I’ve never made it a secret that I am utterly and completely in love with Avenue Q. I was thrilled, surprised and elated when it was presented with the Tony for Best Musical and disappointed when I learned that it would only play Las Vegas (in addition to New York) instead of going on a National tour so the entire country could witness its brilliance. I was ecstatic when one of the show’s creators Jeff Marx contacted me out of the blue giving me an opening to request an interview with him and writing partner Bobby Lopez, which ran on Gothamist in December 2004.
Thankfully, Avenue Q even became an unqualified commercial success, and now, it’s a record-holder. Tonight’s performance marks the 1,296th time the show has played on the stage of the Golden Theatre, breaking a more than 60 year old record held by the Patrick Hamilton play Angel Street. Now, roughly 1,300 performances is nothing compared to the true Broadway stalwarts. For nearly a decade, the record had been held by A Chorus Line which played 6,137 times. Cats came along, roundly trouncing that number with 7, 485 performances before finally (and mercifully) expiring in 2000. Meanwhile, it was only about a year ago that Cats’ reign was cut short by fellow Andrew Lloyd Weber spectacle The Phantom of the Opera which should be some where around 7,762 shows … and still counting. But blockbuster shows like those are the exception, not the rule.
Sure, the Chicagos and The Lion Kings of the Great White Way keep trucking as tourist draws for years, but the vast majority of Broadway shows are lucky to make it to the 1,000 performance plateau. Now, is breaking this specific record a testament to Avenue Q‘s success or a history of at best moderately successful theater without any major hits. It’s probably a combination, although some very notable titles did open at the Golden throughout its history including Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot in 1956, Tom Stoppard’s Dirty Linen & New-Found Land in 1977, Marsha Norman’s ‘night Mother in 1983 followed by David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross in 1984 and Terrence McNally’s Master Class in 1995. The one notable thing about all these titles is that they’re all straight plays, which makes sense as the Golden is one of the smaller Broadway houses with roughly 800 seats. It has been home to very few musicals (although, notably, it did host the Broadway opening of William Finn’s brilliant Falsettos in 1992), and musicals generally are the crowd-pleasers that can attract the continuous audience and therefore stay open for thousands of performances.
Nevertheless, it’s a milestone for Avenue Q and one which is richly deserved. If still haven’t seen the show, I thoroughly encourage you to do so. I’ve seen frequent offers for discount tickets, and I’m sure it’s often available through the TKTS. Help keep the show going. Chances are, it will never sustain the life-force of a Phantom or Cats, but if any show deserves to run as long as possible, it’s this one.
Out of Focus 