Here is a link to the NY Times' review of AVENUE Q. I'm particularly intrigued by Ben Brantley's consideration of the role of irony in the contemporary (musical) theater-goer's sensibility. He points out that Avenue Q is only the second musical on Broadway targeted specifically at the younger (under 40) demographic - the first is RENT, which I saw again last month for the first time in a few years. Of course, Off-Broadway has churned out it's share of these, but none have showed the staying power of Jonathan Larson's breakthrough opus. [Worth noting, too, that Rent's profits have helped underwrite Baz's LA BOHEME as well as AVE Q.]
Brantley's comments about irony make me recall an interview with Adam Guettel which he gave in Seattle at the time of the opening of THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA. Adam announced his desire to create a musical without irony, and he's certainly a member of the under-40 AVE Q generation. But I suspect Adam doesn't care too much about what the "typical" member of his generation is seeking from their theatergoing experience.