Dates confirmed for Avenue Q

I thought I would come back and clarify. Since it seems my thoughts are not coming off clearly. My mentioning Ronnie Burkett had nothing to do with proving/disproving any theory on whether or not puppetry can survive in Melbourne unfunded. It has nothing to do with Ronnie not being representative of the puppetry scene here - I don't think anyone can compare. My mentioning of his show had everything to do with MY POINT - not your point about funding or success - that people in Australia will readily travel to see a good puppetry show. MY POINT was that to discount puppetry as a small piece of the market audience pie is short sighted at best, and to count Avenue Q as only musical theatre or belonging to 'mainstream' theatre is also short sighted. Let me make myself very clear: I disagree that Avenue Q will flop. I do NOT disagree that it MIGHT. To do so would be idiotic, because we all know every show is a risk, whether it be Shakespeare (ie, tried true and a safe bet) or something new. My perhaps argumentative tone is simply because someone out there - I have dubbed thee Rory - is refusing to answer my questions and to accept the fact that I was not actually discussing the same thing (funding or success of a show) but something else entirely (travelling to see a good show). Now, here's some homework: successful puppet shows. This one is Australian, and started in Melbourne. It is risque, and much more than Avenue Q (I doubt these guys initially got funding) http://www.puppetryofthepenis.com/about.php Oh you say, but this show began in 1998, hardly representative of the conservative Melbourne scene now. (Ah, but what about those 2001 stats... well, I say, hardly indicative of the 2008 scene either) So here's a more recent successful puppetry show: http://www.asphyxia.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=61 (Yes, I do see that she's been funded by Playing Australia. As far as I'm aware, this is only for the upcoming tour, and hasn't been funded for the previous showing) Here's another example of a Melbourne girl doing well with puppetry: http://www.thatgirlentertainment.com/GrandpaSol.html Want another one? http://www.sammy-j.com/ Ah but you say, these are Melbourne shows, and not shows brought in from overseas. Well, I say, you're right. (I would add that these homegrown talents don't have the added benefit of winning well-known awards overseas or international acclaim on the scale that Avenue Q has had) But how many puppetry shows are actually being presented in Australia that are brought from overseas? Not a lot; why? Because most puppet shows are laden down with props and sets specific to the performance and are difficult to transport. (I would add that puppetry is a skill like circus arts and not easily taught with the more difficult types, like marionettes and so forth. The benefit in using muppets is that almost anyone can do it well, making it easier to find a cast here instead of bringing one over, and reducing the amount of time needed to rehearse) In Avenue Q's case, they have simple sets and simple props. (Or as with Puppet Up) If you want to compare big ass shows brought over from the US, then I suggest you check out the run of The Lion King. Furthermore, when the professional Australian theatre industry itself doesn't know that puppetry exists on a professional level in Australia, as you do in discounting it (hey, most of the people I talk to - directors, producers, actors, etc - don't realise it) then it's harder still to convince the rest of the world to bring their shows here. That doesn't mean that puppetry isn't successful, it just means you have as much chance presenting Waiting for Godot and making money out of it as you do puppetry. And yet, it's still done, both in Melbourne and in other cities. If you want a show that exactly fits the same criteria (ie. same venue, same type of show, same ticket sale prices, etc etc) then evidently we can both give up, because there's no show like Avenue Q with the same issues. By the way, so long as we're on the concept of backing up our arguments - where's the proof that Avenue Q isn't being sponsored by someone? Either by a US grant, private funding or an Australian source? If you can't come up with that, then I'm afraid you're as bad as what you accuse me of. "That found that the top two factors that influenced a punter’s choice to purchase where familiarity with the show, and familiarity with cast." I finally got around to yes, googling your Harry Miller stuff... and couldn't find it. Perhaps you would care to link to it? Did this study state who they were interviewing for such a study? Ie. young, old, regular theatre people, subscribers, people more likely to attend the Fringe? Were they referring to just familiarity of an Aussie cast, or familiarity overall? Were they counting people who they called, or people they sent info to, or people who visit websites? (You might want to check out the number of people talking about Avenue Q in Australia on the net; Facebook, Myspace, blogs, etc. Our own stats show Avenue Q threads at being one of the top read threads of all year, with reads of 1746 and 1624 - there are two different threads on the topic) ... And now, for the truly last time, I will get off my soapbox. Thanks Rory, it's been fun. But time to DFT. Round head foam puppet pattern at Puppets in Melbourne