Hit musical Avenue Q, which was expected to end its run in the West End on 28 March, has announced that though it is still closing at the Noel Coward theatre it will transfer to the Gielgud theatre on 1 June.
Since announcing its West End closure the production, a devilishly irreverent mix of Sesame Street-style puppets and satirical, low-brow humour, has seen its box office sales soar, suggesting that its time on the London stage should not come to an end just yet.
Avenue Q’s producer, theatre impresario Cameron Mackintosh, said today: “When I first saw Avenue Q in New York over five years ago, I found it a very funny, fresh and clever look at the trials and tribulations of young people finding their way in life, with splendidly witty swipes at contemporary hang-ups. So I was rather surprised when the show opened in 2006 that the British national critics mostly didn’t get it and predicted that it would only last three months. Three years later Q is going stronger than ever, so much so that ever since I announced the last six months at the Coward to allow Calendar Girls to be booked into the theatre, business has surged to such an extent that I’m delighted to announce that Avenue Q is going to continue its run on the Avenue – Shaftesbury that is – at the start of June.”
With songs including The Internet Is For Porn, Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist and It Sucks To Be Me, Avenue Q introduced a different kind of musical to the West End when it opened in June 2006. Since then, its celebrity fans have included Orlando Bloom, Russell Brand, David Hasselhoff, Derek Jacobi, Leona Lewis, William H Macey, Ian McKellen, Elaine Paige, Jonathan Ross and Zoe Wanamaker.
Avenue Q moves into the Gielgud theatre once Enjoy finishes its recently extended run on 16 May. Alan Bennett’s tale of an aging couple preparing to be moved out of their old back-to-back and into a new maisonette stars Alison Steadman and David Troughton.
MA