Editor’s note: the final performance is on 2/23!
It was a sunny day at Sesame Street Live Elmo Makes Music. I sang and danced in my seat from start to finish with all my favorite Sesame Street friends as they welcomed Jenny, a new music teacher, to Sesame Street. When the truck with Jenny’s instruments gets delayed, the whole Sesame cast learns to make music with everyday objects from Oscar’s trash can to rubber duckie. They also plan surprises and solve problems along the way-it was an educational adventure! My Sesame friends even danced into the aisles and waved hello to all their favorite fans in the audience. I waved my new Elmo wand in delight!
My favorite friends Bert and Ernie opened the show with the letter of the day “J” and number of the day “8.” Once we got to know J and 8, I heard one of my favorite melodies, the Sesame Street theme song. It was music to my tiny, toddler ears. As it played out came all of my favorite Sesame characters on stage: Elmo, Abby, Zoe, Bert and Ernie, Cookie, Rosita, Telly, Big Bird, and more. Anyone was anyone was there! They transitioned right into the “People in Your Neighborhood,” an oldie but goodie, and met the new person in the nieghborhood, Jenny. Soon after, we all began learning to use your voice as an instrument and to use everyday objects to make music, too. I personally made music with my voice and by kicking the seat in front of me. It was music to my ears but some didn’t seem to appreciate it.
The show kept getting better and better as each Sesame character found a unique instrument to surprise Jenny with since her instruments were still missing. Cookie sang “C is for Cookie” (a total platinum Sesame hit) and made music doing a cookie rumba with Rosita. I was wiggling and jiggling my hips and cheering along. Then we sang B for Bert and E for Ernie which led into the whole “Alphabet Song.” I know that one by heart and sang along cheering for myself and my Sesame friends. Lots of little friends in the audience knew the song and were encouraged to sing along, too. It was a fun-tastic informative sing-along!
As happy as ABC made everyone, Grover and Rosita were feeling “Fuzzy and Blue” and sang all about it. But by the end they were happy and doing flips (literally) with some funky friends in glow in the dark shoes and outfits. It lit up the stage – literally and figuratively. Their feet made great music and Grover and Rosita figured out their instrument-their toes! We were next transported to Elmo’s World where Elmo, Dorothy, and Mr. Noodle all came to help Elmo learn about music. It felt like I was in the middle of my favorite TV segment. I got to sing along as we sang the music song at the end and clapped and cheered for Elmo and company. It rocked Elle’s World!
Before I knew it my old buddy Bert made a cameo in a white suit (Bert looked quite dapper if I do so say myself ) and launched into a disco version of “You Should Be Dancing.” Bert and friends sang all kinds of great disco music with us in the auidence joining in, too. Everyone was bouncing and boogying along with their special instruments to surprise Jenny. I personally liked Abby’s horn and Telly’s triangle until Count outdid them with a singing number 8. We counted up to the number eight and he launched into a song about the number eight set to the song “Fame.” Mommy seemed to really enjoy that number. Go figure eight! Ha!
After an hour and a half show with a 15 minutes intermission (during which they sold awesome double sided balloons that had Elmo on one side and Cookie on the other for $10 each), Jenny still didn’t have her instruments. But everyone on Sesame Street kept the surprise along with help from the whole audience (yes, I kept the secret, too) and they surprised Jenny by singing “Dance to the Music” and playing all their super cool instruments for the grand finale. I can’t wait to try out a few at home myself. And then they brought down the house singing “Sing a Song,” a Sesame Street classic once the instruments finally arrived at the very end.
From dancing to “The Hustle,” to learning Big Bird is a canary as he and birdie friends rocked out to “Rockin’ Robin,” “Elmo Makes Music” featured our whole family’s favorite Sesame and other hit songs. It was a rocking good time and had me making music all day long! I cannot wait to go make music on Sesame Street again soon. Rock on!
