Coleman to Stay on

Creators of the Broadway musical Avenue Q have decided to keep Gary Coleman, the character, as part of the show, even though Coleman, the actor, died Friday, The New York Times reports.

The Tony award-winning musical is based around an apartment building where the character Coleman is superintendent. As the story goes, he took the job after acting jobs dried up and after his parents stole all his money. The Coleman character is introduced in the show's opening number, "It Sucks to Be Me."

Jeff Whitty, the book writer for Avenue Q, said he and other creators gave serious consideration to replacing the Coleman character but instead decided to make small changes throughout the script. "We probably cut 20 words out of 1 million from the show," he said.

At the Friday night curtain call, Danielle K. Thomas, who plays Coleman, gave a tearful speech in honor of the real-life man, referencing the show's opening number by saying, "I just want to say that, for me, it has never sucked to be Gary Coleman."

Read the full Times story here.