Avenue Q

Monday, 21 July 2008 - Monday, 30 March 2009

Noel Coward Theatre, St Martin's Lane, Strand, WC2N 4BW

How Much: £38.00 (Highest Price) , £10.00 (Lowest Price)

Is everyone a little bit racist? Is the internet really just for porn? Find out on Avenue Q, the downtown NY street where the residents and their alter-ego puppets consider much mooted themes universal to all those with belly of laughs and an open sense of humour. Winner of the prestigious 2004 Tony for Best Musical, and with a cast gathered from the Theatre Royal Stratford East, Avenue Q is on route to repeating its overwhelming success on Broadway.

Princeton, a young graduate, has just moved to the neighbourhood with a tiny bank balance, a thirst for self discovery and a penchant for weird and wonderful friends. Hilariously un-PC songs examining, among other things, the lighter side of unemployment and homelessness drive this show to its inevitable feel-good finale.

Comparisons to the Muppet show and Sesame Street are unavoidable, but only on an aesthetic level; the satire is strong and laughs come from someplace far more sophisticated. Avenue Q courts controversy, but is not so subversive as to spoil the overarching theme of all great musicals- pure entertainment!