The VEE Corporation of Minneapolis has handled production of the Sesame Street Live arena shows for twenty years. Our family had a chance to preview the show as guests of the crew for a dress rehearsal.
When Super Grover loses his superness, Sesame Street needs a hero! Never fear, your favorite Sesame Muppet friends are here. Get set to join The Fabulous Five, a new team of Sesame heroes, as they work to put the "super" back in Super Grover. Teaching lessons of healthy habits through song and dance, your favorite Sesame Street friends will explore exercise, nutrition, sleep/energy and hygiene – all in a quest to get Super Grover ready for action.
Last year, we previewed the show Elmo’s Coloring Book. I have never really been an Elmo fan. He took over the Sesame Street show beginning in 1985. He still has his own “Elmo’s World” segment near the end of every show. My understanding is that Sonia Manzano (Maria) is married to Kevin Clash who performs and voices the Elmo Muppet. Sonia is a writer for the show. I thought I caught that from a Sesame Street special. Even without this spot of gossip, it is clear that Elmo has had a leg up on the show. Elmo is about a 3 to 4 year old according to his bio. Grover is more like a six year old. Grover has probably suffered the most from the barging in of his younger cousin.
Elmo does not stand out any more than any other Muppet in this Super Grover show. And the other Muppets finally seem to have his number. There was an episode of Sesame Street (Elmo Feels He's Treated Unfairly By Rocco) where Zoe’s pet rock Rocco kept taking Elmo’s turn on the swing. In the Super Grover show, Rocco becomes one of the fabulous five superheroes. He goes by the superhero name of “Rock Rock” according to Zoe. Elmo is exasperated and says, “Rocco is only a rock!” Zoe ignores Elmo’s taunts and declares that he is a very smart rock. Rocco is smarter than Elmo is, obviously. My biggest laugh in the whole show was during Oscar the grouch’s segment where he takes over Elmo’s show to become Oscar’s world. He refers to Elmo as “The Red Menace” Bwahahaha!
A wedge of Emmentaler Swiss Cheese with eyes and a Captain’s hat plays (“his holeyness”) “The Big Cheese”. The Big Cheese is responsible for the dispatch of Super Grover.
All the characters strive to show how eating right, excercise and sleep will help you stay healthy and keep your superness.
There is one human character, probably to help kids relate to the muppets. She goes by the name of “K”. She has several cute costumes in the show. My favorite was the 50’s pink skirted waitress bringing the healthy food for everyone. I would pronounce this show good for the 6 year old crowd, as they can relate to Grover. The prices seem a little high for these stadium shows. When you include downtown parking and concessions, you could be looking at Fifty dollars a head. So this show has to be a special treat. In addition, the seating can be far away if you do not score good tickets in advance.
