Avenue X

Avenue X

Brooklyn, 1963. The Italian Americans stay on one side of the street and the blacks on the other. Volatile issues and rock and roll history emerge when two youthful singers from different sides of the street put together an act for a talent show at the legendary Fox Theater. This ground breaking a cappella musical caused a sensation when it debuted at Playwrights’ Horizons in 1994, and has been in constant production around the world ever since.

Reviews

“Avenue X is what musicals are all about! Panoramic, rich, a musical feast. Bursting with the kind of talent, wit and energy that separates the living theatre from entertainment that comes in a can.” –Vincent Canby, New York Times

"A sweet nostalgia trip.... The exuberant doo wop vocalizing turns out to be ... the brightest thing." –NY Daily News

"Think of West Side Story to a doo wop beat.... It is a real pleasure...Avenue X will thrill. I had a great time!” –Clive Barnes, New York Post

"The preview I attended was packed with young people who squealed, screamed, whooped, whinnied, laughed and applauded." –New Yorker

“We are transported as cast members sing their hearts, throats and guts out” –John Simon, NY Magazine

“Ave X marks the spot for originality. There is a vitality about this show, a real freshness.” –Martin Gottfried, New York Law Journal

"Simply a marvel...infectiously melodic and...joyous, staggering and genuinely witty...encompassing a truly staggering range of musical styles." – The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Lush, booming, soaring. A musical for people who don’t like musicals” –Los Angeles Weekly

"To hell with Johann Strauss: Avenue X is the show to see in Vienna this holiday season." – Financial Times (Vienna, Austria)

"Ray Leslee's score features dense, complex harmonics and modulations, showing influences of classical and Eastern European choral music mixed with traditional Italian folk tunes, gospel and R & B. The blending of Pasquale and Milton in a falsetto one-upmanship would be the envy of any purveyor of bel canto, and the elegiac wail of grief that opens and closes the work is haunting in its stark power." – Opera News

"Avenue X is a triumph of musical theater, an a cappella celebration and more... Every performer shines, the script invites reflections and the intelligent, challenging and melodic score still has me humming the tunes days after seeing the show." – Philadelphia Weekly

“Exuberant! The songs and singers soar. A trip to “Avenue X” is a necessity” – Associated Press

“Lustrous and exultant” – San Francisco Chronicle

“Bracingly pure. The thrill goes right up the back of your neck” – Dallas Morning News

”Razor-sharp, feverish, soul-stirring” – Texas Triangle

“Gritty, poignant, an exhilarating re-invention of doo-wop” – Seattle Post Intelligencer

“A doo-wop opera? A musical tragedy ? An a cappella drama ? Avenue X is not only a new and thrilling kind of show. Ray Leslee and John Jiler have created a show that is witty and moving and packs some political punch.” –City Paper Philadelphia

“Avenue X sings in near-perfect harmony in its staging at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park -- but it is the book that is this show's true strength. Avenue X is driven by its dialogue. The book is gritty, moving, at times funny, and authentic.” –Cincinnati Post

"Avenue X is a musical theatre experience like no other. The music and the plot will move you, not for their originality or depth, but for the ingenious way in which they are both so totally connected. And as for all of the snooty enemies of musical theatre: I strongly suggest broadening your mind, and this is a great place to start.” –Michigan Daily

SONGS

WHERE IS LOVE

PRODUCTION HISTORY

    2011
  • THE NEW HARMONY THEATRE; New Harmony, IN
    2010
  • THE ALLIANCE THEATRE; Atlanta GA
    2009
  • THE 11th HOUR THEATRE COMPANY; Philadelphia PA
    2007
  • THE 45TH STREET THEATRE; Off-Broadway revival, New York NY
    2004-2005
  • THE VIENNA CHAMBER OPERA (The Kammeroper); Vienna AUSTRIA
    2003
  • MUSICALFARE; Buffalo NY
  • 2003 THE PAUL ROBESON THEATRE; Buffalo NY
    2002
  • THE REPERTORY THEATRE OF ST. LOUIS; St. Louis MO
  • THE CAIN PARK THEATRE; Cleveland OH
    2001
  • CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK; Cincinnati OH
  • NEW YORK UNIVERSITY TISCH SCHOOL OF THE ARTS; New York NY
    2000
  • THE MERRIMACK THEATRE; Lowell MA
  • ACTORS GUILD OF LEXINGTON; Lexington KY
    1999
  • THE PERFORMANCE NETWORK; Ann Arbor MI
  • THE BLACK THEATRE; Phoenix AZ
    1998
  • THE SAN DIEGO REPERTORY THEATRE; San Diego CA
  • THE GREAT AMERICAN HISTORY THEATRE; Minneapolis MN
  • ASCAP MUSICAL THEATRE WORKSHOP; Walt Disney Studios, Los Angeles CA
    1997
  • THE WILMA THEATRE; Philadelphia PA
  • THE MARIN THEATRE; Mill Valley CA
  • THE CITY THEATRE; Pittsburgh PA
    1996
  • A CONTEMPORARY THEATRE (ACT); Seattle WA
  • THE ODYSSEY THEATRE; Los Angeles CA
  • THE BARRINGTON STAGE; Tanglewood MA
  • THE ORPHEUM THEATRE; Foxboro MA
  • THE THEATRE LAB; Houston TX
    1995
  • DALLAS THEATRE CENTER; Dallas TX
  • ZACHARY SCOTT THEATRE; Austin TX
  • THE PASSAGE THEATRE; Trenton NJ
    1994
  • PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS; Off-Broadway (see NY Times review)
    1993
  • PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS; New York NY (Studio Prod.)
    1992
  • THE KENNEDY CENTER; Washington D.C. (Studio Prod.)
    1991
  • EUGENE O’NEILL THEATRE CENTER; Waterford CT (Studio Prod.)


AWARDS

    2009
  • The Barrymore Awards (Philadelphia); Nominated for BEST MUSICAL. Winner of three awards including BEST LEAD ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
    1997
  • The Barrymore Awards; Winner of ten awards including BEST MUSICAL
    1996
  • Los Angeles Ovation Awards including BEST MUSICAL
  • Austin Critics Table Awards including BEST MUSICAL
    1995
  • Dallas Theatre Critics Awards including BEST MUSICAL
    1995
  • The Kleban Award for BEST LIBRETTO
    1993
  • The Richard Rodgers Production Award
    1992
  • The Richard Rodgers Development Award