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BROADWAY
AVENUE Q
(GOLDEN THEATER; 796 SEATS; $85 TOP)
NEW YORK A Kevin McCollum, Robyn Goodman, Jeffrey Seller, Vineyard Theater and the New Group presentation of a musical in two acts with music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, book by Jeff Whitty, based on an original concept by Lopez and Marx. Directed by Jason Moore. Choreography, Ken Roberson. Music supervision, orchestrations and arrangements, Stephen Oremus. Sets, Anna Louizos; costumes, Mirena Rada; lighting, Howell Binkley; puppets, Rick Lyon; sound, Acme Sound Partners; animation, Lopez; music director and incidental music, Gary Adler; music coordinator, Michael Keller; production stage manager, Evan Ensign. Opened July 31, 2003. Reviewed June 28. Running time: 2 HOURS, 20 MIN.
By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
Can a merrily disillusioned band of puppets and their human pals from the far East Village find happiness uptown? That's the question facing "Avenue Q," the sweetly sour musical that cleverly coopts the style of a tyke TV show to animate the aimless lives of underemployed twentysomethings looking for love and fulfillment on New York City's outer fringes.
A hit at the Vineyard downtown, the show has made a bold move to Broadway, where its fortunes will depend on luring its target audience - the 35-and-under generation who spent a good portion of their formative years tranced out in front of the tube - to the theater district. Getting them to forsake digital cable to shell out $85 for a ticket will be challenge No. 2. The typical Broadway...