Back in the West End for the first time in 20 years, Avenue Q is once again charming audiences with its trademark cheeky humour and heartfelt spirit. The production, which won Best Musical, Book and Score at the 2004 Tony Awards, is a parody of Sesame Street and follows a group of neighbours in a rundown New York neighbourhood as they navigate adulthood, relationships, and the search for purpose. We caught up with Noah Harrison, who stars as Princeton / Rod, and shares his journey of bringing a puppet to life and why Avenue Q remains loved by audiences.

What was it about Avenue Q which you knew you wanted to audition for this production in the first place?

I remember seeing an amateur group perform it where I’m from in Leicestershire. Before that, I’d only ever seen shows like Annie, Oliver or Oklahoma, and then I saw Avenue Q and it was a realisation that musical theatre can be this. In my head,, it had only been super civilised and super polite, and in comparison this show was wild! Ever since seeing it back then, I was obsessed and I thought it was such an amazing show. Despite it being so funny, it also surprisingly has so much heart, too.

Tell us a little bit about your characters Rod/Princeton. Do you relate to any of them at all?

I think everyone relates to Princeton in a way; his journey in this show is about discovering what he’s doing with his life. We have all been that 22 year old who is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, who’s excited for what the world has to offer before realising it's not what we expect it to be.

Princeton, however, is harder to relate to as I’m not a Republican, an investment banker, and I’m not ashamed of being gay. So yeah, I don’t necessarily relate to his story, but I do to his mannerisms. I lean into the grumpy side of his character because I definitely get grumpy sometimes!

If you want to discover what we thought to the revival of Avenue Q - read our review here.

How challenging is it for you to do the puppetry whilst also showing the emotions of your characters?

It’s a mad thing because we’re not necessarily not there. In the rehearsals our director said the split in terms of what we want the audience to watch is normally about 60% puppet and 40% us. But also this changes from scene to scene. There are certain scenes where we want it to be more 80% 20% or vice versa.

The puppetry is quite amazing because once we completed the puppetry workshop we realised we could make them do so much. We are still learning what they can do, even with the show now running in the West End. It’s mind blowing really how a piece of fabric on your arm can make you feel, it’s really mad.

You are part of Avenue Q’s return to the West End. What has it been like to be in this process, especially with well-established performers, like Simon Lipkin and Claire Foster, having previously starred in the show. Is there an added pressure as a result?

I am not a very emotional person in life, but I do find it really emotional. I think it is because it’s such a small cast and that makes it such a niche experience. We’re so so lucky that we’re the ones who get to bring this back and do this, especially when a lot has changed in 20 years.

Has the show gone through any changes to reflect that time has passed since it was last staged?

There have been a lot of little things, but not always in the places people are expecting us to change things. It’s more about bringing it to the modern audiences. A lot of the changes are so it feels the same as it was, still funny, still shocking but with a lot of pop culture and modern day references for things that didn’t exist 20 years ago.

What is your favourite song in the show and why?

I really like “If You Were Gay” because I don’t have to do much apart from grunt for the whole time but the audience loves it and I think it’s one of the first times that they realise this is what we’re doing.

Which parts of the show do you think audiences will resonate with the most?

I think the whole sentiment of the show and the idea that most of us don’t have it figured out yet resonates with a lot of people. Don’t quote me on this but the director told us that when they first did the show 20 years ago, they thought it was for young adults, who like Princeton, thought they would be the only ones who relate to this idea of how it's ok to not have it all figured out.

If your characters swapped personalities for the day,what do you think would happen?

Oh my gosh - if Rod was panicked about his purpose, it would be full on panic attack. For Princeton… I need to censor myself - I was going to say if Princeton was unsure about being gay like Rod, he would just try anything and anyone haha.

Why is Avenue Q an antidote for audiences right now?

It’s a bit of escapism. It teaches you lots of nice, wholesome lessons in life. But it’s also very funny. We need a good laugh right now so I think we just need to have the opportunity to do that!

Avenue Q plays at the Shaftesbury Theatre until 29 August 2026.

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