Jackson Evans and Leah Morrow in the 2014 run of AVENUE Q at the Mercury | Brett Beiner

Mercury Theater Chicago has announced the cast for a remount of their production of Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez’s grown-up “Sesame Street” spoof AVENUE Q, playing June 21 through September 9. The Mercury’s 2014 run played to over 30,000 people in 169 performances.

Jackson Evans returns as Princeton and Leah Morrow will reprise her Jeff Award-nominated role as Kate Monster. Daniel Smeriglio and Stephanie Herman return as Nicky and Lucy the Slut. New cast members include Jonah D. Winston as Trekkie Monster, Christian Siebert as Rod, Audrey J. Billings as Christmas Eve, Matthew Miles as Brian and David S. Robbins as Gary Coleman. John Gurdian, Andrew Lund, Maxton Smith, Janelle Villas and Stephanie Wohar round out the ensemble. The production is designed by Alan Donahue (scenery), Rachel Boylan (costumes), Dustin L. Derry (lighting) and Max Maxin IV (video). Kristi Martens is the stage manager with assistant Kaitlin Moser.

L. Walter Stearns directs, with Eugene Dizon as musical director and Kevin Bellie providing choreography. The Mercury’s custom puppets are by Russ Walko. Rick Lyon, who was a puppeteer on Sesame Street for 15 seasons, designed the original AVENUE Q puppets, and originated the roles of Trekkie Monster, Nicky, and other characters, will lead puppetry training for the Mercury’s cast.

Stearns says that the real magic of the show is when the audience “forgets that the puppets are nothing more than fur and felt and start to believe they have a mind, heart and soul.”

More info at mercurytheaterchicago.com.