Sesame Street Live: When Elmo Grows Up

Recently I decided to take my two children, Georgie, 4, and Marina, 1 1/2, to see Sesame Street Live: When Elmo Grows Up at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach. As avid Sesame Street fans, I was excited about the opportunity for my kids to see their favorite characters, life size and on stage. Knowing from experience to not announce what we are going to do until we are ready to go do it, I surprised the kids after breakfast. As we were cleaning up I said "Surprise- we're going to see Elmo!" My son screamed and my daughter just smiled and said "Mo?" The excitement and anticipation on their faces was palpable, and it didn't stop as we drove to the Ocean Center. During the twenty minute drive my son must have asked me a dozen times "Are we there yet?" As we pulled into the parking lot there was no mistaking what everyone was there to see. The parking lot was a sea of little kids, all dressed in their Elmo best. As I parked and we got out of the car, I realized that I was pretty excited too. After all, I had also grown up watching Sesame Street and it felt good, even nostalgic, to share this with my kids.

Once inside the theatre, we found our seats, but nobody wanted to sit. "Sunny Days," the theme song for Sesame Street, was playing and Georgie and Marina decided to dance in the aisles with some of the other kids in the audience. Finally, the lights dimmed and the kids all knew that was their cue to take their seats because the show was about to begin. I couldn't help laughing to myself, thinking about how fast the convention of taking our seats and being quiet when the lights dim are known to us.

This production of Sesame Street Live consisted of two acts. The first Act opened with Big Bird helping Prairie Dawn with a pageant about what you want to be when you grow up. Soon, all of the characters were on stage, dancing and singing about what they wanted to be when they grew up. A firefighter, forest ranger, and police man were just some of the ideas thrown out during the song. In fact, everyone but Elmo had an idea about what they wanted to be. Poor Elmo, even when he's confused he is adorable, and the children in the audience clapped and cheered louder for him on stage than anyone else. Looking around, I could see the adults smiling and enjoying the show as well. In Act I, we see Telly the Monster wanting to be a Cowboy, Grover wants to be a Police Officer, Bert & Ernie are going to be Forest Rangers, Abby Cadabby is a fairy in training, (she received alot of cheering, like Elmo) and Cookie Monster plans on being a fire fighter. At the end of the first act, kids were getting up from their seats and you could just see and feel the pure joy that was on their faces.

Act II opened in Elmo's World, where Elmo was still confused about what he wanted to be when he grew up. He thought that all of the ideas that the other muppets had sounded like alot of fun. Next is Baby Bear, who wants to be a train engineer. When he can't get his train to go toot-toot, Big Bird asks the audience to say toot-toot for Baby Bear. To my delight, Marina was participating, saying toot-toot, and clapping. Of course, Oscar the Grouch had to be there, and he just loves trash, so he and Elmo sing a song about loving trash. Elmo even wants to work with Oscar and trash! Finally, Elmo realizes that by being in the pageant with his friends, he can pretend to be everything that he wants to be, and once again, all of the characters are on stage, singing and dancing. As the muppets sang their last song, alot of them came down into the audience and were high fiving and hugging some of the kids. Telly the Monster actually scared Marina, who was dancing in the aisle- he almost ran her over! Overall, the show was very entertaining- it held my kid's and the others attention throughout the show, which was probably a good hour and a half. That's alot for this age group!

Reading the program, I realized what a full scale production this was. There is a Director, Choreographer, Music and Lighting Director's, and Art Director's. I also thought that it was interesting that alot of the characters voices were by one actor. For example, Frank Oz voiced Bert, Cookie Monster, and Grover. In addition, Caroll Spinney was the voice for Oscar and Big Bird. The entire show was high energy, lots of music and dancing, and a wonderful bonding experience for me with Georgie and Marina.