Avenue Q Uses Puppets to Get the Point Across

Avenue Q in a Nutshell

Avenue Q only ran on Broadway for six years (it’s currently showing in NYC and other cities in off-Broadway venues), a short stint compared to shows like Cats, Phantom of the Opera and The Lion King, yet it’s still regarded as a coming-of-age production and a modern Broadway classic. The musical, penned by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, tackles the issues and anxieties of entering adulthood, and illustrates how difficult it can be to successfully navigate the “real world.” What makes this musical stand out is not only the contemporary and relatable themes of the country’s current economic times, but also the fact that it uses puppets as well as human characters to tell its story. That’s right – puppets!

Avenue Q Tickets

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International Productions

In 2005, Avenue Q began to expand its reaches from the Broadway stage to many other venues around the world. First it premiered at the Wynn Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, where it was performed at a 1,200-seat theater built specifically for the show. A year later it moved to Britain’s Noël Coward Theatre where it ran for 1,179 performances. In 2009, an Australian production of the show opened at the Comedy Theatre in Melbourne and visited Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, and Brisbane, before closing in June 2010. Avenue Q has also been performed on tours throughout the UK and Ireland.

Avenue Q: “The Internet is for…”

Critical Acclaim

Although Avenue Q only premiered in 2003, it quickly became a contemporary classic of the Broadway stage. It’s received national and international praise from the likes of The New York Times, The New Yorker and Entertainment Weekly, and the play’s influence has been likened to that of The King and I and West Side Story. Avenue Q has been described as a combination of television shows The Real World and Sesame Street, and was featured on Entertainment Weekly’s 2010 “best-of” list. In 2004, it was nominated for six Tony Awards and took home three, including one for Best Musical. In 2005, Avenue Q was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.

Avenue Q ran for six years on Broadway with over 2,500 performances, and made it to number 22nd on the list of longest-running Broadway shows. In September of 2009 it closed on Broadway but reopened a month later off-Broadway at New World Stages.