Dates confirmed for Avenue Q

It astounds me that Neville could comment on the likelihood of Q working in Melbourne without knowing which theatre it’s set to play (The Comedy – a 1000 seater – even bigger than it’s Broadway house.) NA, you write – “can we move on”, then contradict yourself by added a further post. Your mention of the highly talented Ronnie Burkett underlines what has been written above. When he played in MELBOURNE, it was part of The Melbourne Festival – subsidised by the Australian tax payer. See – http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts-reviews/ronnie-burketts-10-days-on-earth/2007/02/02/1169919522325.html A state funded season can’t be compared with a private money production like Q. The break even points are not even close. Melbourne theatre goers – MT, puppetry and more do not know about The Tonys. I’m basing this on the research undertaken by The Harry M Millar Group in the lead up to its most recent casting of Hair; circa February 2001. Googling will, I’m sure, tell you more about this event. That found that the top two factors that influenced a punter’s choice to purchase where familiarity with the show, and familiarity with cast. “Tony” brand recognition was under 5%. As someone who works in an agency, I don’t want Q to flop in Melbourne either. But if it does, Logos, Arts Asia Pacific won’t be the only ones feeling the pinch. The above research showed that one of the major factors that influence punters NOT to buy tickets is concern that the show will fold, the that the customer will loose their money. The late 90s in Melbourne was particularly tough in this regard, when three pro. musicals, each of which involved puppetry, went down one after the other – Into The Woods (Botanical Gardens), Jekyll & Hyde (Her Majesties) and Peter Pan (Princess Theatre.) Shows that close early hurt not only their producers, but others.