Necessary Roughness

It’s becoming a yearly tradition to pick up floor seats for Sesame Street Live. My older twin loved the show, and my younger one was done at halftime.

I saw what I think is a minor improvement in Sesame Street lore. Cookie Monster in days of old ate cookies and the occasional letter. In the last ten years ago they really tried to play that down, and Cookie Monster ate healthy foods. Now cookies are back, as a “sometimes food.” Wonder if they got a grant from Archway or Nabisco.

Basic premise: Super Grover has lost his “super-ness,” essentially consisting of his ability to fly. While he tries to figure out why throughout most of the show, four other muppets step up to the plate and deal with situations. Grover finds out that he needs proper sleep, hygiene, eating, etc., to maintain his super-ness.

	Front Stage Our seats were quite close to the front stage. Occasionally characters would come out to interact with the kids.
	Selling Balloons During Intermission One could procure Elmo’s head for $8 (we did not). After the balloons were sold out, Big Bird reminded everyone over the PA system to put the balloons under their chairs so people could see. We saw three on their way to the ceiling within minutes. Maybe that could have been handled better somehow.
	Oscar’s World My favorite “emergency”: Oscar has taken over Elmo’s World to make it his own. Oscar gave the audience his idea of good hygiene. Every time he said “hygiene,” his salamander, Gene, would interrupt, “Hi, Oscar.” Cute. Elmo, of course, saves the day as his superhero alter-ego, “Captain Fuzzy.”
	Production Number Super Grover is happy to have his powers back, and they sing the finale.