Rockefeller Productions, a production company based in New York, lead by American/Australian producer, director and writer, Jonathan Rockefeller, has put on several successful family musicals over the years, including The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show and Disney’s Winnie the Pooh. I had heard good things about the Winnie the Pooh production, but when I heard they were staging an off-Broadway musical about Sesame Street, I was in. It helped that the show runs daily and in the afternoon, so Friday afternoon, which traditionally is a matinee wasteland, was a lock.
Sesame Street the Musical includes several classics, including C is for Cookie, Rubber Duckie and the Sesame Street theme, but my interest was in the original music added to the show, written by several songwriters including Broadway-composer-of-the-moment Tom Kitt and up-coming-Broadway-composer Helen Park (KPOP the musical). All of the music in entirely toddler-friendly. This is definitely not Avenue Q.
The show itself is simple. The Muppets of Sesame Street endeavor to put on a Broadway show, but they need a guest star. A human “audience member” wanders on stage and is instructed on how to be a performer. Sprinkled into the main story are a few classic scenes with Bert and Ernie, Elmo, the Count and the Cookie Monster. There is some brilliant puppetry work, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, Muppets are arguably the most popular and well-known puppets in the world.
It’s an adorable, hour-long show. Of course, the nostalgia of Sesame Street from our youths was fun, but seeing the kids react to the various Muppets was delightful.
As I understand it, there are nights where the audience is a mix between families and adults (where three adult men would fit in), but this was not one of them, haha. Luckily, I suggested we sit in the back row, so we could sneak in and out without feeling like creeps.
Sesame Street the musical played off and on at Theater 555 in New York City from September 22, 2022 until December 31, 2023. A national tour has been announced.
https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Sesame_Street:_The_Musical
One response to “We can tell you how to get to Sesame Street (review)”
My favorite part was right after Cookie Monster had a big solo, the MC walked onstage, and as Romani music lightly faded-in and a Spooky Castle set unveiled behind him, asked who we might hear from next?
A little kid in the front row stood up and yelled, “Cookie Monster!”
The Disco set, the Romani music with The Count, and extra-tall background dancers (“Ooohh!” reverberated throughout the crowd) whose hips swiveled (it took 3 puppeters) were other favorites.
Perhaps the sweetest part is that the puppeteers themselves get no recognition since, of course, the Muppets are real and it’s them that take the bows.