Original Broadway Cast Member Jennifer Barnhart Joins New World Stages' AVENUE Q

Jennifer Barnhart - who made her Broadway debut in 2003 in the original cast of the Tony Award-winning musical AVENUE Q - returns to the long-running hit at New World Stages (340 W. 50 St.) starting with the Monday, November 11 performance at 8 pm. Ms. Barnhart will perform the roles she helped create over 10 years ago: as a Bad Idea Bear, kindergarten school principal Mrs. T, as well as her trademark 'second-hand' work with puppets Nicky and Trekkie Monster.

Ms. Barnhart performed in AVENUE Q during its world-premiere Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre, followed by the musical's acclaimed 6-year run on Broadway and again at New World Stages. Her other theatrical credits include CHILDREN OF EDEN Off-Broadway, SUPERIOR DONUTS at Arden Theatre and at Alabama Shakespeare Festival in a number of leading roles including THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR and GOD OF CARNAGE. Her television credits include PBS' "Between the Lions" and Disney's "The Book of Pooh" and "Johnny and the Sprites." She is a veteran of "Sesame Street."

AVENUE Q celebrated its 10th anniversary in New York on July 31, having debuted that date on Broadway and going on to win 3 Tony Awards including Best Musical. July 31, 2013 was designted "AVENUE Q DAY" by the City of New York.

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 10 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),

Most recently, 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.

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. Tickets can be purchased through at Tele Charge 212-239-6200 or www.telecharge.com. A limited number of rush tickets for $26.50 are available at the box office for each performance.

For more information visit www.avenueq.com.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride

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