Sesame Street Live!

'Sesame Street Live! 'was a tetralogy of live stage shows occurring between late winter and late fall 2021. The first show took place at Madison Square Garden from Feb. 14-15, the second show was at Staples Center from May 12-13, the third was at Wembley Arena from Aug. 10-11, and the fourth at Rogers Centre from Nov. 16-17.

Ernie and Bert are the hosts of a two-hour variety show (directed by Prairie Dawn with assistant Trevor Monster) featuring their Sesame Street friends, as they desperately try to salvage the show amid shortcomings and last-minute changes. Unlike other Sesame Street live shows, these shows utilized the official puppets used on the show itself rather than walk-around costume versions. The puppeteers, clad in black, are completely exposed to the audience, while two large screens loom over both sides of the stage, both of which frame only the Muppet characters. Unusual for a live show, the Muppet performers both spoke and sang live, making the experience slightly different for each show.

In addition, celebrities make cameos throughout the show (who vary from show to show), including Jason Isaacs, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bobby Moynihan, Neil Patrick Harris, Seth Rogen, Bill Hader, Rosie O'Donnell, John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, John Ratzenberger, Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Trejo, The Wiggles (Greg Page, Murray Cook, Jeff Fatt, Anthony Field) and Friends, Paul Williams, Hayden Christensen, Steve Burns (of Blue's Clues fame), Randy Rainbow, Ryan Reynolds (reprising his role as Deadpool), and Mark Hamill as the voice of the Joker.

Highlights
Guy Smiley ("America's favorite game show host") introduces the show and the acts that the audience is about to see.

Ernie, Bert, and others sing a medley comprised of: "Somebody Come and Play", "Sesame Street Theme", "Rubber Duckie", "Doin' the Pigeon", "C is for Cookie", "ABC-DEF-GHI", "Song of the Count", and "Welcome!"

Ernie explains the history of Sesame Street, including its co-creator Joan Ganz Cooney, the influence of Jim Henson and his Muppets, the importance of music on the show, and the topics it has tackled over the years, from healthy habits and social skills to emergencies and death.

Ernie spotlights the numerous co-productions of Sesame Street from around the world, including Mexico, Germany, the Netherlands, Kuwait, Israel, Egypt, India, Spain, France, Brazil, China, Japan, Bangladesh, Russia, South Africa, Canada, Indonesia, Palestine, Portugal, Norway, Turkey, Poland, Northern Ireland, and Britain (The Furchester Hotel). He and Bert originally scheduled a parade of international Muppets, but according to Prairie Dawn (who's barefoot throughout the show because her shoes are being shined and her socks are "this week's dirty laundry"), no one from the international streets could make it, citing time concerns and travel costs.

Oscar the Grouch sings "I Love Trash", while some other Grouches present the trash mentioned in the song. Slimey the Worm, a rebuilt Bruno the Trashman, Oscar's mother, and Irvine also make appearances.

Zoe leads some monster friends and the audience in a performance of "A Very Simple Dance".

Elmo leads Trevor Monster in a performance of "Sing After Me". Since Ryan Dillon performed both Elmo and Trevor, Trevor was performed onstage by another puppeteer, lip-synching to Dillon's live vocals.

The Two-Headed Monster spells out a word and illustrates its meaning (FLY at MSG, RUN at Staples, DUCK at Wembley, and BOOM at Rogers).

Ernie, clad in his pajamas, sings and tap dances to "Dance Myself to Sleep" with some Muppet sheep while playing his bugle, even inviting Abby Cadabby and Prairie Dawn to dance with him. Abby is instantly eager to join in, while Prairie is initially reluctant, but after Ernie offers her dancing advice ("Let your feet feel the beat and your body does the rest."), she and Abby get so caught up in tap dancing that they continue even after Ernie heads for bed ("This is so much fun, I don't think I'll ever fall asleep!" exclaims Prairie). The scene was executed in front of a black background, with nine puppeteers, three for each Muppet, dressed all in black and invisible to the audience.

In Ernie's dream, he sings "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon" with Christopher Cerf (MSG), Billie Eilish (Staples), Celine Dion (Wembley), and Randy Rainbow (Rogers). Several other Sesame Street Muppets make cameos during the song, including Slimey (referencing a story arc from the show's 29th season in which Slimey became one of five worms to fly to the Moon), a Martian, Wanda Cousteau, some Muppet goldfish, Chicago the Lion, Herb the Dinosaur, classic character Shivers the Penguin, some Muppet penguins, Gladys the Cow, Alfred Duck, Buster the Horse, and Iago the Donkey.

Murray Monster makes his triumphant return, and plays "One of These Things" with his old friend Ovejita the lamb.

In Cookie Monster's Foodie Truck, Cookie Monster and Chef Gonger prepare a cheesesteak (MSG), calamari (Staples), haggis (Wembley), and cabbage rolls (Rogers).

The Oinker Sisters perform "A New Way to Walk".

Accompanied by Prairie Dawn on piano, Herry Monster on bass, and Hoots the Owl on saxophone, Trevor Monster sings "Bein' Green". Throughout the song, he lampshades the oddity of a yellow monster singing a song about the color green, lamenting that he's the wrong color before singing ("Oscar didn't want to sing it, so...") and changing one of the final lyrics from "I'm green, and it'll do fine" to "If I were green, it would do fine".

The Honkers dance and honk to "Honk Around the Clock", until they destroy the clock offstage.

Prairie Dawn (MSG, Staples) and Rosita (Wembley, Rogers) sing "Copacabana" with The Oinker Sisters as backup singers, with Anything Muppets taking on the roles of Lola (Lavender), Tony (Green) and Rico (Pumpkin). Prairie's era-appropriate outfit consists of a black bowtie atop her head, bronze earrings, a maroon dress cut down to the top of her legs, and silver rings decorating her toes. Rosita's attire includes a Carmen Miranda-inspired hat, a frilly dress that stretches to her legs, and blue fabric attached to her arms (resembling her original winged arms from pre-2004). Character cameos include Guy Smiley, Louie, Mae, Freddy, Mama Bear, Papa Bear, Humphrey, Ingrid, Leo the Party Monster, Sherlock Hemlock, Little Chrissy, The Amazing Mumford, Barkley, Watson, Polly Darton, Lefty the Salesman, Don Music, Mr. Honker, a Dinger, Roosevelt Franklin's Mother, Little Jerry, Professor Hastings, Sam the Robot, Captain Vegetable, Harvey Kneeslapper, Simon Soundman, Herbert Birdsfoot, Benny Rabbit, Colambo, Lulu, Deena, Pearl, Stinky the Stinkweed, Madame Chairbird, Ferlinghetti Donizetti, Placido Flamingo, Sonny Friendly, Leo Birdelli, Bug, Narf, Mel, Googel, Phoebe, Roxie Marie, Merry Monster, Ruby, some Pesties, Biff and Sully.

Ernie and Rosita perform "El Patito", a parody of "Despacito", about Rubber Duckie.

Cookie Monster and some Muppet foods sing the hip-hop song "Healthy Food".

The Wiggles perform a medley consisting of: "Big Red Car", "Get Ready to Wiggle", "Fruit Salad", "Hot Potato", "Can You Point Your Fingers and Do the Twist?", "Captain Feathersword Fell Asleep on His Pirate Ship", "Dorothy the Dinosaur", "Wags the Dog", "Move Your Arms Like Henry", "Vegetable Soup", "Do the Monkey", "Balla Balla Bambina", and "The Wiggle Groove".

During intermission, Weldon the Internet troll appears, and attempts to drive the audience away from the theater. (This sketch was only performed at Staples Center)

Ernie, some backup monster singers (including Trevor Monster), Cookie Monster and Gonger sing a humorous parody of "Bohemian Rhapsody", called "Cookie's Rhapsody". The song is about Cookie Monster as he becomes wrecked with guilt after he eats a flan that was meant for Gonger, with the singers not helping him feel better at all. Near the end, Gonger arrives and tells Cookie he's not angry at him; Gonger doesn't like flan. Cookie smiles, then breaks down in quiet tears as Gonger comforts his friend.

In a new installment of "Monsterpiece Theater", Alistair Cookie reviews a trailer for humorous film parodies: a film based on the Super Morphin Mega Monsters (themselves parodies of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers franchise) starring Elmo, Zoe, Telly Monster and Rosita (MSG), Grouch (a parody of the Todd Phillips-directed Joker) starring Oscar (Staples), Star S'mores: The Rise of Piewalker (spoofing Star Wars' ninth film installment) starring an older Luke Piewalker and Princess Parfaia, and two new Muppets; Brulee (a parody of the character Rey from the sequel trilogy) and Kylo Creme (spoofing Kylo Ren) (Wembley), and a Sesame interpretation of The Producers starring Oscar as Max Bialystock and Telly as Leo Bloom, with The Count as Franz Liebkind, Rosita as Ulla, and Bert and Ernie as Roger De Bris and Carmen Ghia (Rogers).

A 20-second "Parade of Classic Sesame Street Muppets" which marches by Ernie and Bert (in lieu of the parade of international characters). The Muppets in the parade vary from show to show: Roosevelt Franklin, Little Bird, The Amazing Mumford, Farley, Rodeo Rosie, Merry Monster, Sherlock Hemlock, Betty Lou, Forgetful Jones, Barkley (MSG); Roosevelt Franklin, Little Bird, Sherlock Hemlock, Betty Lou, Biff, Sully, Harvey Kneeslapper, Don Music, Forgetful Jones, Lefty the Salesman (Staples); Roosevelt Franklin, Little Bird, Placido Flamingo, Sherlock Hemlock, Betty Lou, Frazzle, Kingston Livingston III, Wolfgang the Seal, Forgetful Jones, Benny Rabbit (Wembley); Roosevelt Franklin, Little Bird, Roxie Marie, Sam the Robot, Sherlock Hemlock, Betty Lou, Baby Natasha, Alice Snuffleupagus, Forgetful Jones, Simon Soundman (Rogers).

Prairie Dawn plays a slower, lower-pitched version of Beethoven's "Fur Elise" on her piano.

Grover performs "Monster in the Mirror" with some other monsters. The twin Grover in the mirror was achieved with an identical spare Grover puppet behind a mirror frame, lip-synched to Eric Jacobson's vocals by another puppeteer. Backup singers include Maurice Monster, Clancy, Kermit the Forg, Harvey Monster, Harry Monster, Bruce Monster, the lavender Frazzletone, and Billy Monster.

Ernie invites the viewers (and Bert) to play three rounds of "Guess What's Next", first using household items (to create a shape pattern), fruits and vegetables (to create a color pattern), and finally Muppet animals. The sketch ends with Horatio the Elephant running amok.

Dr. Thad and the Medications return, once again singing "Ten Commandments of Health" while their patient, Mr. Johnson (Harvey P. Dull in the Wembley Arena show) repeats the commandments.

Stunt Monster Grover attempts a dangerous act or unnatural magic trick: cutting through a pineapple on Telly's head while blindfolded (MSG), assisting Prairie Dawn in summoning the spirit of an infamous figure (Staples), shooting a laser beam arrow through an apple atop Mr. Johnson's head (Wembley), and using mind powers to reverse time to the first episode of Sesame Street (Rogers).

Bert (MSG), Ernie (Staples), Grover (Wembley), Elmo (Rogers) and some Anything Muppets perform "People in Your Neighborhood", spotlighting a dentist, a baker (MSG), a postman, a firefighter (Staples), a doctor, a grocer (Wembley), a teacher and a bus driver (Rogers).

Ernie and Hoots the Owl perform "Put Down the Duckie" with Mama Bear and the Monsters.

Backstage, Trevor Monster finds Prairie Dawn in her dressing room, trying to give herself a pedicure, but she isn't sure whether to paint her toes ruby red or baby blue. Trevor tells Prairie she's needed at rehearsal; Zoe is leading her monster friends in a water ballet routine, set to a composition from Swan Lake. After finding out that the ballet dancers have left because they can't afford the rights to use the music from Swan Lake, Trevor allows Prairie to resume her pedicure; by then, she's decided to use lavender polish for her nails. (In the MSG and Staples shows, this takes place shortly before "Copacabana")

Ernie, three Honkers, and a Dinger perform "The Honker-Duckie-Dinger Jamboree".

Bip Bippadotta and three Anything Muppets sing "Fat Cat". As in the original version, Bip runs up and annoys the other three with a fast scat that combines the four main rhymes in each verse and others.

In a remake of a classic Sesame Street sketch, Ernie and Bert invite the Count to a sleepover at their apartment, with Bert offering to sleep on the couch so the Count can take his bed. However, the Count finds he is unable to fall asleep, so Ernie suggests counting (Muppet) sheep as they jump over a (CGI) fence, which the Count does, complete with his trademark thunder and lightning, which startles and frightens Ernie. The next morning, the Count wakes up feeling cheerful and energetic, leading to Bert believing the Count had slept well last night, to which the Count retorts, "Slept? Who slept?" It's soon apparent that the Count had kept Ernie awake all night long with his counting, as Ernie is now sleepwalking and counting in a monotonous voice. The Count asks Bert if he can have another sleepover, to which an exasperated Ernie collapses.

Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Big Bird, Chicago the Lion, Butch the Tiger, Horatio the Elephant, Kathleen the Cow, Dawg the Dog, Chip and Dip, Poco Loco, The Big Bad Wolf, Joey and Davey Monkey, Ralphie the Parrot, Athena the Owl, a Muppet bear, fish, sheep, goat, frog, chicken, pig, horse, gnu, camel, crocodile, toucan, penguin, duck, robin, woodchuck, mouse, kangaroo, cricket, gorilla, koala, zebra, ostrich, snake, crow, rooster, raccoon, skunk, polar bear, and the Twiddlebugs sing "We Are All Earthlings".

Ernie, the other Sesame Street Muppets and the various guest stars sing "Sing" as the closing number.

For an encore, Ernie, Abby, Elmo, Bert, Prairie Dawn, and the other Sesame Street Muppets and guest stars perform "Just One Person", with Ernie thanking the guest stars before the final verse. After the song, the Muppet performers take their bows, with the main performers receiving a roll call.

Cast
Jennifer Barnhart as Zoe, Maggie Cadabby, Mama Bear, Granny Bird, Lead Oinker Sister

Bill Barretta (Staples Center only) as Louie

Warrick Brownlow-Pike as Gonger

Tyler Bunch as Louie, Ricardo, Benny Rabbit, Chewie the Cookie, Firefighter

Sarah Burgess (Wembley Arena only) as Phoebe Furchester-Fuzz, additional Muppets

Leslie Carrara-Rudolph as Abby Cadabby, Rosa, Parfaita, Oinker Sister, Rose

Kevin Clash (Staples Center only) as Elmo, Hoots the Owl

Frankie Cordero as Rudy, "Fat Cat" Green Singer

Stephanie D'Abruzzo as Prairie Dawn, Mae, Brulee, Lead Oinker Sister, Female Teacher

Ryan Dillon as Elmo, Trevor Monster, Kylo Creme, "Fat Cat" Fat Blue Singer, Bert understudy

Dave Goelz (Staples Center only) as Sly the Secretary Bird

Louise Gold as Funella Furchester (Wembley Arena only), additional Muppets

Stacey Gordon as Julia

Eric Jacobson as Bert, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, Two-Headed Monster, Guy Smiley

Peter Linz as Ernie, Herry Monster, Daniel, Luke Piewalker, Zostic

Joseph Mazzarino as Murray Monster

Robert Mills (Rogers Centre only) as Sly the Secretary Bird, additional Muppets

Carmen Osbahr-Vertiz as Rosita, Ovejita

Martin P. Robinson as Telly Monster, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Sly the Secretary Bird (MSG only), Slimey

David Rudman as Cookie Monster, Baby Bear, Two-Headed Monster, Freddy, Chicago the Lion

Andrew James Spooner (Wembley Arena only) as Furgus Fuzz, additional Muppets

Neil Sterenberg (Wembley Arena only) as Harvey P. Dull, additional Muppets

Matt Vogel as Big Bird, Count von Count, Mr. Johnson, Frazzle, Ernie understudy

Steve Whitmire (Staples Center only) as Weldon the IT Guy

Mak Wilson (Wembley Arena only) as Sly the Secretary Bird, additional Muppets

Additional Muppets performed by Pam Arciero (Grundgetta, Doctor), Anthony Asbury, Heather Asch, Jake Bazel, Tau Bennett, Cheryl Blalock, Rickey Boyd, Lindsay Z. Briggs (Dalia), Lisa Buckley, R. Bruce Connelly (Barkley), Austin Michael Costello, Jamie Donmoyer, Matthew Furtado, Mark Gale, Cameron Garrity, Elizabeth Hara, Christopher Thomas Hayes (Hoots the Owl), Haley Jenkins (Karli), Avery Lee Jones, Vicki Kenderes-Eibner, John Kennedy (Bip Bippadotta, "Fat Cat" Lavender Singer, The Amazing Mumford, Dentist), Kathleen Kim (Elena), Adam Kreutinger, James Kroupa, Timothy Lagasse (Baker), Weston Chandler Long, Spencer Lott (Samuel), Rick Lyon, Lara MacLean, Noel MacNeal (Dr. Thad, Postman), Jim Martin, Paul McGinnis (Clem, Grocer), Anney Fresh McKilligan-Ozar, Andrew Moriarty, Kathryn Mullen, Karen Prell (Bus Driver), David Quesal, Joey Rudman, Andy Stone, John Tartaglia (Male Teacher), Gabriel Velez, Jack Vogel, James Wojtal Jr., Eric Wright, and Bryant Young.

Additional Muppets at Madison Square Garden performed by Billy Barkhurst, Lawrence Basgall, Nate Begle, Carol Binion, Ron Binion, Matthew Brooks, Ceili Clemens, Josh Cohen, Melissa Creighton, Carol D'Agostino, Bill Diamond, Ben Durocher, Jodie Eichelberger, David Matthew Feldman, Olga Felgemacher-Marin, Galen Fott, Aymee Garcia, Noah Ginex, James Godwin, B.J. Guyer, Andy Hayward, Patrick Daniel Holmes, Liz Joyce, Joe Kovacs, Mary Robinette Kowal, Michael Latini, Matthew Lavin, Amanda Faith Maddock, Wayne Martin, Ed May, Tracie Mick-Shoemaker, Annie Peterle, Marc Petrosino, Abby Roderick, Michael Schupbach, Michael Schwabe, Thom Stanley, David Stephens, Lisa Sturz, and Daniel Weissbrodt.

Additional Muppets at Staples Center performed by Brad Abrell, Grant Baciocco, Gregory Ballora, David Barclay, Timothy Blaney, Julianne Buescher, Kevin Carlson, Raymond Carr, Nathan Danforth, Dorian Davies, Alice Dinnean-Vernon, Artie Esposito, Peggy Etra, Darci Lynn Farmer, Thomas Fountain, Terri Hardin, Rachel Herrick, Patrick Johnson, Sean William Johnson, James Kemp, Donna Kimball, Bruce Lanoil, Jayden Libran, Paul Louis, Drew Massey, Jess McKay, Alison Mork, James Murray, Michael Oosterom, Brett O'Quinn, Michael Quinn, Carla Rudy, Michelan Sisti, David Skelly, Colleen Smith, Alan Trautman, Jack Venturo, Russ Walko, Chase Woolner, and Victor Yerrid.

Additional Muppets at Wembley Arena performed by Donald Austen, William Banyard, Sue Beattie, Mikey Brett, Simon Buckley, Dave Chapman, Marcus Clark, Sheila Clark, Richard Coombs, Paul Currie, Phil Eason, John Eccleston, Josh Elwell, Iestyn Evans, Damien Farrell, Phil Fletcher, Lisa Gillespie, Andy Heath, Brian Herring, Mark Jefferies, Chris Kendall, Stephen Kynman, Ronnie Le Drew, Rebecca Nagan, Wim Oppenheimer, Nigel Plaskitt, Sally Preisig, Collin Purves, Gillie Robic, Gary Rutter, Helena Smee, Kat Smee, Ollie Taylor, Chris Thatcher, Heather Tobias, William Todd-Jones, Robert Tygner, Julie Westwood, Victoria Willing, and Michael Winsor.

Additional Muppets at Rogers Centre performed by Terry Angus, Lee Armstrong, Adam Behr, Stephen Brathwaite, Jenny Cassady, Morris Chapdelaine, Kanja Chen, Ben Deutsch, Todd Doldersum, Ali Eisner, Matt Ficner, Tim Gosley, Kelly Haines, Kira Hall, Ingrid Hansen, Jason Hopley, Jani Lauzon, Trish Leeper, Jordan Lockhart, Benton Lowe, Alexander Mantia, Frank Meschkuleit, Pier Paquette, John Pattison, Michael Petersen, James Rankin, Daniel Redican, Geoffrey Redknap, Gordon Robertson, James Rowley, Sandra Shamas, Jamie Shannon, Ron Stefaniuk, Marty Stelnick, Fred Stinson, Bob Stutt, Jeff Sweeney, Karen Valleau, Cheryl Wagner, and Wende Welch.