Daniel Boys and Rebecca Lock lead a major cast change in Avenue Q on 3 December, as original cast members Julie Atherton, Jon Robyns, Simon Lipkin and Sion Lloyd leave the show.
Boys will play the roles of Princeton and Rod. He was most recently on the London stage in I Love You Because at the Landor and Sweeney Todd at the Royal Festival Hall, which followed Any Dream Will Do, the reality television contest in which Boys competed. His other stage credits include Grease at the Victoria Palace and tours of Rent, Sunset Boulevard and The War Of The Worlds.
Lock, who takes on the roles of Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut, has previously appeared in London understudying the role of Mary Poppins at the Prince Edward, plus Side By Side By Sondheim at the Novello, Martin Guerre at the Prince Edward and Cats at the New London.
Also in the new cast, Christopher Fry replaces Sion Lloyd as Brian and Mark Goldthorp steps into Lipkin’s shoes as Trekkie Monster and Nicky. Mary Doherty (Mrs Thistletwat/ Bad Idea Bear) and Delroy Atkinson (Gary Coleman) continue in their roles, while new casting for Christmas Eve, to replace Jennifer Tanarez, will be announced shortly.
Avenue Q opened at the Noël Coward in June 2006 and was nominated for Best New Musical at the 2007 Laurence Olivier Awards. Using both puppets and actors, the comedy musical follows bright-eyed college graduate Princeton. Ending up on Avenue Q, he meets an assortment of eccentric characters who help him find his way in life. em>CB