Pornography and puppets - Avenue Q comes to Liverpool

by Elizabeth Horsfall. Published Wed 30 Nov 2011 16:41

Even if you haven’t already heard of the risqué puppet musical Avenue Q, by the time it hits the Liverpool Empire next year, it’s unlikely you will ever forget it.

The racy show, which is re-touring following the success of this year’s UK dates, has won many accolades for its original take on story-telling and theatre, including three Tony awards in 2004.

It combines the use of performers and puppets to tell the story of Princeton, a graduate in New York trying to find his way as a puppet in a human world, and the weird and wonderful characters he meets along the way.

Since it opened off-Broadway in 2002, Avenue Q has gone from strength to strength, selling out theatres with its own brand of near the knuckle comedy.

It has gained critical acclaim across the board for its originality and salacious wit with songs including It sucks to be me, The internet is for porn, and Everyone’s a little bit racist.

The hand-made puppets were designed by original cast member Rick Lyon and cost up to US $10,000 to produce.

With its unique style of humour and contemporary themes such as racism, sexuality and pornography, the show was catapulted into the limelight for its lavish use of profanity and “full puppet nudity”.

After the show’s US and Canadian tour, it headed south of the equator for dates in Australia and New Zealand in 2009, and has been translated for shows in a number of countries, including Israel, Japan and the Philippines.

Avenue Q will play at the Liverpool Empire from 11th - 16th June 2012.

Tickets are available from the box office, by calling 0844 871 3017 or online at www.atgtickets.com/liverpool.