Broadway's Tony Winner Avenue Q Gets A New Christmas Eve for Leave, Oct. 26

By Ernio Hernandez
25 Oct 2004

All about Eves: Ann Harada and Ann Sanders.
All about Eves: Ann Harada and Ann Sanders.

Avenue Q star Ann Harada, whose portrayal of Christmas Eve has delighted Broadway audiences, will leave the Tony Award-winning musical for three months' maternity leave. Understudy Ann Sanders will fill the role until she returns.

The actress is expected to return in early 2005 according to production spokespersons. Sanders — previously seen on Broadway in Beauty and the Beast and on television in "As the World Turns" and "All My Children" — begins in the role Oct. 26.

"I just can't even imagine not being in Avenue Q," Harada (who is having a boy) told Playbill On-Line's Andrew Gans. (To read the full interview, visit the Diva Talk section.)

Sanders will join original cast members Jennifer Barnhart, Natalie Venetia Belcon, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Jordan Gelber, Rick Lyon and John Tartaglia.

Avenue Q sends up popular children's television shows such as "Sesame Street" and "The Electric Company," while serving up a bounty of pop culture references and solving the mystery of the whereabouts of former "Diff'rent Strokes" child star Gary Coleman. The production bears the warning: "Full puppet nudity, not suitable for children."

The show's creators Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx earned a Tony for their score as did bookwriter Jeff Whitty and the musical itself garnered the top Best Musical prize at the 2004 Tony Awards.

Avenue Q plays at the Golden Theatre, 252 West 45 Street. For more information on the show and event, visit www.avenueq.com.