Avenue Q

Avenue Q is a Broadway musical that included in its original cast several veteran Muppeteers, including John Tartaglia, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Rick Lyon and Jennifer Barnhart. It is a post-modern and Generation X-themed takeoff on Sesame Street.

The show won three Tony Awards in 2004 including the Tony Award for "Best Musical" and received a Grammy award nomination for Best Musical Show Album, and is currently the twenty-fifth longest running show on Broadway.

Ed Christie, the NY Muppet Workshop Manager at the time reports: "After the workshop (pre-Broadway) performances of Avenue Q, the Henson company held a meeting with Jeff Marx and Bobby Lopez and Rick Lyon. The Henson reps tried to get a handle on the intentions of the show and tried to discourage the Avenue Q team from using their "Muppety" designs - so close to the copyrighted designs that they (Henson) had developed over the past 35 years (and Mr. Lyon was exposed to, as he was one of their puppeteers). The Avenue Q group refused to back down - claiming that they were protected under the parody laws (like Saturday Night Live is). Lopez, Marx and Lyon explained that the show would not be successful if the characters did not resemble the characters they were spoofing.  Lawyers for Henson and Sesame Workshop were able to come to an agreement with the Avenue Q group. Rick Lyon built the characters as he wished and Avenue Q made it to Broadway."

The show opened on Broadway in New York City in Summer 2003. In 2005, Avenue Q opened in a larger theater in Las Vegas, Nevada, although its run there has since ended. Another production began in London's West End in June 2006 (with Nigel Plaskitt as "puppet consultant", to teach the cast puppetry ). A Swedish adaptation of the show premiered February 16, 2007, on Maximteatern in Stockholm, as the first non-English version of the show. A Finnish adaptation premiered February 23, 2007.

A slightly less edgy version of the show, meant for use in community theatres, premiered in 2008 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Cheryl Blaylock, a native of Kalamazoo, taught the cast puppetry and was named "Artist-in-Residence"; puppets will be rented from New York for all other school or community productions.

On May 4, 2010, the current cast created a video of them performing Queen's "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions" in a response to the hit "Bohemian Rhapsody" viral video, and includes a brief audio snippet from the performance.

Connections

 * Leo Daignault was an understudy and member of the ensemble during the original Broadway run