FREEZE FRAME: AVENUE Q Hosts a Town Hall Debate with Clinton & Trump Puppets!

If you're one of those people who feels as though this Presidential election campaign has been a "joke" or "no laughing matter" or somewhere in between, take heart: the long-running, Tony Award-winning musical comedy AVENUE Q (now in its 13th year in NYC) is entering the race, as it were, with the addition of a Hillary Clinton puppet and Donald Trump puppet to its Acting Company of people and puppets.

The CLINTON and TRUMP puppets made their debut in a Town Hall-style debate - a preview to the actual first scheduled debate between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump earlier today, and you can check out a photo preview from the festivities below!

The debate was attended by select members of the public, along with members of the AVENUE Q cast including ROD (the closeted, Republican Wall Street investment banker), LUCY (who bears a striking resemblance to Melania Trump), Trekkie Monster (noted for his savvy money-making schemes on the internet peddling in porn), CHRISTMAS EVE (a Japanese psychotherapist with immigration, language and assimilation issues), and others.

Resident director Jen Bender notes that the storyline in AVENUE Q - about a bunch of 20 somethings in NYC just out of college, trying to find their purpose in life -- itself addresses, in its smart, savvy and hilarious way, issues of concern to voters in the 2016 election: race, unemployment, religion and LGBT matters.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride

The cast of "Avenue Q" Hosts Town Hall With A Debate Between Puppets Hillary Clinton, "I'm with Fur" played by Maggie Lakis & Donald Trump, "Make Puppets Great Again" played by Rob McClure at the New World Stages on September 26, 2016 in New York City.

The cast of "Avenue Q" Hosts Town Hall With A Debate Between Puppets Hillary Clinton, "I'm with Fur" played by Maggie Lakis & Donald Trump, "Make Puppets Great Again" played by Rob McClure at the New World Stages on September 26, 2016 in New York City.

The cast of "Avenue Q" Hosts Town Hall With A Debate Between Puppets Hillary Clinton, "I'm with Fur" played by Maggie Lakis, moderator Nick Kohn, Donald Trump, "Make Puppets Great Again" played by Rob McClure and cast members at the New World Stages on September 26, 2016 in New York City.