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Avenue Q Musical

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Avenue Q is a puppet musical with a big difference showing both on Broadway and London’s West End in the Noel Coward Theatre. Avenue Q first opened on Broadway on July 31st 2003 and is still running today.

Avenue Q Style

Avenue Q is a mixture of the children’s educational and awareness TV show Sesame Street and the Muppets but with adult themes such as risqué songs about racism, internet porn and stores of the difficulties of everyday life - what a combination.

Originally conceived by Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez who wrote the music and lyrics, the Avenue Q concept was based upon a book by Jeff Whitty. The characters are puppets and were born out of similar style puppets and parodies from the puppets which became household names on Sesame Street and the Muppets. Several characters such as Rod and Nicky are adult versions of Bert & Ernie from Sesame Street whilst Trekkie Monster seems to be based upon the Cookie Monster. The Avenue Q puppets were designed and constructed by one of the original cast members Rick Lyon.

Many of the songs on Avenue Q are in a similar style to those associated on Sesame Street but with adult content. Because of this adult content and ‘full puppet nudity’ the musical disclaims any such connection with the children’s television shows.

Awards for Avenue Q

Avenue Q opened on Broadway where it won that summer season’s Lucille Lortel Award for the Best and Most Innovative Musical of the Year and defeated much larger budget productions including ‘Wicked’. It also won the Tony Award for Best Musical as well as the Tony Award for best Book of a Musical.

Connections and Production

The adult themes and content of Avenue Q seem contradictory with such lovable looking puppets and the rather graphic simulated sex scenes between nude puppets disconnect any association with the Children’s Television Workshop or the Jim Henson Puppet Company the originators of the Muppets and Sesame Street puppets. The only remote connection to Avenue Q being that both Mark and Lyon used to work for Sesame Street as did some of the other puppeteers from the original cast from the show.

An interview with Jeff Marx with The Times newspaper he claims that they had invited Jim Henson’s widow and her children along to early previews of the show in an attempt to reassure them and to show them that Avenue Q was in fact a humorous attempt to pay homage to Jim Henson’s puppet genius but with more adult themes and more day to day life reality of every day living. No comments were made on whether the Henson family even attended or agreed with Marx’s feelings about Avenue Q.

The London production opened in at the Noel Coward Theatre in the West End on June 28th 2006 and is still enjoying packed houses. See above for Avenue Q Theatre Tickets. International productions are scheduled firstly in Scandinavia with the Swedish production scheduled to open on the 9th of February 2007 and a production in Finland on the 27th of February 2007.

Avenue Q was directed by Jason Moore with choreography by Ken Robinson.

Avenue Q Comparisons to Sesame Street

Sesame Street was never this funny, but then Sesame Street was created for children under puberty age and more in tune with 5 to 8 yr olds. Avenue Q on the other hand is sharp witted and features very risqué songs and is a coming of age tale of a college graduate with big dreams that drive him to go to New York to seek his fame and fortune. This musical is unlike any other you will ever see and is both funny and shares realism of the problems of achievement and could easily be about your life only much funnier. Don’t miss Avenue Q. It’s a puppet musical with attitude and humour.

Avenue Q Shows

Running time - 2 hours and 15 minutes

The Adult themes and content of Avenue Q may be inappropriate for children 12 years and definitely not recommended for children 10 or under. Whilst Avenue Q employs puppets to tell the story it is not suitable for young children.

Avenue Q
Avenue Q - Information

Showing @ Noel Coward (formerly the Albery Theatre)

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