London Musicals Evita and Avenue Q Extend Runs

According to Whatsonstage.com, two London musical hits - the revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber/> and Tim Rice's Evita and the transfer of the Broadway hit Avenue Q - have extended their runs.

Evita, which opened at the Adelphi Theatre in June of 2006, will now play eight months longer through December 15th.  Directed by Michael Grandage/> and choreographed by Rob Ashford/>, the Evita revival stars />Philip Quast/> and />Matt Rawle/>, as well as Elena Roger/> as the ambitious Argentinian first lady of the title.  Evita features music by Webber and lyrics and book by Tim Rice.

Avenue Q, which also opened at the Noel Coward Theatre in June, has extended by six months through January 2008.  With a Tony-winning score by Jeff Marx/> and Robert Lopez/>, a Tony-winning book by Jeff Whitty/> and direction by Jason Moore/>, the R-rated musical about people, puppets and purpose stars Giles Terera, Julie Atherton/>, Jon Robyns/>, Simon Lipkin/>, Clare Foster/>, Naoko Mori and Sion Lloyd.

In addition, Avenue Q has lowered its prices.  The show's "ticket pricing has been largely in line with other West End musicals with top-price tickets at £50. However, the off-beat comedy is especially popular with younger audiences, many of whom return for repeat viewings. After audience research at the theatre, tickets for Monday to Thursday and Friday early evening performances have been re-priced from £10 (previously £17.50) to a maximum of £35," according to the UK theatre website.

Photo - Elena Roger in Evita