Kai Prins makes their MPT debut this summer! They play one of the adorably persuasive Bad Idea Bears, as well as the right hands of Nicky and Trekkie Monster in Avenue Q!

How many MPT shows have you been a part of?

This is my very first time performing with MPT, and if I’m not canceled for the number of obscene hand gestures I have to make during this show, I hope it’s the first of many!

When was the last time you were on stage?

I was so fortunate to get to play both Hedwig and Yitzhak in Stage Q’s production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch earlier this year. Before that, most of my stage time in Madison was on drag and burlesque stages as my drag king alter ego, Will X. Uly (pronounced “Will Actually").

What brought you to the Madison area?

I moved here in 2019 to get my MA/PhD in Communication Arts from UW-Madison. I study Rhetoric, Politics, and Culture with a focus on gender, media, and economics.

What should someone who has never seen Avenue Q know about the show?

This show is very much of its time — it came out during the George W. Bush presidency and pretty closely following 9/11. At the time, we used a lot of in-your-face, often off-color humor to feel our way through a political and cultural landscape that felt like it was getting out of control. I hope that audiences will come to the show expecting to laugh and also to cringe a little — it’s important to acknowledge how far we’ve come and how far we have yet to go in terms of talking about social issues, as well as to be able to laugh at ourselves and give ourselves grace for not always getting it right and being willing to learn.

Why does it suck to be you?

I’m in academia.

Don’t miss Kai onstage in Avenue Q August 4-13! Tickets are on sale now at www.middletonplayers.com/tickets.