Avenue Q transfers Off-Broadway from 9 Oct. Cast to be announced

Afer the curtain call of the final Broadway performance of the Tony Award-winning musical Avenue Q on 13 Sep 2009, producer Kevin McCollum made the susrprise announcement that the show is not closing but is instead transferring Off-Broadway.

The musical is to begin performances off-Broadway from from 9 Oct 2009 at the 499 seat New World Stages - Stage 3, where it is selling tickets through to 30 May 2010.

Avenue Q began life at the Off-Broadway Vineyard Theatre in Union Square, where it ran from 20 Mar - 4 May 2003. That run earned the musical the 2003 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical.

Following that success the musical opened at Broadway's John Golden Theatre on 31 Jul 2003, following previews from 11 Jul 2003, and went on to win three 2004 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Score (Lopez and Marx) and Best Book of a Musical (Whitty).

The Broadway production opened to mostly excellent reviews from the popular press: �Eminently likable.� (New York Times);�Has so much to recommend it.� (New Yorker); �Good dirty fun.� (New York Post); �Warmth and wit that will disarm the most jaded grown-ups.� (USA Today); �Hip new musical comedy.� (Time Magazine).

Avenue Q played 2,534 regular performances and 22 previews on Broadway, surpassing 'The Producers,' 'Annie,' 'Oklahoma!' and 'Pippin,' among many others to become the 20th longest running show in Broadway history.

The cast for the final Broadway priduction of Avenue Q starred Jennifer Barnhart (Mrs. T, Bear & Others) and Ann Harada (Christmas Eve), both original cast members, and also featured Christian Anderson (Nicky, Trekkie Monster, Bear and Others), Nicholas Kohn (Brian), Danielle K. Thomas (Gary Coleman), Robert McClure (Princeton, Rod) and Anika Larsen (Kate Monster, Lucy & others).

There has been no announcement about who will star in the Off-Broadway transfer, information is expected to be released soon.

A statement, released by the producers says, "Research indicates that this transfer is unprecedented, marking the first time that a Broadway musical has, indeed, moved to an Off-Broadway theatre."

Avenue Q is about a rundown outer-borough neighbourhood, where the residents - both puppets and humans - deal with everyday New York challenges like getting a job, falling in love and discovering their purpose in life.

McCollum said of the transfer, "Avenue Q is about all of us, so why should it close? People arrive in New York every day hoping to make their dreams come true, so as long as they're here, we're here! It's just one of the funniest, wittiest and wisest musicals ever written and the more you see it, the more you love it."

The off-Broadway run at New World Stages / Stage 3 will be produced by Kevin McCollum, Robyn Goodman, Jeffrey Seller, The Vineyard Theatre and The New Group.

Click here to buy tickets for Avenue Q.