VIDEO: AVENUE Q Hits Times Square For World Puppetry Day

Whether made from simply sewing buttons onto a sock or elaborately designed with a moving mouth, expressive eyes and working hands, puppets have been popular since the earliest humans first felt the urge to amuse one another.

That's why World Puppetry Day, celebrated annually on March 21st, has grown in popularity every year since first observed in 2003.

The idea conceived by Iranian puppeteer Dzhivada Zolfagariho was proposed for discussion on the XVIII Congress of the Union International de la Marionette (UNIMA) in Magdeburg in 2000. Two years later it was officially recognized at the meeting of the International Council of UNIMA in Atlanta.

Different events are organized to celebrate internationally, honoring and praising the joy that puppeteers have brought to the world for centuries.

Naturally, World Puppetry Day is a big thing a New World Stages, where the hand-held cast members of AVENUE Q spoof their internationally-known colleagues in Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx and Jeff Whitty's send-up of SESAME STREET-style TV shows.

So the cast of AVENUE Q recently hit Times Square to ask New Yorkers how they plan to celebrate World Puppetry Day. As you might expect, some of the answers were a bit unexpected.

Winner of three Tony Awards -- including Best Musical -- Avenue Q is the hilarious and heartwarming tale of a group of 20-somethings fresh out of college -- people and puppets alike -- who lives as neighbors on a street in New York where they've come to pursue their big dreams and search for their purpose in life.

AVENUE Q has music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, book by Jeff Whitty, and is directed by Jason Moore. Based on an original concept by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, with puppets conceived and designed by Rick Lyon,Avenue Q has musical supervision by Stephen Oremus, choreography by Ken Roberson, scenic design byAnna Louizos, costume design by Mirena Rada, lighting design by Howell Binkley, and sound design by ACME Sound Partners.