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@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). ####