VIDEO: AVENUE Q Celebrates World Puppetry Day In Times Square With a Crowd Of Hand-Held Pals

Despite a puppet Donald Trump's insistence that he was going to build a wall to keep all the puppets out, the Tony Award winning Avenue Q's celebration of WORLD PUPPETRY DAY was a rousing success.

Led by Avenue Q's hand-held stars Kate Monster, the smart woman who makes bad romantic choices, and Rod, the closeted Wall Street investment puppet, the celebration began at 8:30am on Monday morning at the Red Steps of Times Square on 47th Street and Broadway. The gathering of amateur and professional puppeteers included not one, but two Donald Trumps, having it out with a puppet Bernie Sanders.

WORLD PUPPETRY DAY - first celebrated in 2003 and sanctioned by the Union Internationale de la Marionette (UNIMA) - was begun by Iranian puppet artist Javad Zolfaghari and is marked by puppet lovers around the world each year, including the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta.

Winner of 3 Tony Awards in 2004, Avenue Q is the hilarious and heartwarming tale of young people fresh out of college - people and puppets alike - who live as neighbors on a rundown street in NYC. Together they learn important life lessons about love, romance, sex, dating, unemployment, racism, schadenfreude and porn.

Featured in the current cast of Avenue Q: Elizabeth Ann Berg, Katie Boren, Kerri Bracken, Grace Choi, Ben Durocher, Imari Hardon, Jason Jacoby, Nicholas Kohn, Michael Liscio, Jr., Jed Resnick and Danielle K. Thomas.

AVENUE Q has music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, book by Jeff Whitty, and is directed by Jason Moore with choreography by Ken Roberson. The musical is produced by Kevin McCollum, Robyn Goodman, Jeffrey Seller, Vineyard Theatre and The New Group.