Maurice Tipo to Make Bway Debut as Winning Puppet of Avenue Q's One Night Stand Contest

By: BWW News Desk Mar. 10, 2006

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Maurice Tipo -- a blue puppet with button eyes and a green clown nose -- will live the dream of puppets everywhere tonight when he makes his Broadway debut in the Tony Award-winning musical Avenue Q at the John Golden Theatre (252 West 45th Street) in New York City.

Maurice Tipo, and his creator Andrew MacDonald Smith, 22 years old of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, were announced this morning as the top vote-getters in Avenue Q's nationwide puppet contest, "One Night Stand," which gives one worthy puppet the chance to make his or her Broadway debut in the Avenue Q. The musical features a cast of human and puppet characters dealing with some of life's thorniest issues as they try to make it in New York City with big dreams and a tiny bank account.

The announcement was made live on FOX' "Good Day New York." Tipo and MacDonald Smith appeared on this morning's telecast with their fellow contestants, not knowing who the winner of the Broadway debut would be until the envelope was opened.

With a Tony Award-winning score by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx and a Tony-winning book by Jeff Whitty, Avenue Q won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Musical. Currently running at the Golden Theatre, Avenue Q features Barrett Foa, Mary Faber, Christian Anderson and others. A Las Vegas production of Avenue Q continues through the end of May 2006, and a London production of the musical opens in the West End in June.

"One Night Stand" began in November, 2005; the contest invited participants to enter a puppet they thought would best fit into the Avenue Q community for one night only. Hundreds of entries were received, and the field was eventually narrowed to 3 top winners.

The public voted online at www.avenueq.com for their favorite of the top three winners: Messrs. Tipo and Macdonald Smith, Theresa Cullen and her puppet Kitty from Glendale, California, and Joe Kovacs and his puppet Miss Greta Green from New York City. The results of the public vote determined which of the three would make their Broadway debut. The top three winners each received a free trip to New York (airfare, hotel, dinner), including the chance to see Avenue Q on Broadway and meet the cast back stage after the show, which they did as a group on March 9, 2006.

Maurice Tipo is set to rehearse a scene with the Broadway cast of Avenue Q on the afternoon of March 10, before stepping into the spotlight for the March 10 evening performance at 8 p.m. on Broadway.

For information about Avenue Q, visit www.avenueq.com, or call Tele-Charge at 212-239-6200.

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