MEET THE AUTHOR OF "AVENUE Q"

Author Jeff Whitty

URI Theatre I by Diana Savino

Author of Avenue Q, Jeff Whitty

After graduating from the University of Oregon in 1993, Whitty then went on to receive a Master’s degree from NYU’s Graduate Acting Program in 1997.  Although he is best known for being a playwright, Whitty has also made appearances in plays such as The Beard of Avon and Freedomland. He also played a role in his own play, The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler for 25 performances. Whitty is also known for writing Bring it on: The Musical, which is a “free adaptation” of the popular movie series.

In 2004, Jeff Whitty won the “Triple Crown” for Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book for Avenue Q, which opened on Broadway just a year prior. Avenue Q is known as being a “groundbreaking” musical that had a six-year life span on Broadway, and is still being played off-Broadway, 11 years after its first performance.

           

Avenue Q is known for it’s racey, inappropriate topics of conversation, which, at first, had many people worried about the show’s future success. According to an interview with the Huffington Post, Kevin McCollum, a producing partner of Avenue Q’s producer, Robyn Goodman, stated “I think it’s one of the most human shows ever because puppets tell the truth and nobody says, ‘You can’t say that.’”

Don’t miss URI’s production of Avenue Q opening up on November 13^th, 2014!