The actual actor Gary Coleman died today of a brain hemorrhage, but the character of Gary Coleman lives on. Or at least, might.
Avenue Q, which opened this week at the Winspear Opera House, has a character in it (played by a woman) named Gary Coleman. Thing is, it really is supposed to be THE Gary Coleman. Like, Diff’rent Strokes boy and all. Seems he’s fallen on hard times and is now working as a super at a low-rent apartment house. He even gets to sing a song called “It Sucks to Be Me.”
Boy does it, now that he’s dead. So the question is, how will that affect the performance? I’m attending tonight, so it’ll be worth seeing….
14 Comments
I’m worried. I’ve seen this show before and its hilarious. I’m going tonight too. What are the chances
Note that in the tour cast Gary Coleman is actually played by a guy (although I believe there is a female understudy).
I’m seeing it Sunday night and I had the SAME question pop up in my head too! You’ll be seeing it before me so maybe you can enlighten me after you see it on this blog?
Why not Todd Bridges? Gary probably willed it to him. Plus would cut down on rewrite
I was just sitting in the office asking myself this question, Googled it, clicked the first result and here I am with only four other people willing to admit to the same. Come on, everyone else. You know you want to know.
@ Matthew: I did the exact same thing. Googled it, and here I am. Saw Avenue Q last summer. Have to admit, if I’d seen it on the day Coleman died, I might’ve been a little uncomfortable.
Perhaps they can take a moment and present the show in loving memory of Gary Coleman. Long term… the character might be best off re-written. Perhaps his family will have a say on the character ‘living’ on?
I think you dedicate tonight’s performance to the memory of Gary Coleman and move on with the show as is. Now that he’s dead, I think keeping the character of Gary Colemanadds to the shock value for folks not familar with the show. This could actually work out very well for Avenue Q.
They had an insert in the program dedicating to the show to him and at the end of the show the actor playing him mentioned it and dedicated it.
Some of the jokes the audience went “ooh” instead of laughing. It was a little awkward but not as bad as I thought it could be.
I understand the comments suggesting they re-write and/or remove the character, but frankly, that character is an intergral part of the story. Songs, lyrics, and plotpoints revolve around that character.
Sure, the show pokes fun at Gary Coleman, but it’s all in good fun. I’m sure they’ll dedicate the performance to him and/or acknowledge him in some way. It must be tough on the actor playing him at the moment…
I’m acquainted with the creators of the show from my NYC years. Robert Lopez, understandably inundated today with just this question, said with respect and tact, “I can tell you what Avenue Q is not doing about Gary Coleman’s death — addressing it via social networking sites!.” They’ve always felt blessed that Coleman had good humor about his place in their show.
Unfortunately Avenue Q has to rewrite the Gary Coleman character as someone else. His character just won’t be that funny…its not fun making fun of a dead guy….I mean how many Michael Jackson jokes have you heard lately?
That was my first thought on hearing about his death. I never saw Diff’rent Strokes, but have loved the score to Ave. Q since the cast recording came out, and was so happy when the show won the Tony for best musical. My thought was they should say a few respectful, loving words before the show, and they should definitely keep the character, as written. Apparently they sort of “de-Gary-ized” the show for England, where not many folks knew of Mr. Coleman and his work and story, but I think it’d be a mistake to change to that now. The character was created with affection, and I think it would be a shame to lose him now.
Saw the tour Tuesday night and really enjoyed it, though I was disappointed with Gary C. being played by a man. Also disappointed that Christmas Eve didn’t do the Judy Garland schtick in “The More You Love Someone”. I was glad, though, to see that the ascent of the horrendous Glenn Beck in pop culture created a nearly perfect replacement for “George Bush!” None of the other replacement lyrics I’d read about since George left office had sounded satisfying.
The Gary Coleman character is played by a MALE in the Dallas cast. His name is Nigel Jamaal Clark. At Saturday’s matinee, the character was not changed, however during curtain call, Nigel dedicated the performance to Coleman’s memory. The same was done in New York.
Here’s a New York Times article on how the creators have come to contend with the death of Gary Coleman within their show:
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/nyregion/30aveq.html?hpw