AVENUE Q Celebrates 11th Anniversary in New York Tonight with Social Media Performance

The long-running Tony Award-winning musical Avenue Q celebrates its 11th anniversary in New York tonight, July 31 at 8 p.m. with a special interactive social media performance - THE INTERNET IS FOR Q! - at New World Stages (340 W. 50 St.), at which all audience members will be invited to post their experiences during the show on their mobile phones via Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Facebook, etc. Members of the creative team and former cast members are expected to attend - and tweet - the performance, as well, and the evening's events will include surprise twists live from the stage.

As part of the 11th anniversary celebration, all seats to the July 31st performance will be sold for $11, according to the musical's producers Kevin McCollum, Robyn Goodman and Jeffrey Seller. Tickets can be purchased using the code AQTWEET40 by phone, at the box office or online at www.BroadwayOffers.com.

It is fair to note that in 2003 when Avenue Q first began, there was no such thing as tweeting (or Instagram), thus it is in the spirit of remaining current with the fast-changing times in which we live that the musical has scheduled this first-ever THE INTERNET IS FOR Q! live event. (Trekkie Monster has been been practicing for weeks!)

It was on July 31, 2013 that Avenue Q opened on Broadway, going on to win 3 Tony Awards - for Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score - and running over 6 smash years at the John Golden Theatre. In October of 2009, Avenue Q moved to its current home at New World Stages, where it will mark its 2000th performance on that stage August 4, 2014. Altogether, Avenue Q has played over 4,500 performances in New York, in addition to countless performances across the country and around the world.

AVENUE Q is the hilarious and internationally-acclaimed musical about a group of 20-something -- people and puppets alike -- who move to New York with big dreams and tiny bank accounts. Together they live as neighbors on a street in New York as they try to discover their purpose in life.

AVENUE Q remains one of the freshest and funniest --- and most relevant! -- shows in town. In the past 11 years the Avenue Q cast and puppets have been featured 3 times on GOOD MORNING AMERICA (including a mock Presidential debate between George W. Bush and John Kerry puppets live on-air), LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY (including the debut of Regis Philbin, Kelly Ripa and Michael Gelman puppets), LATE SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON, THE VIEW, JEOPARDY!, HOLLYWOOD SQUARES, $10,000 PYRAMID, ABC 20/20, numerous appearances on the Tony Awards telecast as performers and presenters, QUEER EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT GUY, MTV, VHI, in promotional "Get Caught Reading" campaigns, FOX BUSINESS NEWS, on CBS SUNDAY MORNING, NEW YORK 1 NEWS, promotional spots for WCBS-TV 2, as color commentators for CBS-TV's national coverage of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, CNN, etc.

Republican puppet Rod was featured in a full-length Q&A with Paul Rudnick in The New York Times coverage of the 2004 Republican National Convention in NY. Avenue Q dealt with the death in real-life of the former child star Gary Coleman (he continues to be depicted as a character in the musical),

Last year, Avenue Q partnered with Logo TV in a year-long series of public service announcements promoting safe sex and HIV prevention. In July 2011, Q puppets Rod and Ricky made international headlines -- and breaking news on NY 1 News -- when they were among the first couples to be married outside City Hall with the passage of the same-sex marriage laws in New York State. Avenue Q puppets appeared at the opening of the Gay Games in Chicago. This summer, Rod and Ricky were featured on an MSNBC series about out gay people working in the theater, speaking openly and frankly about their life together on the eve of the couple's third anniversary. Last fall, best-selling author Jodi Picoult made her Broadway debut in a walk- on role in Avenue Q as part of the "Celebrity Bucket List" series on Lifetime TV.

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 by Anna Louizos, costume design by Mirena Rada, lighting design by Howell Binkley, and sound design by Acme Sound Partners.

AVENUE Q became an overnight sensation on Broadway in July 2003 following a sold-out engagement -- extended four times -- presented Off-Broadway by Vineyard Theatre and The New Group.

AVENUE Q is produced at New World Stages, as it was on Broadway, by Kevin McCollum, Robyn Goodman, Jeffrey Seller, The Vineyard Theatre and The New Group.

At the 499-seat theatre at New World Stages, Avenue Q performs Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 8:00pm, Saturdays at 2:30 pm and 8:00pm and Sundays at 3:00pm and 7:30 pm.