Broadway's Tartaglia and Lyon Star in Completed Cast for New Las Vegas Avenue Q
By Ernio Hernandez
28 Jul 2005
Original Broadway cast members John Tartaglia and Rick Lyon will reprise their Avenue Q roles for the Las Vegas run. The full company has also been announced.
Performances of the Nevada run begin Aug. 27 and open Sept. 8. From Sept. 3, the show will play on a 10-show-per-week schedule (with two dark nights). The curtain will rise twice a night at 6:30 PM and 10 PM.
Tartaglia — who plays Princeton, Rod and others — and Lyon — who handles Nicky, Trekkie Monster and more — will be joined in the doubled ensemble by Angela Ai, David Benoit, Steven Booth, Minglie Chen, Tonya Dixon, Rita Dolphin, Natalie Gray, Phyre Hawkins, Nicholas Kohn, Michelle Lane, Kevin Noonchester, Brynn O'Malley, Cole Porter, Jonathan Root, Kelli Sawyer, Sharon Wheatley and Haneefah Wood.
Broadway producers Kevin McCollum, Robyn Goodman, Jeffrey Seller, Vineyard Theatre and The New Group are joined by Wynn Las Vegas for the new run at the new 1,200-seat ($40 million) Broadway Theatre built especially for the production within the resort. The Vegas production is the only other Avenue Q run outside of New York.
The 2004 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, 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. The production bears the warning: "Full puppet nudity, not suitable for children."
The puppet and people-populated musical — which recouped its initial Broadway investment last year — currently plays at the John Golden Theatre with five original cast members (Jennifer Barnhart, Natalie Venetia Belcon, Jordan Gelber, Ann Harada and Tony Award-nominated Stephanie D'Abruzzo) joined by Barrett Foa and Christian Anderson.
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 prize as Best Musical at the 2004 Tony Awards. Jason Moore (Steel Magnolias) directed with musical direction by Gary Adler (Altar Boyz).
Avenue Q features puppets conceived and designed by Rick Lyon. Musical supervision is by Stephen Oremus and choreography is handled by Ken Roberson. The design team includes Anna Louizos (scenic), Mirena Rada (costume), lighting Howell Binkley (lighting) and Acme Sound Partners (sound).
Tickets for Avenue Q at the Wynn, 3131 Las Vegas Blvd. South in Las Vegas, NV are available by phone or online at (702) 770-7000, toll free (888) 320 7123 or
www.wynnlasvegas.com and
www.ticketmaster.com/wynnlasvegas.
Avenue Q plays on Broadway at the Golden Theatre, 252 West 45 Street. For more information on the show, visit
www.avenueq.com.
Rick Lyon mentioned all over this event "Avenue Q" is non other than the puppeteerer for Tokka in TMNT 2 and Donatello in TMNT 3. So I figured this is some sort TMNT related. It's good to see he's keeping busy. Those who are going to Vegas in October, might want to try and see this show if you can afford it. I did some extra checking in on this show to find out...
Tickets are $88 to $99 (yup way too much for me!)
Additional Information:CHILDREN 12 AND UNDER NOT PERMITTED
Adults love AVENUE Q, but they seem a little, er, fuzzy on whether it's appropriate for kids. We'll try to clear that up. AVENUE Q is great for teenagers because it's about real life. It may not be appropriate for young children because AVENUE Q addresses issues like sex, drinking, and surfing the web for porn. It's hard to say what exact age is right to see AVENUE Q - parents should use their discretion based on the maturity level of their children. But we promise you this - if you DO bring your teenagers to AVENUE Q, they'll think you're really cool.
There's shows on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. Sadly I won't be able to make it to the shows... only because of cost otherwise I would of done this Friday at 10pm.
