Avenue Q is a hilarious musical comedy with music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx. The play charts the journey of puppet protagonist Princeton who leaves the comfort and security of family and college life in pursuit of a ‘higher purpose’ in New York City.
As children we are made to believe that we are ‘special’ and the possibilities are endless. But as we enter adulthood, we are struck by the reality of being an ordinary human in a world of limited options; a realization hard to swallow. Avenue Q addresses and satirizes the various issues and anxieties one goes through while entering practical life.
The show started off as a television series and was adapted into a theatrical production in 2002. Its Off-Broadway premiere took place in March, 2003, shortly after which it opened on Broadway in July, 2003. As a Broadway production, Avenue Q was a major success and bagged three prestigious Tony Awards.
Avenue Q tickets for the Off-Broadway run at the New World Stages are available here. Get yours before they run out.
Off-Broadway Musical Production Information
| Director | Producer | Composer/Lyricist | Writer | Choreographer | Set Designer | Jason Moore | Jeff Whitty | Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx | Rick Lyon | Anna Louizos | Mirena Rada |
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About the Show
Plot- The musical is a story of a bright-eyed English graduate Princeton who comes to New York City to discover his purpose in life. Fresh out of the comforts of student life, he lands into a shabby apartment on Avenue Q. His neighborhood is full of interesting characters like Kate Monster, who works as a kindergarten teaching assistant, an aspiring comedian Brian and his Japanese fiancée and therapist with no clients and Trekkie Monster, a rather impolite character addicted to porn. Princeton meets these and a number of other people and as their journeys unfold we discover that each one of them is struggling in their own ways to find jobs, dates and above all the purpose of life.
Music- Robert Lopez collaborated with Jeff Marx for the music and lyrics of the musical. The musical is divided into two acts. Act I feature fourteen songs, while Act II consists of eleven.
The song ‘What do you do with a B.A in English’ featuring the lead character Princeton very aptly describes his disappointed and frustrated state of mind. One hopes that college life gives a sense of direction and self-sufficiency, but the puppet croons the contrary: I can't pay the bills yet, Cause I have no skills yet; The world is a big scary place.
These and many other numbers in the musical such as ‘I wish I could go back to College,’ ‘There is no life outside your apartment’ and ‘It Sucks to be me’ are in fact songs that the audience will be able to identify with.
Puppets- Avenue Q is loosely based and inspired from Sesame Street. While it has many of the same features (puppets, simple up-beat songs), what distinguishes it from the long-running TV series is that the subjects and theme of the musical is meant for a mature audience.
The musical satirizes attitudes towards poverty, sex, race, pornography, homosexuality and homelessness in ways that may sound insensitive coming from human actors. But puppets somehow can get away with it. This smart use of puppets and their resemblance to Sesame Street is what makes the musical funny, relatable and impactful at the same time.
Performance History
Avenue Q was originally conceived as a TV series. It opened Off-Broadway in March of 2003. The show was co-produced by the Vineyard Theatre and The New Group. In July of the same year it was transferred onto Broadway where it received both critical acclaim and commercial success. With 2,534 shows, Avenue Q ranks as the 24th longest running musical in Broadway history.
The popularity of this Tony Award winning musical led to several other productions of the play around the world. The musical opened in Las Vegas in 2005 at the Wynn Hotel and Casino. A number of new jokes were specially written to cater to the audience in Sin City.
A Cameron Mackintosh produced version of the musical premiered at the Noël Coward Theatre in the West End in 2006. Again, numerous changes were made in the play to make it more appealing for the British audience.
Several national/international tours and productions have adapted this laugh-out-loud musical according to the humor and attitudes of the audience in their respective regions and each one has met a favorable response.
Reviews, Awards & Accolades
Avenue Q has received positive reviews by the critics both in and outside the US. Writing for The New York Times, Ben Brantley called it, “savvy, sassy and eminently likable...breakthrough musical.” The New Yorker called Avenue Q “an ingenious combination of 'The Real World' and Sesame Street.”
The original Broadway production of the musical received a total of six Tony Award nominations, out of which it won in the categories of Best Musical, Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical.
Avenue Q Discount tickets
After a mega successful run, Avenue Q closed on Broadway in September, 2009 and reopened Off-Broadway at the New World Stages the following month. Since then, Avenue Q discount tickets have been selling like hot cakes. Get yours now and watch the delightful puppet musical live with your friends. It is a show each member in the audience will be able to relate to at some stage.
