Seth Brown with Rod

The Tony-award winning hit musical Avenue Q comes to Murfreesboro’s Center for the Arts this July. The musical, described as “Sesame Street meets South Park,” combines a cast of humans and puppets who tackle some of life’s most controversial issues: racism, sex, money, career and other matters unmentionable.

“This musical is definitely rated R,” said Patience Long, executive director at The Center for the Arts. “While some of the subjects are very sensitive, when puppets do the talking, it takes the conversation from uncomfortable to funny, so it’s a way to tackle subjects that have been too risky to discuss in the past.”

The Center for the Arts is mostly known for family-friendly productions, but since increasing the number of shows offered to the public, they have spread their wings.

“We’ve seen dramatic growth since 2015, which has allowed us to hire additional staff, pay some of our tech artists, and offer a more diverse season,” said Long.

Avenue Q won Best Musical, Book and Score at the 2004 Tony Awards.

Avenue Q’s cast consists of three human characters and 11 puppet characters who interact as if human, animated and voiced by puppeteers who are on stage, unconcealed. The show draws inspiration from and imitates the format of Sesame Street, but the characters are young adults who face real-world problems with uncertain solutions, as opposed to the simplistic problems and invariably happy resolutions encountered by characters on children’s television programming.

Lacey Pate-Taylor with Kate Monster

Tickets start at $16 and are on sale at boroarts.org, by calling 615-904-ARTS (2787), or at the Center for the Arts Box Office, 110 W. College St., in downtown Murfreesboro.

Avenue Q performance times include 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, July 8, 9, 15, 16, 22 and 23, and 2 p.m. on Sundays, July 10, 17 and 24.