Avenue Q Tickets

By: Music & Lyrics by Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx, with a Book by Jeff Whitty
Director: Jason Moore
Producer: Kevin McCollum, Robyn Goodman, Jeffrey Seller, The Vineyard Theatre and The New Group
Cast list: Matt Dengler (as Princeton & Rod), Veronica J. Kuehn (as Kate Monster & Lucy the Slut), Nicholas Kohn (as Brian), Lacretta (as Gary Coleman), Jason Jacoby (as Nicky, Trekkie Monster, Bear & Others), Grace Choi (as Christmas Eve), and Jamie Glickman (as Mrs T., Bear & Others)
Design: Anna Louizos
Lighting: Howell Binkley
Costume: Mirena Rada
Choreography: Ken Roberson
Sound: Acme
Sound: Partners
Other info: Puppet
Design: by Rick Lyon

“Avenue Q” is a quirky block deep in Manhattan’s outer boroughs, where the rent is cheap and the characters are colorful. Recent college grad Princeton stumbles upon the street during his apartment hunt, determined to find his “purpose” and make a life for himself. The musical is basically “Sesame Street” for adults, imparting important life lessons from the perils of apartment living to the nuances of early relationships to the complications of personal finance.

The off-kilter comedy won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2004; EGOTer Robert Lopez won his first Tony for Best Score, along with lyricist Jeff Marx; and Jeff Whitty won a Tony for Best Book of a Musical. The show closed on Broadway in September 2009, and reopened off-Broadway at New World Stages in October 2009, where it has been playing ever since. Get tickets while you can. After all, everything in life is only for now.

THIS SHOW CONTAINS ADULT THEMES. May be inappropriate for 12 years of age and under. (AVENUE Q does employ puppets, however it is not suitable for young children.) Children under 4 are not permitted in the theatre.

What to watch for

The production features 40 physical puppets, including several copies of the main characters in different costumes. Princeton leads with the most iterations, at seven different puppets. Each puppet costs approximately $10,000.

There are two types of puppets in the production: rod puppets and live-hand puppets. Rod puppets have one or two arms controlled by a rod(s). Two puppeteers operate a live-hand puppet, and each assumes one of the arms.

The money audiences put in the trays that the cast pass around during “The Money Song” is donated to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

There’s a line in the original production in the final song, “For Now,” that said “George Bush is only for now.” The line is currently “Trump is only for now.” Over the years, in various productions, the line has mentioned BP (after the oil spill), Fox News, Justin Bieber, Chick-Fil-A, Glenn Beck, and Prop 8.

The puppeteers never make eye contact with each other. The puppets only look at the other puppets, and the puppeteers look at the puppets too, in order to direct the audience’s attention toward them.