By Andrew Gans
22 Jul 2008

Rod prepares to celebrate Avenue Q's fifth birthday.
photo by Carol Rosegg

The Tony Award-winning musical Avenue Q will celebrate its fifth birthday at Broadway's John Golden Theatre July 31.

The puppet-friendly musical recently celebrated another milestone when it played its 2,000th performance on Broadway June 3. The Jeff Marx-Bobby Lopez musical is now the 25th longest-running production in Broadway history, having surpassed the original runs of South Pacific (1,925) and Pippin (1,944).

The Broadway company currently includes Carey Anderson (Kate Monster and Lucy), Christian Anderson (Nicky, Trekkie Monster, Bear and others), Jennifer Barnhart (Mrs. T., Bear and others), Nicholas Kohn (Brian), Carla Renata (Gary Coleman), Ann Sanders (Christmas Eve) and Howie Michael Smith (Princeton and Rod).

Avenue Q features music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, a book by Jeff Whitty and direction by Jason Moore. The musical is produced by Kevin McCollum, Robyn Goodman, Jeffrey Seller, The Vineyard Theatre and The New Group.

Puppets were conceived and designed by original cast member Rick Lyon. The production has musical supervision by Stephen Oremus, choreography by Ken Roberson, scenic design by Anna Louizos, costume design by Mirena Rada, lighting design by Howell Binkley and sound design by Acme Sound Partners.

After an acclaimed Off-Broadway run at the Vineyard Theatre, Avenue Q began previews at the Golden Theatre July 10, 2003, and officially opened July 31. The original cast included Jennifer Barnhart, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Jordan Gelber, Ann Harada, Rick Lyon, John Tartaglia and Natalie Venetian Belcon. The musical won 2004 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical (Jeff Whitty) and Best Original Score (Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx).

For more information visit www.avenueq.com. For tickets call (212) 239-6200 or visit www.telecharge.com.

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