Avenue Posts West End Closing Notices, 30 Oct

The puppet musical, billed as an adult version of Sesame Street, had its West End premiere in June 2006 at the Noel Coward theatre (which is back-door neighbour to Wyndham’s) and moved in June 2009 to the Gielgud Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue, where it made way earlier this year for fellow Broadway import and Cameron Mackintosh production Hair (which earlier this summer posted closing notices for 4 September). It reopened at Wyndham’s on 19 March.

A show spokesperson told Whatsonstage.com that the show has had a great run in London. “It is amazing that it has gone into its fifth year, attracting new – and younger – audiences as well as traditional theatregoers.”

According to a press statement, the show’s puppets have finally decided to call it a day, with Kate Monster commenting: “We’ve had a great time, it’s been a real ball, but I think we’ve all grown up and got our sights set on living in a more up-market part of town. And Trekkie Monster wants to be somewhere with a better broadband connection.”

Originally seen Off-Broadway in 2004, Avenue Q has a score by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, and a book by Jeff Whitty, with puppets conceived and designed by Rick Lyon, musical supervision by Stephen Oremus, and choreography by Ken Roberson. On Broadway, it won three Tony Awards, while amongst its London accolades, it won the Whatsonstage.com Award for Best Ensemble Performance and Best Takeover in a Role for Daniel Boys.

The current cast includes Paul Spicer and Cassidy Janson. Avenue Q is produced in London by Mackintosh, Kevin McCollumn, Robyn Goodman, Jeffrey Seller, Vineyard Theatre and the New Group. No further productions have yet been announced for Wyndham’s.