Avenue Q was the Broadway theater hit of 2003.It was the play that everyone was talking about and it won the best play of the year Tony award in 2003 also. People flocked to NYC to see Avenue Q and marvel at the truth in comedy told by these Sesame Street-esque characters who tell it like it is.
When I heard about the concept and popularity of this play I was intrigued since I am of the Sesame Street generation born in the 1970′s. I bought the Avenue Q soundtrack on iTunes and thought it was great but I couldn’t see the play itself until now. Avenue Q is finally coming to Chicago for the first time in May 2008.
Maybe it takes years to make puppets or find enough people to master the puppeteer skills. I am not sure why it would take 5 years for this play to come to Chicago finally, but I plan on seeing it when it gets here. The advance ticket sales email arrived in my inbox yesterday and it looks like Avenue Q will be playing at the Cadillac Theater for a very short run in Chicago starting on May 21 and only going until June 7th. More tickets may become available if this test run goes well and sells out. I hope they extend the show beyond that point because it could really be popular in Chicago.
Theater in Chicago always takes a back seat to New York and Broadway, but when we get quality shows on pre-broadway tests like Spamalot and great Tony winning shows like Jersey Boys they can be very popular and profitable. People here have a longer tolerance for seeing the same shows and will go back again and again over the years. Plus it is unique for the midwest and the theaters here draw customers from all the surrounding midwest states. A trip to the big city is still fun for people from Iowa.
I hope Avenue Q will be a big hit in Chicago and stay here for a long time. I think my generation will identify with the themes about finding your way in the real world after college and with work. I think the format and sesame street nostalgic creative style with the puppets and live actors singing in a musical will be appealing also. I don’t know how many people have seen puppets talk about sex, but it’s pretty funny and contemporary at the same time.
So, if you live in Chicago give Avenue Q a try and get some advance tickets now. You can buy Avenue Q tickets for the Chicago Shows at the Cadillac Palace Theater (151 W Randolph in Chicago, IL) online through ticketmaster with the special event code: GARY. Be quick though, because tickets will go on sale to the general public on March 27th. And the ticket prices range from $22.50 to $72.00 each plus the $20.00 or so in ticketmaster fees.
I have an answer as to why it took 5 years for Ave. Q to come to Chicago — it has nothing to do with making puppets/finding cast/etc. The bottom line –and I have this first hand from seeing the NYC production & reading the NYC FAQs about the production — is that they simply did not want to, had no plans for it, and didn’t think it would do well here.
that said, it’s absolutely hilarious, not for kids, and i’m glad it’s finally making its way to my fair city.
I finally saw this last weekend and although it was insightful and funny, I think the gary coleman references are a bit past their funny point. It’s very 2004 especially when the living large lifestyles have begun to crash with the mortgage crisis and so many people in bankruptcy right now. Not many people will identify with the extremes in this show as we are all fighting high gas prices and trying to find ways to save money and hold on to our jobs. The decisions of these characters seem frivolous and stuipid at times, but overall the format works and there are some laughs and full puppet nudity. They are known as the dirty pupets for a reason!