By Jennifer R Jones | Posted on September 14, 2009 1:13 AM
Avenue Q Fans Can Rejoice As The Beloved Puppet Musical Isn't Bidding Farewell To New York City Just Yet, Following Its Closing Performance At The John Golden Theatre On Broadway
Broadway Sensation Moves to Off-Broadway
It appears that we may have eulogized Avenue Q too soon. At the closing performance at the John Golden Theatre on September 13, the show's producers announced that though the beloved puppet musical may be leaving Broadway, it won't be leaving New York City. The show will re-open on October 9 at the Off-Broadway theater complex New World Stages. So Avenue Q fans need only walk five blocks north to see their favorite Sesame Street-inspired satirical musical now. This kind of move, taking a show from Broadway to Off-Broadway, is highly unusual, but actually makes a lot of sense for this particular show.
Avenue Q already proved that it can do well Off-Broadway with its pre-Broadway Vineyard Theatre run, and even the long-running Broadway production never completely ran out of steam - the show still has many fans and still draws a fair number of tourists. Moving Avenue Q to a smaller Off-Broadway space, which will be easier to fill and likely has far cheaper rent, could be a very smart, innovative move. It will be interesting to see if any other smaller Broadway shows might try the same strategy in the future. Casting for the Off-Broadway production has not been announced yet, but tickets are already on sale.
