racism from their point of view, and I think that through this number you can see that racism isn't a race wide epidemic, but an individual flaw.
For example, not all "monsters," a race of puppets in "Avenue Q," are racist towards non-"monsters," Kate shows a little racism towards non-"monsters" because she wants to open a "monster"-only school, but that doesn't mean that Trekkie monster, another "monster" in the show, is also this way. It depends on nurture, not nature.
After that highly debated topic, we get into the "romantic comedy" part of the show. Kate really likes Princeton, but she is unable to decipher his feelings, and the same goes from Princeton's side to Kate's. They finally go on a date, and it ends in the "going home" way. I'll leave it to you to listen to the number "You Can Be As Loud As The Hell You Want When You're Making Love" and find the truths in there yourself. Warning, listen to it when you're alone.
But, the number that follows hits home in a way that I think all humans can relate with, this number is called "Fantasies Come Tue." Hey get your mind out of the gutter, these fantasies are the innocent ones we all have when we wish the person we liked felt the same way about us too. Rod and Kate serenade us with their deepest wishes for those that they love to truly love them back. Everything appears to be going well in their romantic lives until they wake up...literally and figuratively.
And, like life, their tender hearts are ripped out by those they love most. Rod discovers that his fantasy of Nicky being in love with him was all a dream, and Kate once again finds herself single. The ballad Kate sings about Princeton by the name of "There's A Fine, Fine Line," balances the difference between "love and a waste of your time." For me personally, this number is the one that really hits home. As Shakespeare wrote "the course of true love never did run smooth," and that is exactly what Kate captures in her pinings for Princeton.
For me personally, the following lyrics are the truest in the entire musical, "I don't have the time to waste on you anymore, I don't think that you even know what you're looking for. For my own sanity, I've gotta close the door and walk away." Recently I was in a relationship where the other person's "purpose" made our relationship impossible because our priorities were different. And man when I belt this song out in the car, that is the most emotional line of the whole show!
Moving away from the depressing for a moment, Gary and Nicky find the light in their difficult situation with "Schadenfreude," a German word for "happiness at the misfortune of others." Many examples of the use of the word are given, such as "straight A students getting B's, exes getting STDs." For more, I highly suggest giving it a listen, it'll make any crappy day better because you'll be glad you aren't the people mentioned in the song.
The climax of the show's meaning I think is shown in "I Wish I Could Go Back To College," a song we can all relate to, whether it be high school, college, or something beyond. This nostalgic number hits home on all of the aspects of our pasts where we felt safe because life was planned out. As an adult, nothing feels planned out anymore. You don't get the job you wanted, you break up with someone you thought you would marry, you move somewhere you never thought you would, and your entire life goes down a path you didn't even know was there.
While it is easy to long for the simplicity of the past, there is so much more to go out there and achieve, as the cast of "Avenue Q" emphasizes in "The Money Song," an uplifting number about helping others and helping yourself.
The real "solution" to the difficulties you face in adult life comes in the finale, "For Now." And this solution is really not one, for "everyone's a little bit unsatisfied, everyone goes round a little empty inside. Take a breath, look around, swallow your pride, for now." This rousing finale fleshes out the things in life that are only "for now," from your hair to discomfort, everything can change in a moment. Because "except for death and paying taxes, everything in life is only for now."
Give this show a listen on youtube, you'll be singing along to "Schadenfreude" before you know it.