'Avenue Q' closes on Broadway

New York

On Sunday night, "Avenue Q," the not exactly family-friendly puppet musical — with such lesson-imparting numbers as "The Internet Is for Porn" and "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist" — closed after more than 6,500 performances, a six-year run on Broadway and nearly 10 years off-Broadway.

As the show's stage manager since its tryout run at the Vineyard Theater in February 2003, Christine M. Daly has wrangled puppets and performances, protected the director's initial vision, and made sure everything has run smoothly, on and offstage.

After a raucously applauded final performance at New World Stages, Daly talked about 16 years on "Avenue Q." These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Q: How are you feeling right now?

A: I cried a little during the show. But I don't think I'll process it until I've been away for more than a week and I realize I'm not coming back from vacation.

I'm a little bit relieved, too, because the whole thing is done. We got through it and everything went well. And I'm a little bit anxious about what comes next.

Q: Back in 2003, did you have any sense of how long you might work on the show?

A: They had to talk me into doing it! The Vineyard Theater asked me three times because I had told them they didn't pay well enough and I needed to make a living. I eventually said yes when they told me that Broadway producers were involved.

We kind of knew, as long as things went well, that we would shift to Broadway. We knew we were a good show. But even then we were "the little puppet show." Everybody was saying, "Oh, in six months we'll be gone."

But the audiences took to it. The opening night on Broadway was amazing. It was 800 people and they loved us, and all of a sudden it was just that huge wave of sound and support. They were looking...