On Stage Tuesday Night - "Avenue Q"

For those who haven't heard about the Broadway show Avenue Q, which takes the stage at the Keith Albee Performing Arts Center Tuesday night, my pal Dave Lavender has an excellent story which you can read right here in the Herald-Dispatch.


Here's an excerpt:

Joshua Holden was the worst New York City waiter ever.

But boy does the Massachusetts actor play well with puppets.

Fired twice as a waiter within a couple months, Holden was back living with his parents when the trained actor and puppeteer -- who had worked with puppets in London and Chicago -- got the call of a lifetime to join the cast of Avenue Q, one of the coolest puppet shows on the planet.

Holden, who performed with the Chicago Children's Theatre and the Oily Cart in London, is one of a dozen actors/puppeteers criss-crossing the nation bringing alive the smash-hit Broadway musical Avenue Q, which pulls into the Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, as part of the Marshall Artists Series.

Adult tickets are $50, $45 and $40.

Because of some adult situations, like full-puppet nudity and some Simpsons-like humor, Avenue Q may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Called "The most fun on-stage this year," by the New Yorker when Avenue Q opened on Broadway in 2003, the three-time Tony Award-winning play uses actors on stage with the puppets to tell the musical story of Princeton, a poor college graduate with big dreams living in New York City and running into a menagerie of neighborhood characters such as Gary Coleman, the building's superintendent, Brian the out-of-work comedian and his therapist fiancee Christmas Eve and roommate Rod, a Republican investment banker who seems to have some sort of secret.

Written by the then-fledgling composer/lyricist team of Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, Avenue Q has been tabbed as like Sesame Street for grownups with puppets singing straight-talking, sometimes politically incorrect songs such as "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist" and "The Internet's for Porn."

Avenue Q is Broadway’s smash-hit 2004 Tony Award® winner for Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book. A hilarious show full of heart and fun tunes, it's about trying to make it in NYC with big dreams and a tiny bank account.

Called "one of the funniest shows you’re ever likely to see" by Entertainment Weekly, the musical features a cast of people and puppets who tell the story in a smart, risque and downright entertaining way. The New Yorker calls it "subversive and uproarious!"

Highly recommended (but not for kids)!