Quality crude, hilarious, educational fun is guaranteed with Avenue Q. Ever looked back on those terrible moments of your life, and thought, this would have been hilarious if it had not happened to me? If so, this musical is for you. In fact, they devote an entire number to this phenomenon entitled “Schadenfreude,” the German term meaning to find happiness in the misfortune of others. This song is just one the many in Avenue Q that address those socially unacceptable topics that everyone thinks about but never voice. Tuesday November 24 marked the debut of the Off Broadway success, Avenue Q, at Kitchener's Centre in the Square. The show attracted a diverse audience that all left with the same thought, “Well, I may have just violated some childhood memories, but it was worth it.”

In 2003, Avenue Q announced its presence with a bang at the Vineyard Theater by receiving the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding New Musical, and was deemed the best show of 2003 by 13 different critics. Avenue Q is best described as Sesame Street gone wild. Remember those puppets who taught you how to count to five, and spell F-R-O-G? Well now, the curriculum has become a little more advanced, as they teach about internet porn, racism, and homosexuality.

Avenue Q likes to begin their shows weeding out the older audience by inducing heart attacks through the obnoxious blaring of their theme song to signal the start of the show. This “signal” remained a theme throughout the show, reducing the number of the faint-hearted until only those truly young at heart remained. This is just one of many quirks of Avenue Q that makes it annoying and endearing at the same time, much like the Teletubbies.

The show follows Princeton, a fresh graduate looking to launch his life in New York. He ends up on Avenue Q renting a room from Gary Coleman, the has-been child actor who uttered, “What `cho talkin' `bout Willis?” all the way to stardom. As Princeton gets to know his new neighbours, we meet the rest of the quirky cast. There's Christmas Eve, a struggling therapist, and her boyfriend Brian, an unemployed, failing comedian. Also on the block is Rod, a closet investment banker and his roommate/love interest Nicky, a jobless mess. Then, there is Kate Monster, a kindergarten teaching aide who dreams of opening her own school for monsters someday. The reclusive pornography addict Trekkie Monster completes the list of Avenue Q tenants. During Princeton's meet and greet with his new neighbours, he finds out that he's lost his job before he's even started. Princeton is then left without a purpose or an income. We then get to watch Princeton get bitch-slapped by reality, and spiral out of control until the number “There is a Life Outside Your Apartment” is needed to reintroduce him to the life in the Big Apple. Princeton stumbles through life with the help of his new friends and two adorable characters called The Bad Idea Bears, who bestow gems of wisdom upon Princeton during the show. These adorable Care bears promote excessive drinking, one-night stands and suicide — it makes the audience wish they had someone like the Care bears to help guide them when they were lost on life's highway.

The stage was adorned with Avenue Q's rundown, grimy townhouse set. This set provided the versatility that the show needed, from being a bar, the Empire State building, and the casts' homes. The set changes were surprisingly discreet and efficient. Avenue Q utilized the entire stage during their energetic prancing dance numbers.

Avenue Q's main method of transferring knowledge to their audience was done through their racy musical numbers. The numbers were highly relatable, as a sample of the titles were “It Sucks to be Me,” “Everyone's a Little Bit Racist,” and “The Internet is for Porn.” Each song contained catchy lyrics that had the audience humming along, minus the times during which they were shocked into the silence by the content. “The Internet is for Porn” was a prime example because Trekkie Monster's suggestion of, “Grab[ing] our dick and double-click[ing]” elicited a collective gasp, followed by uproarious laughter. Many of the songs were sung in high sing-a-long cadences, reminiscent of a children's program. Think Barney, if Barney was to sing about killing people you really loved, as Christmas Eve did in “The More You Ruv Someone.”

Avenue Q is a must see production that is a beautiful crash of childhood entertainment and hard hitting reality. It challenges the social norms and addresses the truths within the modern lifestyle many choose. So if you're looking slip out of your crippling reality for a few hours, Avenue Q will transport you into theirs…which makes it funny.