[NEohioPAL] IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MILLENNIAL THEATRE COMPANY TO PRESENT TONY AWARD-WINNING BEST MUSICAL "AVENUE Q" FOR TWO WEEKENDS ONLY!

[The Millennial Theatre Company]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 17, 2023



The Tony Award-winning Best Musical “Avenue Q” Comes to Youngstown for Two
Weekends Only (Now With Additional Performances)!

YOUNGSTOWN, OH – The Millennial Theatre Company (MTC) is proud to announce
their production of the Tony Award-winning Best Musical, Avenue Q!
Everyone's favorite puppet musical will be performing for 8 performances
over two weekends at The Hopewell Theatre (702 Mahoning Ave. Youngstown,
OH). Performance dates and times include Friday January 20 and Saturday
January 21 at 7:30pm, Sunday January 22 at 2:00pm, Friday January 27 at
7:30pm, Saturday January 28 at 2:00pm and 7:30pm, and Sunday January 29 at
2:00pm and 7:30pm. Currently, the performances on Friday, January 20 and
Saturday, January 21 are sold out.

The laugh-out-loud musical tells the timeless story of a recent college
grad named Princeton, who moves into a shabby New York apartment all the
way out on Avenue Q. He soon discovers that, although the residents seem
nice, it's clear that this is not your ordinary neighborhood. Together,
Princeton and his new-found friends struggle to find jobs, dates and their
ever-elusive purpose in life. Although the show addresses humorous adult
issues, it is similar to a beloved children's show; a place where puppets
are friends, Monsters are good and life lessons are learned.



Artistic Director Joe Asente said this is a show that is a perfect fit for
MTC, “MTC has made a name for itself producing shows that have universal
appeal, while addressing issues that are relevant for young adult
audiences. This show, which parodies the educational children’s show Sesame
Street, continues that trend by addressing issues that are pressing for
today’s young adults, just as Sesame Street did for us when we were kids.
Sesame Street taught us our ABCs and 123s, and Avenue Q teaches us about
racism, what to do after college, love, finding your purpose in life,
relationships, and perhaps even the need to clear your internet search
history.”



Asente states that this is a show that has been on MTC’s shortlist for some
time, “While this show is light and fun, it has definitely been a challenge
to bring to the stage. The show features 18 puppets, all hand-crafted by
local puppet designer Lynn Ohle. We have been interested in doing this show
for quite some time, but the puppets have always been daunting for us. When
I met Lynn while doing Rocky Horror in 2021, she mentioned that she was a
puppet maker, and I knew that was the excuse we have been waiting for to
stage this show.”



Working with puppets is not easy, and Asente said that doing so created
quite a few new challenges for him and his actors, “I am very fortunate to
have a talented core of actors who return, show after show. These actors
know my process and my expectations, so there is a certain foundation that
is already built when we begin a rehearsal process that usually makes
things go a little bit smoother during rehearsals. However, with the
addition of puppets, I had to go over every single basic rule of theatre
because nothing was intuitive anymore.”



Asente continued, “No one thinks about cheating out to the audience when
they have a puppet in their hand. No one thinks about maintaining eye
contact and sightlines when they have a puppet in their hand. We had to
break down everything they have done instinctually for years and address it
all individually before we could even begin to work on the actual mechanics
of puppet operation. All their hard work is certainly paying off, as they
have created an impressive blend of human and puppet characters that feed
off of one another pretty seamlessly.”


WARNING: THIS SHOW IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES. RATED R.

The cast includes Ryan Lamb, Sarahh Kinser, Ben Doss, Bernadette Lim, Ryan
Stewart, Grayson McCrory, George Maillis, Brianna Rae Quinn, Ty Hanes,
Tyler Stouffer, Gene Metro, Marissa Snyder, Daniel Chiaberta, Briana
Wagner-Matijevic with direction and music direction by Joe Asente.

Tickets are $20 and are available online at www.millennialtheatre.org.

Promotional Photos available HERE
<https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iB83GvUgeJBEv-d8HZ1tskCaxpGi3WeT?usp=sharing>
.


For more information regarding this performance please connect with MTC via
Facebook, Instagram (@mtc_theatre), or email
millennialtheatrecompany at gmail.com

About the Millennial Theatre Company:

The Millennial Theatre Company (MTC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theatre
company committed to producing theatrical experiences that reflect the
interests and experiences of the Millennial Generation. They aim to produce
generation relevant content through musicals, millennial-created and
written works, workshops, and other various theatrical experiences. For
more information, visit MTC’s website

millennialtheatre.org, as well as their Facebook and Instagram
(@mtc_theatre).

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