Sesame Street Live! is a hexad of live stage shows occurring between late winter and late fall 2021. The first show took place at Madison Square Garden in New York from Feb. 14-15, the second show was at Staples Center in Los Angeles from Apr. 12-13, the third was at Amway Center in Orlando from Jun. 10-11, the fourth at Wembley Arena in London from Jul. 20-21, the fifth at Rogers Centre in Toronto from Sept. 16-17, and the final show at International Convention Centre Sydney from Nov. 18-19.
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, and presenting new performances of classic Sesame Street songs and sketches, as well as covers of musical classics such as "Send in the Clowns", "Clap for the Wolfman", and "Copacabana". 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 all in black, are exposed to the audience, while two large screens loom over both sides of the stage, both of which frame only the Muppet characters (however, the performers reveal themselves during the roll call). 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 original Wiggles (Greg Page, Murray Cook, Jeff Fatt, Anthony Field) and Friends, Elvis Costello, Paul Williams, Hayden Christensen, Steve Burns (of Blue's Clues fame), Randy Rainbow, Michael Buble, Billie Eilish, Celine Dion, Sia, Ryan Reynolds (reprising his role as Deadpool), and Mark Hamill as the voice of the Joker.
The shows were produced by Sesame Workshop, the Jim Henson Company, HIT Entertainment, Sony Wonder, Sirius Thinking Ltd., Fred Rogers Productions, WGBH Educational Foundation, FilmRise, Big Idea Entertainment, and Scholastic Media (a rare instance of a Scholastic-produced project that isn't a media adaptation of their books); the current Sesame Workshop logo, the 1992 Jim Henson Productions logo (with "Productions" replaced with "The Jim Henson Company"), the 2001 HIT Entertainment logo, the 1995 Sony Wonder logo, the Sirius Thinking Ltd. logo, the Fred Rogers Productions logo, the 1977 WGBH logo, the classic FilmRise logo, the 1999 Big Idea Entertainment logo, and the 2003 Scholastic logo are all seen during the beginning of each show. The MSG, Staples Center, and Amway Center shows aired on local PBS stations (WNET, KCET, and WUCF-TV), as well as on PBS Kids and Universal Kids, on Jan. 18, 2022, while the Wembley Arena, Rogers Centre, and ICC Sydney shows aired on BBC and CBeebies, YTV and Treehouse TV, and ABC and ABC Kids in Australia, respectively, the next day. The week after, they were shown on WGBH in Boston, WQED in Pittsburgh, ABC, NBC, CBS, CBC, HBO and HBO Family, FOX, Nickelodeon and Nick Jr., Cartoon Network, CBBC, Citytv, TBS, TNT, the CW, Boomerang, Paramount Network, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, and Freeform.
All six shows were released on DVD, Blu-ray, Ultra-HD Blu-ray and digital download by Shout! Factory in May 2022, complete with bonus material, including behind-the-scenes footage, bios on the Muppet characters and their performers, a photo gallery, a sing-along feature, trailers for other Shout! Factory titles, and more. They were also released on the HBO Max streaming service in early August 2022, as well as on the Noggin mobile streaming app.
Highlights
Oscar the Grouch opens the show by singing the "Grouch Anthem" with some Grouches. (This song was performed at Madison Square Garden, Staples Center and Amway Center)
A Muppet version of Queen Elizabeth II (performed by Louise Gold) tries to find her seat before the show starts. (This was only shown at Wembley Arena)
An Anything Muppet Mountie (performed by Eric Jacobson) leads the audience in singing "O, Canada". (This song was only performed at Rogers Centre)
A Muppet kangaroo named Keeshan (performed by Matt Vogel) goes over a few safety instructions for the audience before the show starts. (This was only shown at ICC Sydney)
Trevor Monster, Prairie Dawn, Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Count von Count, and Elmo 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", "Elmo's Song", 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. Telly Monster interrupts Ernie in the MSG show, frantically searching for the bathroom (not to go, but to search for his hairbrush), where Ernie tells him is at the end of the hall leading to the stage to the right. He is interrupted by Grover in the Staples Center show, who explains that he missed the tour bus to the arena, so a "pretty limo driver" named Marissa (played by Colleen Smith) drove him instead. Grover asks Marissa to drive him around L.A., since he won't be needed in the show for a while. In response, she drags him away by his nose. In the Amway Center show, Abby Cadabby interrupts Ernie by magically appearing and disappearing constantly to mess with him. When asked why she is doing this, Abby confesses that she wanted to play hide-and-seek with him.
Ernie spotlights the many 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. Ernie wonders if they could instead stage a salute to professional wrestling (MSG), comic books (Staples), American theme parks (Amway), children's television characters (Wembley), the animal kingdom (Rogers), and the nations of the world (ICC Sydney), but the idea is shut down by Prairie.
A Lavender AM caricature of Michael Jackson lip-syncs to Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel", with backup by three Anything Muppet singers.
Oscar sings "I Love Trash", while other Grouches present the trash mentioned in the song. Grundgetta, Slimey the Worm, a rebuilt Bruno the Trashman, Oscar's mother, and Irvine also make appearances. At the song's end, Oscar tries to feed his 13-month-old newspaper with fish filling to a Muppet raccoon, animals that Oscar calls "a Grouch's best friend", who happily chows down...at everything in Oscar's trash can.
Zoe leads Julia and some monster friends, and the audience, in a performance of "A Very Simple Dance".
Elmo leads Trevor Monster (and the audience) in a performance of "Sing After Me". Since Ryan Dillon performed both Elmo and Trevor, Trevor was performed on-stage by another puppeteer, lip-synching to Dillon's live vocals.
The Two-Headed Monster spells out a word and demonstrates its meaning (BOOM at MSG, DANCE at Staples, SWIM at Amway, RUN at Wembley, FLY at Rogers, and DUCK at ICC Sydney).
Prairie Dawn leads the Count and the audience in a rendition of "Beep". Like in the original song, while Prairie demonstrates how to remember simple numbers by saying "beep" that number of times, the Count asks about higher and higher numbers, until Prairie grows frustrated and runs off.
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 (calming down after the "Beep" fiasco) 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), Randy Rainbow (Staples), Michael Buble (Amway), Billie Eilish (Wembley), Celine Dion (Rogers), and Sia (ICC Sydney). Several 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, a Muppet shark, a Muppet octopus, Chicago the Lion, Herb the Dinosaur, Shivers the Penguin, some Muppet penguins, Wolfgang the Seal, Old MacDonald, Gladys the Cow, Alfred Duck, Buster the Horse, Fred the Wonder Horse, some Muppet dogs, Little Murray Sparkles, Chip and Dip, and Iago the Donkey.
Murray Monster makes his triumphant return, and plays "One of These Things" (changed to "Three of These Things" in the Staples Center, Amway Center, and Wembley Arena shows) with his old friend Ovejita the lamb, using scissors, a sheet of paper, a bottle of glue, and a rock (MSG); Murray, Ovejita, and two other monsters (Staples); a cat, a dog, a mouse, and a tiger (Amway); a towel, a rubber duck, a bar of soap, and a pillow (Wembley); a kiwi, a pineapple, a plum, and a jellybean (Rogers); and a baseball, a basketball, a golf ball, a tennis ball, and an American football (ICC Sydney).
In Cookie Monster's Foodie Truck, Cookie Monster and Chef Gonger prepare beef Stroganoff (MSG), seven-layer dip (Staples), watermelon gazpacho (Amway), hasenpfeffer (Wembley), cordon bleu (Rogers), and cabbage rolls (ICC Sydney).
Ernie introduces the audience to "the bathtime boogie that's sweeping the nation" as he invites them to "Do De Rubber Duck", sung by Zoe instead of Ernie himself, who originally sang the song (though he does provide duckie squeaks). She's soon joined by Telly, Oscar, Abby (singing Kermit the Frog's verse from the original version), the Count, Grover (singing Biff's verse), Guy Smiley, Gladys the Cow, and Hoots the Owl. While not getting verses, Elmo, Rosita, Baby Bear, Little Bird, Rudy, and Julia also appear in the bathroom. At the end of the song, the other characters disappear a la getting sucked down the drain.
After a spirited introduction from Mr. Snuffleupagus, The Oinker Sisters perform "A New Way to Walk".
Accompanied by four AM Monsters on piano, guitar, saxophone, and flute, 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.
Rosita sings "Copacabana" with The Oinker Sisters as backup singers, and Anything Muppets taking on the roles of Lola (Lavender), Tony (Green) and Rico (Pumpkin). Her 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, Maggie Cadabby, Roosevelt Franklin, Prairie Dawn, Betty Lou, Mama Bear, Papa Bear, Humphrey, Ingrid, Leo the Party Monster, Sherlock Hemlock, Little Chrissy and the Alphabeats, The Amazing Mumford, Barkley, Watson, Polly Darton, Lefty the Salesman, Little Bird, Don Music, Mr. Honker, a Dinger, Roosevelt Franklin's Mother, Little Jerry and the Monotones, Professor Hastings, Granny Fanny Nesselrode, Sam the Robot, Captain Vegetable, Harvey Kneeslapper, Simon Soundman, the Busby Twins, Monty, Herbert Birdsfoot, Benny Rabbit, Colambo, Lulu, Deena, Pearl, Stinky the Stinkweed, Madame Chairbird, Kingston Livingston III, Meryl Sheep, Ferlinghetti Donizetti, Dexter, Lily, Placido Flamingo, Elizabeth, Sonny Friendly, Leo Birdelli, Tough Eddie, Aristotle, Sherry Netherland, Bug, Narf, Mel, Googel, Phoebe, Roxie Marie, Merry Monster, Ruby, Leslie Mostly, some Pesties, Biff and Sully. Baby Tooth and the Fuzzy Funk dance in the background.
Prairie Dawn, reading a book, sings "In My Book" with the characters mentioned in the song, including Butch the Tiger, Chicago the Lion, a Muppet alligator, an Orange Gold pirate, and a Pumpkin sorcerer.
Ernie and Rosita perform "El Patito", a parody of "Despacito", about Rubber Duckie. Ovejita and Herry, both operated by different puppeteers, provide background music.
In a backstage segment, Lloyd Ahlquist and Peter Shukoff teach Oscar how to vent out his grouchiness with a rap battle.
Elmo sings "In Your Imagination". Wolfgang the Seal and Hoots also make appearances.
Abby sings "Imagine That". Other characters in the song include Ernie (who originally sang the song) as a king, the Muppet horse used as Pferd on Sesamstrasse, a Muppet dragon, and Elmo as a sea captain.
Cookie Monster sings the hip-hop song "Healthy Food", joined by a Muppet pineapple, apple, bread, pear, and broccoli. Later, they're joined by a Muppet tomato, banana, lettuce, potato, corn, eggplant, bell pepper, cucumber, carrot, peach, beet, zucchini, and pumpkin.
The Count and some Muppet sheep perform "Lambaba". Mary from "Mary Had a Little Lamb", Little Bo Peep, a Muppet ram, duck, cow, chicken, and dog also make appearances.
To slow down the show's pace, the Sesame Street Muppets perform a medley of "nice and easy" songs. Ernie sings "Smile" by Charlie Chaplin (with the orchestration being a slowed down, low-tone version of Jimmy Durante's cover), Trevor sings "That's Life" by Frank Sinatra (the music is from Sinatra's cover, albeit slowed down and low-tone), and Hoots sings "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong (again, a low-tone mix of the original version). Elmo, Zoe, Big Bird, Abby Cadabby, Bert, Grover, Telly, Rosita, Prairie Dawn, Baby Bear, Betty Lou, and Rudy are the backup singers.
In a diner setting, Bert, seated at an otherwise empty table, sings "Send in the Clowns" as he waits for a potential date, accompanied by a band consisting of Ernie on trumpet, Elmo on violin, Prairie Dawn on piano, Hoots on saxophone, Rosita on acoustic guitar, Baby Bear on flute, Telly on tuba, Herry on bass, Trevor on clarinet, and Abby on harp. The tragic scene is juxtaposed with footage of Grover, Zoe, Cookie Monster, Gonger, the Two-Headed Monster, Rudy, Murray Monster, Ovejita, a Honker, and several AM Monsters dressed as circus clowns, as a literal pun on the song's title. The orchestration and pitch of the song are taken from Frank Sinatra's cover.
Abby and Telly sing a duet of "Little Things" and "Picture a World", while admiring Muppet butterflies, flowers, and other forms of nature.
Big Bird sings "When the River Meets the Sea", accompanied by Prairie Dawn on piano, Elmo on violin, and Rosita on acoustic guitar. He is soon joined by the other Sesame Street Muppets on backup, and in the Staples Center show, by Paul Williams (who wrote the song).
To lighten the mood, Grover, Herry and Cookie Monster sing "Fuzzy and Blue". Elmo enters, wanting to join them despite being fuzzy and red. The three give in, and change the song to "Fuzzy and Blue (and Red)".
The Michael Jackson Muppet takes the stage again, this time lip-synching to Jackson's "Thriller".
The Wiggles perform a medley of "Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga, Big Red Car", "Big Red Car", "Here Come The Wiggles", and parts of "Get Ready to Wiggle", "Fruit Salad", "Hot Potato", "Can You Point Your Fingers and Do the Twist?", "Rock-a-bye Your Bear", "Captain Feathersword Fell Asleep on His Pirate Ship", "Wiggly Party", "Hey Now, Let's Have a Party!" and “Do the Wiggle Groove". During "Here Come the Wiggles", instrumentals of "Dorothy the Dinosaur", "Move Your Arms Like Henry", "Wags the Dog", and "Go Captain Feathersword, Ahoy!" are heard as the Wiggly Friends are introduced.
During intermission, Weldon the Internet troll appears, and attempts to drive the audience away from the theater. (This sketch was only performed at Amway Center). The intermission music is "Pinball Number Count".
Ernie, some backup monster singers, 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; he doesn't even like flan. Cookie smiles, then breaks down in quiet tears as Gonger comforts his friend.
Big Bird, Elmo, Ernie, Abby, Zoe, Prairie Dawn, Trevor, Rosita, Bert, Oscar, Grover, Cookie Monster, The Count, Herry, Telly, Baby Bear, Snuffy, Hoots, the Two-Headed Monster, Gonger, Little Bird, Roosevelt Franklin, Betty Lou, Barkley, Alice Snuffleupagus, and Mr. Johnson all sing "What's the Name of That Song?"
In a new installment of "Monsterpiece Theater", Alistair Cookie reviews 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), Batmonster & Red Robin (a spoof of the 1960s' Batman TV series and tie-in movie) starring Cookie Monster and Elmo as superheroes battling Muppet versions of the Joker, voiced by Mark Hamill, and Harley Quinn, voiced by Tara Strong, with the help of Super Grover and Commissioner Prairie Dawn (Amway), Star S'mores: The Rise of Piewalker (spoofing Star Wars' ninth film installment) starring an older Luke Piewalker and Princess Parfaita, and four new Muppets; Brulee (a parody of the character Rey from the sequel trilogy), Kylo Creme (spoofing Kylo Ren), Fin the Fish (a take on Finn) and the evil Emperor (a spoof of Emperor Palpatine) (Wembley), The Producers starring Oscar as Max Bialystock, Telly as Leo Bloom, The Count as Franz Liebkind, Rosita as Ulla, Bert and Ernie as Roger De Bris and Carmen Ghia (Rogers), and a documentary film starring Cookie Monster spoofing Steve Irwin as "The Cookie Hunter" (with Zoe as a parody of Terri Irwin), a famous conservationist defending wildlife and their habitats against a vicious game hunter who seeks to kill every animal in a jungle, in The Cookie Hunter: Call of the Wild (ICC Sydney).
A 20-second "Parade of Classic Sesame Street Muppets" that marches by Ernie and Bert (in lieu of the parade of international characters). The parade Muppets change each 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, Professor Hastings, Herbert Birdsfoot, Sherlock Hemlock, Betty Lou, Polly Darton, Sonny Friendly, Forgetful Jones, Clementine (Amway); Roosevelt Franklin, Little Bird, Placido Flamingo, Sherlock Hemlock, Betty Lou, Frazzle, Kingston Livingston III, Wolfgang the Seal, Forgetful Jones, Simon Soundman (Wembley); Roosevelt Franklin, Little Bird, Roxie Marie, Dr. Nobel Price, Sherlock Hemlock, Betty Lou, Baby Natasha, Alice Snuffleupagus, Forgetful Jones, Benny Rabbit (Rogers); Roosevelt Franklin, Little Bird, Ruby, Humphrey, Ingrid, Sherlock Hemlock, Betty Lou, Leo the Party Monster, Forgetful Jones, Deena (ICC Sydney).
The Michael Jackson Muppet returns for a third performance, lip-synching to "Billie Jean".
Prairie Dawn plays a slower, lower-pitched version of Beethoven's "Fur Elise" on her piano.
The Count and some backup Anything Muppets sing "Clap for the Wolfman", with Jackman Wolf providing witty quips. The music is played by a monster band consisting of Elmo on acoustic guitar, Telly on tuba, Herry on bass, Murray on electric guitar, the Two-Headed Monster on keyboard, Gonger on drums, and Trevor on saxophone.
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.
In perhaps their first time in a duet, Zoe and Prairie Dawn sing "Loud and Soft"; Zoe enjoys singing loud, low, and long, while Prairie prefers to sing soft, high, and short. They're soon joined by Big Bird and Snuffy, with Big Bird singing loud, high, and long, and Snuffy singing soft, low, and short. They all agree on one thing, though; they like to sing good. Details about Zoe and Prairie are revealed before the song (for instance, whereas Zoe is fond of ballet, Prairie prefers to tap dance; and while Prairie likes to play the piano, Zoe loves to play music on a trombone).
Ernie invites the audience (and Bert) to play three rounds of "Guess What's Next", first using household items to create a shape pattern (circle, square, triangle), fruits and vegetables to create a color pattern (red, orange, yellow, green), and finally Muppet animals (duck, sheep, penguin, chicken, cow). The sketch ends with Horatio the Elephant running amok and the entire cast running for their lives.
Dr. Thad and the Medications sing "The 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), attempting to become the first monster to successfully jump over the Moon (Staples), revealing his mastery at card manipulation (Amway), shooting a laser beam arrow through an apple atop Mr. Johnson's head (Wembley), using mind powers to reverse time to the first episode of Sesame Street (Rogers), and assisting Prairie Dawn in creating a real-life version of a comic book character (ICC Sydney).
Bert (MSG), Ernie (Staples), Telly (Amway), Grover (Wembley), Elmo (Rogers) and Big Bird (ICC Sydney) sing "People in Your Neighborhood", spotlighting a trash collector, a barber (MSG), a postman, a firefighter (Staples), teachers, a newsdealer (Amway), a grocer, a doctor (Wembley), a dentist, a bus driver (Rogers), a baker and a cleaner (ICC Sydney), all played by Anything Muppets. In each version, the main singer uses the AM's attire and accessories to figure out what their job is.
Backed by a jazz band of Anything Muppets, Hoots sings "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch", with "Grinch" changed to "Grouch" to make the song about Oscar.
Hoots next performs "Put Down the Duckie" with Ernie, and backup by the AM jazz band.
The Count and his bats teach "The Batty Bat", a dance that he reminisces of learning as a boy in his ancestors' castle in his native Transylvania, to the audience.
Backed by Mama Bear and the Monsters, Grover sings "New York, New York". (This song was only performed at MSG)
Cookie Monster and Gonger take the stage to sing "Immigrant Song". Ovejita and Trevor supply background music. (This song was only performed at Staples Center)
Bert takes the stage to sing "Can't Stop the Feeling". (This song was only performed at Amway Center)
The Sesame Street Muppets sing "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions". (This song was only performed at Wembley Arena)
Riding motorcycles, Cookie Monster and a gang of biker monsters sing "Born to Be Wild". (This song was only performed at Rogers Centre)
Mama Bear and the Monsters perform "Waltzing Matilda". (This song was only performed at ICC Sydney)
In a park, Oscar, Grundgetta, and a chorus of Grouches sing "I'm Sad Because I'm Happy" as characters like Baby Bear, Telly, Trevor, Rosita, Abby, Grover, Herry, Elmo, Zoe, Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, Gonger, Prairie Dawn, Roosevelt Franklin, Betty Lou, Little Bird, and Benny are blown away in a hurricane. (The Staples Center version replaces Grover with Mr. Johnson, since the former is still yet to leap over the Moon)
The Sesame Street Muppets perform a "Salute to Broadway", which consists of excerpts of select songs from A Chorus Line, A Little Night Music, Annie, Annie Got Your Gun, Avenue Q, The Book of Mormon, Cabaret, Carousel, Cats, Chicago, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Fiddler on the Roof, Grease, Gypsy, Hair, Hairspray, Hamilton, Hello Dolly!, Into the Woods, The King and I, Les Miserables, Little Shop of Horrors, Mamma Mia!, Man of La Mancha, Mary Poppins, The Music Man, My Fair Lady, Oklahoma!, Paint Your Wagon, The Phantom of the Opera, The Producers, Rent, The Rocky Horror Show, Singin' in the Rain, The Sound of Music, South Pacific, Spamalot, West Side Story, Wicked, and The Wizard of Oz, among other shows. (This sketch was only performed at Madison Square Garden)
The Sesame Street Muppets perform a "Salute to Disney", consisting of excerpts of songs from 101 Dalmatians, Aladdin, Bambi, Beauty and the Beast, The Black Cauldron, Cinderella, Coco, Dumbo, The Fox and The Hound, Frozen, The Great Mouse Detective, Hercules, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Jungle Book, Lady and the Tramp, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Moana, Mulan, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Pocahontas, The Princess and the Frog, Robin Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Song of the South, Tangled, Tarzan, Toy Story, and Winnie the Pooh, among other films. (This sketch was only performed at Staples Center)
Muppet-style marionettes, performed by special guest puppeteers the Chiodo Brothers, dance along to "I'm a Gummy Bear (The Gummy Bear Song)". (This sketch was only performed at Amway Center)
A Muppet marionette performed by special guest puppeteer Barnaby Dixon dances to "Bad Romance". (This sketch was only performed at Wembley Arena)
In a disco setting, Zoe, in an attire inspired by John Travolta from Saturday Night Fever, and Abby, with an attire patterned after Ginger Rogers, dance to songs including "I Will Survive", "Car Wash", "Celebration", "That's the Way I Like It", "Funky Town", "YMCA", "Got to Be Real" and "Sesame Street Fever", while other Muppets watch and cheer them on. (This sketch was only performed at Rogers Centre)
Elmo and Zoe dance with robotic versions of themselves to "One Click Headshot". (This song was only performed at ICC Sydney)
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 Bert to believe the Count had slept well last night, to which the Count reveals that he didn't sleep at all. It soon becomes 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 exhausted Ernie collapses.
Telly, alone onstage, sings "All By Myself" and "My Heart Will Go On". The orchestration and pitch of both songs are taken from Celine Dion's covers.
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, Iago the Donkey, Athena the Owl, Jamie Fox, Preston Rabbit, Shelley the Turtle, a Muppet bear, fish, sheep, goat, frog, chicken, pig, horse, gnu, camel, alligator, toucan, penguin, duck, turkey, robin, woodchuck, mouse, kangaroo, cricket, gorilla, moose, beaver, koala, zebra, ostrich, snake, crow, rooster, raccoon, skunk, polar bear, and the Twiddlebugs sing "We Are All Earthlings". During the song, a montage plays of various different habitats and animals, at one point showing Big Bird in his nest.
Big Bird leads the audience in singing "Sing" and "One Small Voice" as part of the closing medley. For the third song in the medley, Ernie, Abby, Elmo, Bert, Prairie Dawn, and the other Sesame Street Muppets perform "Just One Person".
For an encore, the Sesame Street Muppets sing "The Street I Live On". (This song was performed at every arena except Amway Center)
For an encore, the Sesame Street, The Muppets, Fraggle Rock, and Bear in the Big Blue House characters all come together to sing "We Are the World". (This song was only performed at Amway Center)
After the song, the Muppet performers take their bows, with the main performers receiving a curtain call. Toots Thielemans' classic harmonica instrumental of the Sesame Street theme song plays as the audience leaves the theater.
As the music ends, Ernie tells one final joke. In the Madison Square Garden show, he says, "Thank you, everyone! We just love being at the Garden. There's just one thing it needs: flowers!" At Staples Center, the joke is, "Ah, Los Angeles! The people here are so nice! Of course, when you're called "the City of Angels", it comes with the territory." At Amway Center, the joke is, "I tell ya, there isn't a place lovelier than right here, in Orlando, Florida! Of course, I also love Miami. And my uncle." The Wembley Arena joke is, "London, England. I'm glad we put on a show across the pond. After all, we're already mainstream." The joke at Rogers Centre is, "Toronto, Canada, home of the CN Tower and the Rogers Centre. I'm kinda disappointed they don't also have the Keeshan Arena." (a joke about Fred Rogers AKA Mister Rogers and Bob Keeshan AKA Captain Kangaroo) The ICC Sydney joke is "Sydney, Australia. Everything about it is just so top-notch beautiful. Too bad it's sometimes called "the land down under." After the joke, Ernie does his signature laugh and walks off.
Cast
The Sesame Street Muppet Performers
Jennifer Barnhart
Zoe, Abby's Mom, Mama Bear, Gladys the Cow, Granny Bird
Bill Barretta
Elmo's Dad
Warrick Brownlow-Pike
Gonger
Tyler Bunch
Jackman Wolf, Rosita's Dad, Chewie the Cookie, Firefighter, Elmo's Dad understudy
Leslie Carrara-Rudolph
Abby Cadabby, Rosita's Mom, Brulee, Oinker Sister, Raccoon, Rose, Harley Quinn puppeteer
Kevin Clash
Elmo, Hoots the Owl, Benny Rabbit
Frankie Cordero
Rudy
Stephanie D'Abruzzo
Prairie Dawn, Elmo's Mom, Lulu, Oinker Sister, Curly Bear, Princess Parfaita, Doctor Patient
Ryan Dillon
Trevor Monster, Baker, Hunter puppeteer, Elmo understudy
Dave Goelz
Sly the Secretary Bird (Amway Center)
Stacey Gordon
Julia
Brian Henson
Sly the Secretary Bird (Staples Center)
Eric Jacobson
Bert, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, Guy Smiley, Kylo Creme, Mountie, Two-Headed Monster understudy
Peter Linz
Ernie, Herry Monster, Julia's Dad, Luke Piewalker, Frazzle
Joey Mazzarino
Murray Monster, Two-Headed Monster, Papa Bear, Stinky the Stinkweed, Zostic
Carmen Osbahr
Rosita, Ovejita
Martin P. Robinson
Telly Monster, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Sly the Secretary Bird (MSG), Slimey, The Emperor
David Rudman
Cookie Monster, Baby Bear, Two-Headed Monster, Rudy's Dad, Chicago, Green Medication, Cleaner
Matt Vogel
Big Bird, Count Von Count, Mr. Johnson, Fin the Fish, Keeshan the Kangaroo, Murray understudy
Steve Whitmire
Weldon the IT Guy
Additional Muppet Performers: Pam Arciero (Grundgetta, Oinker Sister, Dentist Patient), Anthony Asbury (Barber), Heather Asch, Connor Asher, Billy Barkhurst, Gene Barretta, Jackson Barretta, Jake Bazel, Nate Begle, Tau Bennett, Carol Binion, Ronald Binion, Rickey Boyd, Cheryl Blaylock, Lindsey Briggs (Karli's Mom), Lisa Buckley, Julianne Buescher (Female Teacher), Raymond Carr, Bruce Connelly (Barkley), Geri Cole, Austin M. Costello, Melissa Creighton, Alice Dinnean (Barber Customer), Jamie Donmoyer, Jodi Eichelberger, David Matthew Feldman, Olga Felgemacher, Matthew Furtado, Mark Gale, Aymee Garcia, Rob Gardner, Cameron Garrity, James Godwin, Louise Gold (Funella Furchester, Queen Elizabeth II Muppet), BJ Guyer, Ingrid Hansen, Liz Hara, Christopher Hayes (Hoots understudy), Andy Hayward, Patrick Holmes, Cedwan Hooks, Morgana Ignis (Sly body double), Haley Jenkins (Karli), Avery Jones, David Joyner (Sly body performer), Camille Kampouris, James Kemp, Vicki Kenderes-Eibner, John Kennedy (Bip Bippadotta, Dentist, Pumpkin Medication), Kathleen Kim (Julia's Mom), Joe Kovacs, Adam Kreutinger, Jim Kroupa, Tim Lagasse ("Fat Cat" Lavender Singer, Male Teacher), Michael Latini, Aria Linz, Mica Linz, Michael Lisa, Weston Chandler Long, Spencer Lott (Samuel), Rick Lyon (Trash Collector), Lara MacLean, Noel MacNeal (Dr. Thad, Postman, Big Bird double), Amanda Maddock, Annie Peterle, Jim Martin (Grocer), Ed May, Paul McGinnis (Karli's Dad, "Fat Cat" Fat Blue Singer), Anney McKilligan Ozar, Megan Piphus, Tracie Mick, Andrew Moriarty, Alison Mork, Kathryn Mullen (Newsdealer), Marc Petrosino, Karen Prell (Bus Driver, Joker puppeteer), Mike Quinn, David Quesal, Adam Rudman, Joey Rudman, Phoebe Rudman, Joe Sabatino, Sam of The Zing Zongs, Michael Schupbach, David Stephens, Andy Stone, Lisa Sturz, John Tartaglia ("Fat Cat" Green Singer, Doctor, Lavender Medication), Gabriel Velez, Jack Vogel, James Wojtal, Eric Wright, Bryant Young (Snuffy back performer)
Additional MSG Muppet Performers: Drew Allison, Christian Anderson, Anthony Stokes, Lawrence Basgall, David Bizzaro, Matthew Brooks, Brian Carson, Arlee Chadwick, Ceili Clemens, Josh Cohen, David Corris, Carole D'Agostino, Ben Durocher, Bill Diamond, Elizabeth Ann Berg, Mindy Escobar-Leanse, David Fino, Galen Fott, Sarah Frechette, Jessica Carleton, Noah Ginex, Sam Jay Gold, Sarah Goone, Gretchen Wylder, Jenny Hann, Jessica Simon, David Liebe Hart, Zach Haumesser, Keri Horn, David Hosay, Brenda Huggins, Jason Jacoby, John Cody, Brodrick Jones, Ulysses Jones, Liz Joyce, Katie Boren, Matt Dengler, Will Keating, Robb Killen, Veronica J. Kuehn, Maggie Lakis, Marta MacRostie, Anika Larsen, Matthew Lavin, Vito Leanza, Lee Bryan, Amy Rush, Brendan Malafronte, Emily Marsh, Wayne Martin, Rob McClure, Cathy McCullough, Megan McNerney, Kirsty Moon, Jason Murphy, Jim Napolitano, Sarah Nolen, Adam Pagdon, Chris Palmieri, Bakari Prigg, Bill Remington, Mary Robinette Kowal, Abby Roderick, Christina Rodriguez, Kelli Sawyer, Christine Schisano, Benjamin Schrader, Michael Schwabe, Thom Stanley, Steven Widerman, Sarah Stiles, Howie Michael Smith, Ian Sweetman, Amanda Villalobos, Daniel Weissbrodt, Chad Williams, Evy Wright, Stacey Weingarten, "Lucky" Matt Yates, Teddy Yudain
Additional MSG Muppet Performers (DVD material): Kevin Abrams, Clay Achee, Matt Acheson, Jamie Agnello, Angelo Aiello, Kim Allen, Nehprii Amenii, Dolph Amick, Danny Bacher, Josh Bacher, Aretta Baumgartner, David Benoit, Bonni Benton, Evy Berman, Toby Billowitz, John Boone, Kerri Brackin, Kate Brehm, Mary Brehmer, Lute Breuer, Vince Broelmann, Beau Brown, Nate Brown, April Brucker, Leanne Brunn, Michael Bush, Justin Campbell, Jonathan Carlucci, Alanna Chuyan, Spencer Cohen, Todd Coyle, Mauree Culberson, Gavin Cummins, Oliver Dalzell, Julia Darden, Emily DeCola, Chris DeVille, Sheila Devitt, Sophie Doyle, Benjamin Elling, Bob Fappiano, Neal Figueroa, Barrett Foa, Preston Foerder, Lexy Fridell, Robin Frohardt, Honey Goodenough, Mandy Goodwin, Admiral Grey, Scott Hitz, Jon Hoche, Joshua Holden, Leah Holleran, Kristi Hughes, Kyle Igneczi, Chandler Jackson, Dave Jadico, Dorothy James, Greg Jarnigan, Kirsten Kammermeyer, Reay Kaplan Maxwell, Jean Marie Keevins, Sarah Lafferty, Tiffany Lange, Aaron Lathrop, Matt Leabo, Nick Lehane, Gina Leigh, Kate Lippstreu, Michael Liscio Jr., Jonathan Little, David Lloyd Olsen, Rowan Magee, Andy Manjuck, Alex May, Robin May, Neil McNally, Meghan Miller, Jamie Moore, Megan Murtha, Nathan Neorr, Eric Novak, Sara Outing, Tim Parati, Nate Puppets, Brittany L. Reid, Jed Resnick, Seth Rettburg, Aaron Roberge, Amy Robinson, Chuck Robinson, Gwendolyn Rooker, Jessica Scott, Kelley Selznick, Kristofer Sommerfeld, Christina Stone, Drew Torkelson, Emily Tucker, Russell Tucker, Basil Twist, Jay Tyson, Gregg Van Laningham, Cynthia Von Orthal, Rachel Wickham Shane, Susan Widerman, Emma Wiseman, Isaac Woofter, Emily Zemba, Jeffrey Zwartjes
Additional Staples Center Muppet Performers: Brad Abrell, Grant Baciocco, Greg Ballora, David Barclay, Tim Blaney, Kevin Carlson, Catherine Adell, Kristin Charney, Benjamin Siemon, Brian Clark, Nathan Danforth, Dorien Davies, Artie Esposito, Peggy Etra, Genevieve Flati, Roberto Ferreira, Thom Fountain, Dan Garza, Alex U. Griffin, Sam Koji Hale, Terri Hardin, Rachel Herrick, Gwen Hollander, John Jennings, Patrick Johnson, Sean Johnson, Scott Johnson, Brian Jones, Donna Kimball, Bruce Lanoil, Erik Kuska, Scott Land, Len Levitt, Jayden Libran, Paul Louis, Darci Lynne Farmer, Drew Massey, Jess McKay, Ted Michaels, Danny Montooth, Derek Lux, Russell Nauman, James Murray, Michael Oosterom, Brett O'Quinn, Sarah Oh, Christine Papalexis, Chris Heady, Rachel Appelbaum, Jared Ramirez, Steven Ritz-Barr, Carla Rudy, Paul Rugg, Nicolette Santino, Michelan Sisti, Joe Selph, Pam Severns, Chad Ethan Shohet, David Skelly, Colleen Smith, Allan Trautman, Jack Venturo, Janine Pibal, Amber Reeder, Andy Rocco Kraft, Art Vega, Alex Villa, Russ Walko, Robin Walsh, Vanessa Whitney, Mary Faber, Victoria Johnson, Kevin Noonchester, Rachel Redleaf, Mark Bryan Wilson, Molly Fite, Charles Hubbell, Cheri Vanden Heuvel, Chase Woolner, Victor Yerrid
Additional Staples Center Muppet Performers (DVD material): Keiko Agena, Joe Annabi, Richard Bay, Taylor Bibat, Tyler Bremer, Rachel Burson, Neil Cicierega, David Crespin, Terry Fator, Leila Ghaznavi, Meegan Godfrey, Art Grueneberger, Morgana Ignis, Carl J. Johnson, Kevin Johnson, Kelvin Kao, Kelsey Kato, Kate Katz, Jonathan Kidder, Doug Kincaid, Tim Kopacz, Frank Langley, Adrian Rose Leonard, Todd Gerson Levin, Greg Manion, Shaun McNamara, Randal J. Metz, Heiko Obermoller, Michael Paul Ziegfeld, Lexi Pearl, Sarah Kay Peters, Ian Petrella, Eli Presser, Casey Pyke, Melissa Roja, Rob Saunders, Tomas Seidita, Daniel Selon, Jeff Speetjens, Kenny Stevenson, Trey Stokes, David Strassman, Miles Taber, Norman Tempia, Zachariah Tolchinsky, Winston Tong, Steve Troop, Paul Turbiak, Tony Urbano, Russ Vick, April Warren, Scott Woodard, Michelle Zamora
Additional Amway Center Muppet Performers: Brad Abrell, Catherine Adell, Drew Allison, Nehprii Amenii, Joe Annabi, Christian Anderson, Rachel Appelbaum, Grant Baciocco, Greg Ballora, David Barclay, Lawrence Basgall, Richard Bay, Daniel Becker, Kaitlin Bellamy, Elizabeth Ann Berg, Sarah Berman, David Bizzaro, Tim Blaney, Katie Boren, Kelsey Brady, Matthew Brooks, Lee Bryan, Jessica Carleton, Kevin Carlson, Brian Carson, Arlee Chadwick, Kristin Charney, Neil Cicierega, Brian Clark, Ceili Clemens, John Cody, Josh Cohen, Spencer Cohen, Jeff Conover, David Corris, Carole D'Agostino, Nathan Danforth, Julia Darden, Dorien Davies, Emily DeCola, Matt Dengler, Bill Diamond, Ben Durocher, Mindy Escobar-Leanse, Artie Esposito, Peggy Etra, Mary Faber, Bob Fappiano, Terry Fator, Roberto Ferreira, David Fino, Molly Fite, Genevieve Flati, Barrett Foa, Galen Fott, Thom Fountain, Sarah Frechette, Matthew Furtado, Dan Garza, Noah Ginex, Meegan Godfrey, Sam Jay Gold, Sarah Goone, Alex U. Griffin, Sam Koji Hale, Jenny Hann, Terri Hardin, David Liebe Hart, Zach Haumesser, Chris Heady, Rachel Herrick, Cheri Vanden Heuvel, Jennifer Himes, Jon Hoche, Gwen Hollander, Keri Horn, David Hosay, Charles Hubbell, Brenda Huggins, Chris Iannuzzi, Morgana Ignis, Jason Jacoby, John Jennings, Carl J. Johnson, Patrick Johnson, Scott Johnson, Sean Johnson, Victoria Johnson, Brian Jones, Brodrick Jones, Ulysses Jones, David Jordan, Liz Joyce, Will Keating, Robb Killen, Donna Kimball, Mary Robinette Kowal, Andy Rocco Kraft, Veronica J. Kuehn, Erik Kuska, Maggie Lakis, Scott Land, Frank Langley, Bruce Lanoil, Anika Larsen, Matthew Lavin, Vito Leanza, Adrian Rose Leonard, Calvin Lester, Len Levitt, Jayden Libran, Paul Louis, Derek Lux, Darci Lynne Farmer, Marta MacRostie, Brendan Malafronte, Greg Manion, Emily Marsh, Wayne Martin, Drew Massey, Rob McClure, Cathy McCullough, Jess McKay, Neil McNally, Shaun McNamara, Megan McNerney, Ted Michaels, Danny Montooth, Kirsty Moon, Jason Murphy, James Murray, Jim Napolitano, Russell Nauman, Sarah Nolen, Kevin Noonchester, Eric Novak, Sarah Oh, Michael Oosterom, Brett O'Quinn, Adam Pagdon, Chris Palmieri, Christine Papalexis, Ian Petrella, Janine Pibal, Felix Pire, Bakari Prigg, Nate Puppets, Jared Ramirez, Rachel Redleaf, Amber Reeder, Bill Remington, Steven Ritz-Barr, Julio Robles, Abby Roderick, Christina Rodriguez, Carla Rudy, Paul Rugg, Amy Rush, Nicolette Santino, Rob Saunders, Kelli Sawyer, Christine Schisano, Benjamin Schrader, Michael Schwabe, Joe Selph, Pam Severns, Chad Ethan Shohet, Benjamin Siemon, James Silson, Scott Silson, Jessica Simon, Michelan Sisti, David Skelly, Colleen Smith, Howie Michael Smith, Thom Stanley, Sarah Stiles, Anthony Stokes, Ian Sweetman, Allan Trautman, Steve Troop, Basil Twist, Tony Urbano, Art Vega, Jack Venturo, Alex Villa, Amanda Villalobos, Russ Walko, Robin Walsh, April Warren, Stacey Weingarten, Daniel Weissbrodt, Melissa Whitmire, Vanessa Whitney, Steven Widerman, Chad Williams, Mark Bryan Wilson, Chase Woolner, Evy Wright, Gretchen Wylder, "Lucky" Matt Yates, Victor Yerrid, Teddy Yudain
Additional Amway Center Muppet Performers (DVD material): Kevin Abrams, Clay Achee, Matt Acheson, Keiko Agena, Jamie Agnello, Angelo Aiello, Kim Allen, Dolph Amick, Danny Bacher, Josh Bacher, Aretta Baumgartner, David Benoit, Bonni Benton, Evy Berman, Taylor Bibat, Toby Billowitz, Rodrick Blackman, Kerri Brackin, Kate Brehm, Mary Brehmer, Tyler Bremer, Lute Breuer, Vince Broelmann, Beau Brown, Nate Brown, April Brucker, Leanne Brunn, Rachel Burson, Michael Bush, Justin Campbell, Jonathan Carlucci, Madison Chambers, Alanna Chuyan, Tracey Conner, Todd Coyle, David Crespin, Mauree Culberson, Gavin Cummins, Chris DeVille, Sheila Devitt, Sophie Doyle, Tommy Duren, Benjamin Elling, Jack Fields, Neal Figueroa, Preston Foerder, Lexy Fridell, Robin Frohardt, Leila Ghaznavi, David Goboff, Honey Goodenough, Mandy Goodwin, Admiral Grey, Art Grueneberger, Scott Hitz, Joshua Holden, Leah Holleran, William Horne, Kyle Igneczi, Chandler Jackson, Dave Jadico, Dorothy James, Greg Jarnigan, Kevin Johnson, Kirsten Kammermeyer, Kelvin Kao, Kelsey Kato, Kate Katz, Jean Marie Keevins, Jonathan Kidder, Doug Kincaid, Tim Kopacz, Sarah Lafferty, Tiffany Lange, Gregg Van Laningham, Aaron Lathrop, Matt Leabo, Nick Lehane, Gina Leigh, Todd Gerson Levin, Kate Lippstreu, Michael Liscio Jr., Jonathan Little, Denise Lucich, Rowan Magee, Reay Kaplan Maxwell, Randal J. Metz, Aileen J. Millan, Meghan Miller, Jamie Moore, Megan Murtha, Nathan Neorr, Heiko Obermoller, David Lloyd Olsen, Cynthia Von Orthal, Sara Outing, Tim Parati, Nicholas Parks, Lexi Pearl, Sarah Kay Peters, Eli Presser, Casey Pyke, Brittany L. Reid, Jed Resnick, Seth Rettburg, Aaron Roberge, Amy Robinson, Chuck Robinson, Jose A. Rodriguez, Melissa Roja, Gwendolyn Rooker, Brandon Ross, Christine Schisano, Jessica Scott, Tomas Seidita, Daniel Selon, Kelley Selznick, Rachel Wickham Shane, Mark Sherlock, Katie Silson, Kristofer Sommerfeld, Jeff Speetjens, Kenny Stevenson, Trey Stokes, Christina Stone, David Strassman, Miles Taber, Norman Tempia, April Tennyson, Zachariah Tolchinsky, Winston Tong, Drew Torkelson, Emily Tucker, Russell Tucker, Paul Turbiak, Jay Tyson, Russ Vick, Jonathan David West V, Susan Widerman, Emma Wiseman, Scott Woodard, Isaac Woofter, Michelle Zamora, Emily Zemba, Michael Paul Ziegfeld, Jeffrey Zwartjes
Additional Wembley Arena Muppet Performers: Julie Atherton, Don Austen, William Banyard, Chris Barlow, Michael Bayliss, Daisy Beattie, Susan Beattie, Victoria Bovingdon, Mikey Brett, Simon Buckley, Sarah Burgess (Phoebe Furchester-Fuzz), Finn Caldwell, Carl Chadd, Dave Chapman, Tim Cherry-Jones, Marcus Clarke, Sheila Clark, Patrick Comerford, Richard Coombs, Matthew Crowfoot, Laura Cubitt, Paul Currie, Andrew Davenport, Sue Dacre, Fred Davis, Elisa de Grey, Phil Eason, John Eccleston, Josh Elwell, Iestyn Evans, Damian Farrell, Geoff Felix, Phil Fletcher, Julia Frost, Lesa Gillespie, Joe Greco, David Greenaway, Barnaby Harrison, Claire Roi Harvey, Andy Heath, Helen Day, Beccy Henderson, Brian Herring, Mark Jefferis, Nick Kellington, Chris Kendall, Steven Kynman, John Leader, Ronnie Le Drew, Rachel Leonard, Avye Leventis, Simon Lipkin, Tony Lymboura, Matthew Lyons, Mark Mander, Lewis McCabe, Alison McGowan, Rebecca Nagan, Steve Nallon, Aiysha Nugent-Robinson, Toby Olie, Wim Oppenheimer, Angie Passmore, Nigel Plaskitt, Sally Preisig, Colin Purves, Hugh Purves, Gillie Robic, Lynn Robertson Bruce, Robin Kingsland, Jon Robyns, Garry Rutter, Helena Smee, Katherine Smee, Andrew Spooner (Furgus Fuzz), Neil Sterenberg (Harvey P. Dull), Robin Stevens, John Stevenson, Yvonne Stone, Dave Taylor, Olly Taylor, Chris Thatcher, Ben Thompson, Heather Tobias, Mark Alexander Todd, William Todd Jones, Mandy Travis, Ian Tregonning, Rob Tygner, Dilpreet Kaur Walia, Julie Westwood, Victoria Willing, Mak Wilson (Sly the Secretary Bird), Josh Wilmott, Michael Winsor, Phill Woodfine, Francis Wright, Sarah Wright, Paul Zerdin
Additional Rogers Centre Muppet Performers: Terry Angus, Lee Armstrong, Yolanda Barnes, Adam Behr, Jamie Bradley, Stephen Brathwaite, Sarah Burakowski, Ronnie Burkett, Jeremy Cacho-Lim, Jeny Cassady, Morris Chapdelaine, Kanja Chen, Enosh Cheng, Ben Deutsch, Todd Doldersum, Maxwell Dowie, Trevor Duffy, Kathryn Durst, Randi Edmundson, Ali Eisner, Matt Ficner, Myra Fried, Tim Gosley, Jon Graham, Kellie Haines, Kira Hall, Paul Hooson, Jason Hopley, Bruce Hunter, Sharon Kamiel, Biljana Karadzic, Sandy Katz, Nina Keogh, Helen King, Jani Lauzon, Trish Leeper, Patricia Lewis, Jordan Lockhart, Benton Lowe, Kathy MacLellan, Alexander Mantia, Bob Martin, Peter McCowatt, Kevin McGrath, Frank Meschkuleit, Rob Mills (Sly the Secretary Bird), Sue Morrison, Kaitlin Morrow, Jeff Moulton, John Nolan, Caitlin O'Reilly, Pier Paquette, John Pattison, Mike Petersen, Colin Penman, Nicholas Podbrey, Ann Powell, David Powell, Adam Francis Proulx, James Rankin, Dan Redican, Geoff Redknap, Shawna Reiter, Gord Robertson, James Rowley, Sylvia Segal, Sandra Shamas, Denise Shanker, Jamie Shannon, Shuyuan Shun, Ron Stefaniuk, Marty Stelnick, Fred Stinson, Bob Stutt, Jeff Sweeney, Jamie Swettenham, Mary Sword, Rebecca Elmire Tremblay, Karen Valleau, Tom Vandenberg, Johan Vandergun, Jennifer Van Der Put, Cheryl Wagner, Ron Wagner, Karen Waterman, Wende Welch, Glenn Williams, Gordon Wong, Dan Wood, Eric Woolfe, Noreen Young, Gayle Zack
Additional ICC Sydney Muppet Performers: Winston Appleyard, Asphyxia, Danielle Baker, Michala Banas, Katy Bowman, Megan Cameron, Daniel Carlisle, David Collins, Will Conyers, Steve Coupe, Janette Dalgliesh, Julia Davis, Emma De Vries, Jamie Dunn, Liss Gabb, Fiona Gentle, Graeme Haddon, Andrew Hansen, Brett Hansen, Richard Hart, Mal Heap, Frank Italiano, Jhess Knight, Ingrid Maganov, Malcolm Martin, Sean Masterson, Rob Matson, Matthew McCoy, Heath McIvor, Roy McNeill, Avril McQueen, Tim Mieville, Phillip Millar, Danny Miller, Heather Monk, Richard Mueck, Ron Mueck (Sly the Secretary Bird), Alice Osborne, Amber Parry, Bob Parsons, Ruth Pieloor, Rod Primrose, Simon T. Rann, Helen Rickards, John Rogers, Liz Rule, Terry Ryan, Gavin Sainsbury, Peter Seaborn, Hugh Simpson, Michele Spooner, Mary Sutherland, Liza-Mare Syron, Neville Tranter, Maeve Vella, Sue Wallace, Kelly Wallwork, Jacob Williams, L. Peter Wilson, Peter J. Wilson, Annie Wylie, Kay Yasugi
Special Guest Appearances: "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist, Jon Batiste & Stay Human, Tony Bennett, Tom Bergeron, Jack Black, Michael Buble, Steve Burns, Alessia Cara, Jim Carrey, Christopher Cerf, Hayden Christensen, Cleto & the Cletones, Stephen Colbert, Elvis Costello, Celine Dion, Billie Eilish, Jessie Eisenberg, Jimmy Fallon, Sia Furler, Whoopi Goldberg, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, David Alan Grier, Bill Hader, Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Isaacs, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Keegan-Michael Key, Jimmy Kimmel, Jared Leto, Howie Mandel, Chloe Grace Moretz, Bobby Moynihan, Fred Newman, Rosie O'Donnell, John Oliver, Jim Parsons, Jordan Peele, Kevin Perjurer, Randy Rainbow, John Ratzenberger, Daisy Ridley, Guillermo Rodriguez, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, "Nice" Peter Shukoff, Will Smith, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Danny Trejo, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter, Doug Walker, Jodie Whittaker, and Paul Williams, with Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, Tara Strong as the voice of Harley Quinn, Clancy Brown as the voice of the Hunter, and Mark Hamill as the voice of the Joker
The Wiggles: Murray Cook, Jeff Fatt, Anthony Field, Greg Page
Wiggly Friends: Lachlan Gillespie as Henry the Octopus, Paul Paddick as Captain Feathersword, Simon Pryce as Wags the Dog, Emma Watkins as Dorothy the Dinosaur
The Sesame Street Band: Randy Cohen (on keyboards), Michael Croiter (on drums), John Deley (on keyboards), Doug Derryberry (on guitar), Joe Fiedler (on trombone), Rob Jost (on bass), Gary Meyer (on reed), Kenny Rampton (on trumpet)
Muppet Marionette Puppeteers: Charles Chiodo, Edward Chiodo, Stephen Chiodo, Barnaby Dixon
Muppet Animation Puppeteers: David Barclay, Rickey Boyd, Craig Crane, Galen Fott, Jake Hovell, Erik Kuska, Tony Lymboura, Mike Nawrocki, Karen Prell, Mike Quinn, Benjamin Siemon, David Skelly, Dave Taylor, Rob Tygner, Phil Vischer, Robin Walsh, April Warren, Mak Wilson
Additional Voices: Ava Acres, Isabella Acres, Charlie Adler, Matt Adler, Lori Alan, Carlos Alazraqui, Keith Anthony, Diedrich Bader, Laura Bailey, Dee Bradley Baker, Troy Baker, Greg Baldwin, Ogie Banks, Kathleen Barr, Eric Bauza, Jeff Bennett, Greg Berg, Bob Bergen, Gregg Berger, Jeff Bergman, JB Blanc, Brian Bloom, Susan Blu, Steven Blum, David Boat, Duncan Brannan, Steve Bulen, S. Scott Bullock, Rodger Bumpass, Max Burkholder, Corey Burton, Catherine Cavadini, Garry Chalk, Juan Chioran, Cam Clarke, Townsend Coleman, Jonathan Cook, Antonio Raul Corbo, Jesse Corti, Alyson Court, John Cramer, Peter Cullen, Brian Cummings, Jim Cummings, E.G. Daily, Michael Daingerfield, Matt Danner, Jennifer Darling, Eddie Deezen, Brian T. Delaney, Debi Derryberry, Jessica DiCicco, John DiMaggio, Ben Diskin, Holly Dorff, Robin Atkin Downes, Chris Edgerly, Paul Eiding, Gideon Emery, Richard Epcar, Bill Fagerbakke, Bill Farmer, Keith Ferguson, Jeff Fischer, Quinton Flynn, Sandy Fox, Pat Fraley, Will Friedle, Soleil Moon Frye, Donald Fullilove, Nika Futterman, Elisa Gabrielli, Teresa Ganzel, Barbara Goodson, Grey DeLisle Griffin, Khamani Griffin, Todd Haberkorn, Mark Hadlow, Jennifer Hale, Jess Harnell, Melanie Harrison, Dan Hennessey, Kate Higgins, Bridget Hoffman, Richard Steven Horvitz, Brian Hull, Sirena Irwin, Danny Jacobs, Nick Jameson, Bob Joles, Walter Emmanuel Jones, Tom Kane, John Kassir, Danny Katiana, David Kaufman, David Kaye, Josh Keaton, Mikey Kelley, Tom Kenny, Steve Kramer, Maurice LaMarche, Phil LaMarr, Sam Lavagnino, Carolyn Lawrence, Katie Leigh, Julie Lemieux, Patricia Lentz, Marcella Lentz-Pope, Jason J. Lewis, Riki Lindhome, Phil Lollar, Yuri Lowenthal, Sherry Lynn, Tress MacNeille, Danny Mann, Jason Marsden, Mona Marshall, Mickie McGowan, Scott McNeil, Scott Menville, Matthew Mercer, Jim Meskimen, Piotr Michael, Kate Micucci, Lara Jill Miller, Mark Moseley, Rene Mujica, Bill Mumy, Liliana Mumy, Pat Musick, Mike Nawrocki, Laraine Newman, Nolan North, Joe Ochman, Raymond Ochoa, Peter Oldring, Alan Oppenheimer, Jordan Orr, Colleen O'Shaughnessey Villard, Ken Page, Devika Parikh, Donovan Patton, Rob Paulsen, Patrick Pinney, Phil Proctor, Hal Rayle, Enn Reitel, Peter Renaday, Kevin Michael Richardson, Sam Riegel, Kaitlyn Robrock, Justin Roiland, Roger Rose, Neil Ross, Will Ryan, Andrew Sabiston, Tabitha St. Germain, Lia Sargent, Charlie Schlatter, Noah Schnapp, Kevin Schon, Ben Schwartz, Mariel Sheets, Armin Shimerman, James Sie, Susan Silo, Jenny Slate, Christopher Corey Smith, Roger Craig Smith, David Sobolov, Andre Sogliuzzo, Kath Soucie, Jason Spisak, Stephen Stanton, Brian Stepanek, Mindy Sterling, April Stewart, Chantal Strand, Karen Strassman, Tara Strong, James Patrick Stuart, Nicole Sullivan, Cree Summer, Shane Sweet, Christopher Swindle, Jill Talley, Fred Tatasciore, Catherine Tate, Courtenay Taylor, James Arnold Taylor, Robert Tinkler, Lee Tockar, Samuel Vincent, Phil Vischer, Kari Wahlgren, Hynden Walch, BJ Ward, Jim Ward, Steven Weber, Marc Weiner, Frank Welker, Claudette Wells, Billy West, Colette Whitaker, Diamond White, Mae Whitman, Joe Whyte, Scott Whyte, Tyler James Williams, Debra Wilson, April Winchell, Mick Wingert, Wally Wingert, Michael Winslow, Ariel Winter, Sam Witwer, Matthew Wood, Michael-Leon Wooley, Jo Wyatt
ADR Loop Group: Newell Alexander, Rosemary Alexander, Steve Alterman, Stephen Apostolina, David Arnott, Kirk Baily, John Eric Bentley, Blake Bertrand, Ranjani Brow, Doug Burch, William Calvert, Joe Cappelletti, Kate Carlin, Mitch Carter, Robert Clotworthy, Will Collyer, Cooper Cowgill, David Cowgill, Makenna Cowgill, Wendy Cutler, Caitlin Cutt, Alex Daniels, Terri Douglas, Moosie Drier, Chad Einbinder, Rylee Fansler, Jennifer Crystal Foley, Aaron Fors, Rebecca Forstadt, Leigh French, Eddie Frierson, Spencer Lacey Ganus, Jackie Gonneau, Nicholas Guest, Tania Gunadi, Isa Hall, Barbara Harris, Jason Harris, Brian Herskowitz, Dominic Hoffman, Wendy Hoffmann, Matthew Ford Holt, April Hong, Jacob Hopkins, Sherry Hursey, Rif Hutton, Wolfgang Hutton, Daniella Jones, Cohl Kenneth Klop, Ilana Klusky, Marsha Kramer, Ashley Lambert, Hope Levy, Anne Lockhart, Jessie Marion, Jeremy Maxwell, Caitlin McKenna, Ginny McSwain, Christie Mellor, Edie Mirman, Richard Miro, Randall Montgomery, Daniel Mora, Dylan Naber, Drake Carter Nelson, Paula Jane Newman, Jonathan Nichols, Jason Pace, Paul Pape, Isabella Peregrina, Paige Pollack, Alex Puccinelli, Michael Ralph, Lynwood Robinson, Al Rodrigo, Michelle Ruff, Sam Sako, Philece Sampler, Joshua Seth, Frank Sharp, David Sheinkopf, Justin Shenkarow, Bridget Sienna, Georgia Simon, Aaron Spann, Kelly Stables, Steve Staley, Pepper Sweeney, John Hans Tester, Randy Thom, Gail Thomas, Nancy Truman, Marcelo Tubert, Floyd Van Buskirk, Audrey Wasilewski, Andreanna Weiner, Sean Whalen, Lennon Wynn, Michael Ann Young, Lynnanne Zager, David Zyler
Muppet Characters
Abby Cadabby, Alexis the Giraffe, Alfred Duck, Alice Snuffleupagus, Alligator, The Alphabeats, AM Monsters, The Amazing Mumford, Ant, Anything Muppets, Aristotle, Arthur, Athena, Baby Bear, Baby Natasha, Baby Tooth and the Fuzzy Funk, Barkley, Bart, Bats, Benny Rabbit, Bernie Broccoli, Bert, Bertha, Bertina, Betty Lou, Biff, The Big Bad Wolf, Big Bird, Big Jeffy, Billy Monster, Bip Bippadotta, Blue Jay, Brad, Bruce Monster, Brulee, Bruno the Trashman, Bug, Bunny the Grouch, The Busby Twins, Buster the Horse, Butch the Tiger, Butterflies, Cactus, Camel, Captain Vegetable, Cats, The Cheese, Chewie the Cookie, Chicago the Lion, Chickens, Chip and Dip, Chrissy, Clancy, Clem, Clementine, Colambo, Cookie Monster, Cookie Monster's Mommy, The Countess, Count von Count, Cousin Monster, Cows, Crow, Curly Bear, Dalia, Dani, Daniel, David Attenbird, Dawg the Dog, Deena, Dexter, Dimples the Dog, Dingers, Dogs, Don Music, Dr. Nobel Price, Dr. Thad and the Medications, Dragon, Ducks, Elena, Elizabeth, Elmo, Elmore, The Emperor, Ernestine, Ernie, Ex-Ray, Farley, Ferlinghetti Donizetti, Fin the Fish, Flora the Koala, Fluffy, Forgetful Jones, Francine Lloyd Wright, Frazzle, Fred the Wonder Horse, Freddy, Frog, Funella Furchester, Furgus Fuzz, Gabrielle, Gary Grouch, Georgie, Gladys the Cow, Gnu, Goat, Goldilocks, Gonger, Googel, Granny Bird, Granny Fanny Nesselrode, Grizzy, Grouches, Grover, Grover's Mommy, Grundgetta, Gulliver, Gus Hopper, Guy Smiley, Harley Quinn Muppet, Harry Monster, Harvey Kneeslapper, Harvey Monster, Harvey P. Dull, Helena, Henrietta Honker, Herb, Herbert Birdsfoot, Herry Monster, Honkers, Hoots the Owl, Horatio the Elephant, Horses, Humphrey, The Hunter, Iago, Ingrid, Irvine, Jackman Wolf, Jake the Polar Bear, Jamie Fox, Joey and Davey Monkey, Joker Muppet, Julia, Karli, Keeshan the Kangaroo, Kermit the Forg, Kingston Livingston III, Kylo Creme, Lefty the Salesman, Lenny the Gorilla, Leo Birdelli, Leo the Party Monster, Lily, Little Bird, Little Bo Peep, Little Chrissy, Little Jerry, Little Murray Sparkles, Louie, Luke Piewalker, Lulu, Lydia the Ostrich, Madame Chairbird, Mae, Maggie Cadabby, Mama Bear, The Martians, Mary, Masha, Mel, Merry Monster, Meryl Sheep, Michael Jackson Muppet, Monty, Morton the Beaver, Mountie, Mouse, Mr. Chatterly, Mr. Honker, Mr. Johnson, Mrs. Crustworthy, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Mrs. Grouch, Murray Monster, Narf, Natalie the Cow, Octopus, The Oinker Sisters, Old MacDonald, Old McDougal, Oscar the Grouch, Osvaldo el Grunon, Ovejita, Papa Bear, Parker Monster, Pearl, Penguins, Pesties, Phoebe, Phoebe Furchester-Fuzz, Pigeons, Pigs, Placido Flamingo, Poco Loco, Polly Darton, Prairie Dawn, Preposterous, Preston Rabbit, Princess Parfaita, Professor Hastings, Raccoon, Ralph the Moose, Ralphie, Randall the Zebra, Ricardo, Robin, Rockin' Richard, Rocky the Cat, Roosevelt Franklin, Roosevelt Franklin's Mother, Rooster, Rosa, Rose, Rosita, Roxie Marie, Ruby, Rudy, Sam the Robot, Samuel, Segi, Shark, Sheep, Shelley the Turtle, Sherlock Hemlock, Sherry Netherland, Shivers the Penguin, Simon Soundman, Singing Food, Slimey, Sly the Secretary Bird, Snake, Sonny Friendly, Spider, The Squirrelles, Stinky the Skunk, Stinky the Stinkweed, Stuckweed, Stuie Monster, Stuntkip, Sully, Super Chicken, Tamir, Telly Monster, Tessie Twiddlebug, Thomas Twiddlebug, Timmy Twiddlebug, Tina Twiddlebug, Toucan, Tough Eddie, Trevor Monster, Turkeys, Two-Headed Monster, Wanda Cousteau, Warren Wolf, Watson, Weldon the IT Guy, Wolf, Wolfgang the Seal, Zoe, Zostic
"We Are the World" Muppet Characters
Abelardo Montoya, Abigail, Afghan Hound, Amber O'Neill, Andy and Randy Pig, Angel Marie, Angelo, Animal, Annie Sue, Argyle McSock, Azibo the Monster, a Baby, Bag, Baskerville the Hound, Basil, Basma, Beaker, Bean Bunny, Bear, Beauregard, Beautiful Day Monster, Behemoth, Big Mean Carl, Bill the Frog, Blue Frackle, Bobby Benson, Bobo the Bear, Boober Fraggle, Bubba the Rat, a Bunny, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Businka, a Cactus, Camilla the Chicken, Chamki, Chaos, Chelli, a Chicken, Chip, Crazy Harry, Denise, Dr. Teeth, Dodi, Doglion, Domby, Droop, The Early Bird, Esther, Filfil, Finchen, Floyd Pepper, The Flying Zucchini Brothers, Fozzie Bear, a Frog, Gil, Gobo Fraggle, Gonzo, Green Frackle, Haneen, Happy Yellow Creature, Howard Tubman, Hu Hu Zhu, Ieniemienie, Janice, J. G., Jill, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Juljul, Junior Gorg, Kami, Kareem, Kermit the Frog, Khokha, Kippi Ben Kippod, Kit, Kubik, Lenny the Lizard, Lew Zealand, Lily the Tiger, Link Hogthrob, Lips, Lola, Louis, Luncheon Counter Monster, Lyle the Dog, Lyle the Sock, Ma Bear, Mahna Mahna, Mancie O'Neill, Marvin Suggs, Mean Mama, Melsoon, Mildred Huxtetter, Miss Piggy, Miss Poogy, Mo Frackle, Moishe Oofnik, Mojabo, Mokey Fraggle, a Muppaphone, a Mutation, The Newsman, Nigel, Nimnim, No'Man, Norman, Ojo, Old Tom, Ollie, Pancho Contreras, a Penguin, Pepe the King Prawn, Pferd, Pino, Pip and Pop, Pokey, Pops, Purk, Raya, Red Fraggle, Rizzo the Rat, Robin the Frog, Rowlf the Dog, Rumpel, Sam the Eagle, Samson, Scooter, Shakey Sanchez, Shams, a Sheep, The Snowths, Sofie, Spamela Hamderson, Sprocket, Statler and Waldorf, The Swedish Chef, Sweetums, Thog, Tiffy, Tingo, Tommie, Tonton, Treelo, Trumpet Girl, a Turkey, Tutter, Uncle Deadly, Uncle Travelling Matt, Walter, Wayne and Wanda, Wembley Fraggle, Whatnots, Wolle, Xiao Mei Zi, Yolanda Rat, Zari, Zeerak, Zeliboba, Zippity Zap, Zoot, Zuzu
Crew
Executive Producer: Benjamin Lehmann
Produced by Ken Scarborough
N.Y. and CA shows directed by Matt Vogel
L.A. and FL shows directed by Kirk Thatcher
U.K. and AUS shows directed by Jack Jameson
Head Writers: Joey Mazzarino (MSG/Staples/Amway), Ken Scarborough (Wembley/Rogers/ICC Sydney)
Written by Christine Ferraro
The Jim Henson Company
N.Y. Workshop Manager: Jason Weber
N.Y. Workshop Supervisor: Connie Peterson
Project Supervisor: Paul Hartis
N.Y. Puppet Captain: Matt Vogel
N.Y. Assistant Puppet Captain: Martin P. Robinson
L.A. Puppet Captain: Kevin Clash
L.A. Assistant Puppet Captain: Bill Barretta
FL Puppet Captain: Jeff Conover
U.K. Puppet Captain: Mak Wilson
CA Puppet Captain: Rob Mills
AUS Puppet Captain: Ron Mueck
Puppeteer Captains: Brad Brewer, Cheryl Henson, Heather Henson, Lynn Hippen, John Lovelady, Boitumelo Betty Maretele, Brian Meehl, Daniel Seagren
N.Y. Workshop Captain: Ed Christie
L.A. Workshop Captain: Bill Barretta
Puppet Design Captain: Michael K. Frith
Puppet Design Consultants: Paul Andrejco, Ed Eyth
Puppet Supervisor: Jane Gootnick
N.Y. Workshop Crew: Heather Asch, Carol Binion, Ronald Binion, David Bizzaro, Erin Slattery Black, Marc Borders, Mary Brehmer, Matthew Brennan, Matthew Brooks, Michael Bush, Brian Carson, Ceili Clemens, Frankie Cordero, Melissa Creighton, Carole D'Agostino, Nicolina Dante, Andrea Detwiler, Rosa Douglas, Isabelle Dufour, Ben Durocher, Richard Dyar, Victoria Ellis, Henri Ewaskio, James Godwin, Muriel Stockdale Grabe, Tyler Hall, Liz Hara, Deb Hertzberg, Michelle Hickey, Joshua Holden, Ann Marie Holdgruen, J. Douglas James, Rollie Krewson, Jim Kroupa, Janet Kuhl, Sarah Lafferty, Spencer Lott, Kari Love, Lara MacLean, Amanda Maddock, Laura Manns, Cathy McCullough, Anney McKilligan Ozar, Tom Newby, John Orberg, Jane Pien, Kip Rathke, Stephen Rotondaro, Kate Rusek, Sierra Schoening, Michael Schupbach, Jessica Simon, Polly Smith, Keely Snook, Matt Stoddart, David Valentine, Stacey Weingarten, Julie Wigg, Matt Witham, James Wojtal
Workshop Consultants: Bob Flanagan, Joanne Green, Jan Rosenthal, Norman Tempia, Richard Termine
N.Y. Puppet Wranglers: Alex "Jurgen" Ferguson, Rob Gardner, Vanessa Gifford Gillis, Tim Lagasse
L.A. Puppet Wranglers: Gretchen Crookes, Scott Johnson, Peter MacKennan, Russ Walko
FL Puppet Wranglers: James and Scott Silson
U.K. Puppet Wranglers: Janet Knechtel, Darryl Worbey
CA Puppet Wranglers: Britta Morden, Joan Parkinson, Jean-Guy White
Puppeteer Performance Coordinators: Phil Baron, Alex U. Griffin, Christine Papalexis, William Todd Jones
Assistants: Ben Barretta, Gene Barretta, Jackson Barretta, Kerry Butler, Shannon Clash, Annie Evans, Bob Fappiano, Julia Gunn, Andy Hoey, Mary Jacobson, Frank Langley, Aria Linz, Mica Linz, Craig Marin, Neil McNally, Chris Rafinski, Adam Rudman, Joey Rudman, Phoebe Rudman, Paul Rudolph, Mia Sara, Craig Shemin, James Schiller Paul, Kenny Stevenson, Hunter Vogel, Jack Vogel, Kelly Vogel, Melissa Whitmire
For The Jim Henson Company: Jill Colley, Jonathan Ehrich, Carolyn Fanelli, Lisa Henson, Joseph Roddy, Jason Seck, Halle Stanford
For Jim Henson's Creature Shop L.A.: Peter Abrahamson, Deborah Ambrosino, Greg Ballora, David Barrington-Holt, Robert H. Bennett, Peter Brooke, Tamara Carlson-Woodard, Joe Colwell, John Criswell, Lisa Davis, Brad Elliott, Artie Esposito, Jeff Forbes, Patrick Gerrety, BJ Guyer, Brian Haimes, Eric Hayden, James Hayes, Jane Howell, Marian Keating, Frank Langley, Niki Lyons, Michael MacFarlane, Tamara McKinnon-Miller, Joelle Newton-Mold, Michael Oosterom, Lisa Rocco, Tim Rose, Mike Scanlan, David Skelly, Jill Thraves, April Warren, Haley Who, Kristen Willet, Julie Zobel
For Puppet Heap Workshop: Jane Andrejco, Margaret Andrejco, Owen Andrejco, Lauren Attinello, Megan Bailey, Kelli Burton, Stephanie Cathro, Anthony Grosso, Lisa Howard, Jean Marie Keevins, Tom McLaughlin, Casey Miller, Colette Nickola, Danielle Obinger, Anna Paniccia, Diana Schoenbrun, Brendan Yi-Fu Tay, Sally Thomas, Mari Tobita, Laureen Vierno, Nate Wilson, Cynthia Woodie
Grover's Card Magic performed by Shin Lim
Special Thanks
Lindsey Aikens Hefter, Ernie Albritton, Christopher Alender, Matthew Barnette, Andrew Williams and Soapbox Films, Ian Allen, Francine Anderson, Billy Aronson, Ivy Austin, Steve Axtell, Martin G. Baker, Carla Bandini-Lory, A. Winslow Barger, John E. Barrett, Cristina Barretta, Cheryl Bartholow, James and Joan Barton, Chris Bergoch, Bill Berner, Dr. Lewis Bernstein, Jeanette Betancourt, Frank Biondo, Laryssa Bonacquisti, Molly Boylan, Fran Brill, Patrick Bristow, Fred Buchholz, David Bulbeck, Frank Campagna, Jerry Cancel, Joe Carroll and Peter Thom, Caelan Cavanaugh, April Chadderdon, Denise Cheshire, Patsy Coffin, David Steven Cohen, Joan Ganz Cooney, Lloyd Morrisett, Kay Wilson Stallings, Steve Youngwood and the executives, producers and directors at Sesame Workshop, Gary Cooper, Erica Crooks, Warwick Davis, Tim DeHaas, Alexis de la Rocha, Marsian De Lellis, Bobby Del Russo, John Derevlany, Ken Diego, Victor DiNapoli, Melissa Dino, Susan Dixon, Dave Driscoll, Jeff Dunham, Jeffrey D. Dunn, Sarah Durkee, Carol Ennis, Bonnie Erickson, Joe Fallon, Matias Farias, Jack Feldman, Steve Feldman, Dina Fraboni, Paul Fusco, Gabriel Galdamez, Michael Giacchino, Louise Gikow, Meegan Godfrey, Debbie Goelz, Bob Golden, Dean Gordon, Rowell Gormon, Jerome Green, Makeda Mays Green, Carin Greenberg Baker, Keith and Tom Guadarrama, David Gumpel, Tanya Haden, Gary Halvorson, Shaun Harkins, Jocelyn Hassenfeld Fine, Dave, Heather and Niki Hulteen, Peter Hurst, Michael Elizabeth Huston, Karen Ialacci, Paul Jacobs, Sabrina and Scarlett Jacobson, Ian Ellis James, Todd E. James, Brown Johnson, Gary Jones, Dirk Joseph, Francis Kane, Nancy Kanter, Glenngo King, Emily Perl Kingsley, Dave Kinnoin, Mitchell Kriegman, Chris and Christy Knowings, Marty and Sid Krofft, Karen Kulik, Judith Lawrence, Stephen Lawrence, Pui Fan Lee, Danny, Jim, Judy and Mary Grace Lewis, Mallory Lewis, Patricia Lewis, Danysha Ligon, Jonah Linz, Margaret Loesch, Phil Lollar, Michael Loman, Ronn Lucas, Jon Ludwig, Sharon Lyew, Bob Lynch, Edna MacNeal, Josh Macrow, Magnetic Dreams, Dick Maitland, Sonia Manzano, Hugh Martin, Karen Maruyama, Ted May, Deborah Mayer, Debbie McClellan, Johnie McGlade, Alan Menken, Stan Middleton, Dan Milano, J Milligan, Pat Minietta, Ed Mitchell, Louis Henry Mitchell, Nat Mongioi, Steve Morrell, Bill Myer, Allan Neuwirth, Tanya Nixon-Silberg, Blake Norton, Dionne Nosek, Jodi Nussbaum, Jimmy O'Donnell, Amanda Oleander, Pete Ortiz, Frank Oz, Mike Pantuso, Carol-Lynn Parente, Jack Parker, Bob Payne, Joseph Pipher and JoLee TV Entertainment, Kevin Pittman, Bill Prady, Scott Preston, Gordon Price, Mark Radice, Carol Anne Raffa, The Raynor Family, John and Megan Regan, Chris Renaud, Mark Renaudin, Mike Renzi, Mo Rocca, Bart. P. Roccoberton Jr., Alex Rockwell, Michael Rooney, Cathi Rosenberg-Turow, Coren, Kylie and Noah Rudman, Mark Saltzman, Thomas Sanford, Luis Santeiro, Neal Scanlan, Bill Scott, Judy Sladky, Josh Selig and Little Airplane Productions, Karin Young Shiel, Michael and Patty Silversher, Stephanie Simpson, Jennifer Skelly, Larry Solomon, Ammar Sorour Sabban, Spiffy Pictures, Debra Spinney, Rob Stefaniuk, Jocelyn Stevenson, Norman Stiles, Bob Stineman, Todd Stockman, John Styles, Blair Thomas, Dave Thompson, 3/Design Studio, Tom Trbovich, Dr. Rosemarie T. Truglio, Ph.D., Chuck Tutino, Amy Van Gilder, Chuck Vinson, Flynn and Lyla Grace Vogel, Andy Walmsley, Belinda Ward, Ron Washburn, John Weidman, Ellis Weiner, Teri Weiss, John Wheatley, Mark Whitman, Mo Willems, Anne Wood and Ragdoll Productions, Paul Zaloom, Autumn P. Zitani-Stefano, M.A., Nadine Zylstra, the families of the puppeteers, and the many cast and crew members who helped make Sesame Street what it is today
Dedicated with respect and admiration to the memory of our mentors and friends, Jim Henson (1936-1990), Michael Earl (1959-2015), Eric Engelhardt (1966-2007), Faz Fazakas (1918-2013), Tony Geiss (1924-2011), Jane Henson (1934-2013), John Henson (1965-2014), Richard Hunt (1951-1992), Jerry Juhl (1938-2005), Bob Keeshan (1927-2004), Kermit Love (1916-2008), Shari Lewis (1933-1998), Tim Miller (1944-2019), Jeff Moss (1942-1998), Jerry Nelson (1934-2012), Joe Raposo (1937-1989), Don Reardon (1964-2004), Fred Rogers (1927-2003), Joanne Rogers (1928-2021), Don Sahlin (1928-1978), Caroll Spinney (1933-2019), Jon Stone (1931-1997), Nikki Tilroe (1941-2005), Caroly Wilcox (1931-2021), and Mark Zeszotek (1954-2004). Thank you for all the memories.
Transcript
Notes
There were initially talks of getting Fran Brill out of retirement to voice Prairie Dawn and Zoe once more, but the other Muppet performers successfully argued that Brill would be happy staying retired. She instead received a "thank you" credit in programs for the shows.
Despite Stacey Gordon being listed as a main Muppet performer, she's generally treated as an additional performer, as she doesn't take a bow during the curtain call. Similarly, while Andrew Spooner, Neil Sterenberg, and Sarah Burgess perform Furgus, Harvey P. Dull and Phoebe in the Wembley Arena show, they also don't take a bow during the curtain call, and were, in fact, credited as additional Muppet performers in the Wembley program. Ironically, Louise Gold, who was also credited as an additional performer, is part of the curtain call from the Wembley Arena show, as a main performer.
Marissa the chauffeuse was played by actress Colleen Smith, who is also a professional puppeteer for the Jim Henson Company and for the Staples Center and Amway Center shows. After her on-screen cameo appearance, Smith decided to remain in her Marissa outfit, even while puppeteering, for the remainder of the Staples Center shows, having grown fondness for it.
Grover's card trick at Amway Center was a rare instance of the character being shown with live-hands, puppeteered by card magician Shin Lim, as opposed to his usual rod-hands. This created a challenge for Lim, as he now had to pull off his famous tricks without looking at the cards and wearing furry, gloved arms. Luckily, he was able to do them successfully, even making the cards disappear and reappear in the Grover puppet.
A few lyrics for the songs are slightly altered. For example, "I've wrapped fish inside it; it's smelly and cold" from "I Love Trash" becomes "There's fish wrapped inside it; it's smelly and cold" to better match the beat of the song. Likewise, "But that was 30 years ago" in "Copacabana" becomes "But that was very long ago" to reflect the timeline, while the final line of "Just One Person" replaces "Then maybe, even you/Can believe in you, too" with "And maybe, even you/Can believe in you, too".
Famed voice actress Tara Strong provided Lola's crazed laughter during "Copacabana", right when the lyrics, "She lost her youth, she lost her Tony/And now she's lost her mind!" are sung.
The Anything Muppets from "People in Your Neighborhood" were performed by Rick Lyon with assistance from Jake Bazel (trash collector), Anthony Asbury with assistance from Spencer Lott (barber), Alice Dinnean (barber's customer), Noel MacNeal with assistance from Vicki Eibner (postman), Tyler Bunch with assistance from Jim Kroupa (firefighter), Tim Lagasse with assistance from Eric Wright (male teacher), Julianne Buescher with assistance from Tau Bennett (female teacher), Kathryn Mullen with assistance from Lara MacLean (newsdealer), Jim Martin with assistance from Haley Jenkins (grocer), John Tartaglia with assistance from Paul McGinnis (doctor), Stephanie D'Abruzzo (doctor's patient), John Kennedy with assistance from Carmen Osbahr (dentist), Pam Arciero (dentist's patient), Karen Prell with assistance from Leslie Carrara-Rudolph (bus driver), Warrick Brownlow-Pike, Alison Mork, Lindsey Briggs, Heather Asch, Rickey Boyd, Frankie Cordero (bus passengers), Ryan Dillon with assistance from Christopher Hayes (baker), and David Rudman with assistance from Kathleen Kim (cleaner). Other occupation ideas included lifeguard and policeman, librarian and builder, farmer and shoemaker, fisherman and pilot, astronaut and woodsman, carpenter and anchorman, and zookeeper and painter. Another idea involved Grover singing about a superhero and waiter while in his respective personas.
Depending on the arena in which it's played, background and assistant puppeteers for a certain sketch change each show. "Honk Around the Clock" is a good example of this. At Madison Square Garden (in New York), the Honkers were performed by Karen Prell (Henrietta), Avery Jones (Mr. Honker), Noel MacNeal (purple), Tau Bennett (blue), John Tartaglia (turquoise), Ronald Binion (pink), and Nate Begle (orange), while at Staples Center (in Los Angeles), they were performed by Allan Trautman (purple), Kevin Carlson (orange), Tim Lagasse (Henrietta), Bruce Lanoil (blue), Colleen Smith (turquoise), Grant Baciocco (Mr. Honker), and Ted Michaels (pink).
Likewise, the Michael Jackson Muppet changes puppeteers between shows, being performed by David Rudman and assisted by Paul McGinnis in the Madison Square Garden show, Karen Prell with assistance from Donna Kimball at Staples Center, Leslie Carrara-Rudolph with assistance from Lara MacLean at Amway Center, Noel MacNeal with Carmen Osbahr at Wembley Arena, John Tartaglia with Tim Lagasse at Rogers Centre, and Ryan Dillon with Pam Arciero at ICC Sydney. The backup singers were performed by Matt Vogel, Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, Ryan Dillon (MSG), Tyler Bunch, Alice Dinnean, Bruce Lanoil (Staples Center), Brian Clark, Karen Prell, Grant Baciocco (Amway Center), Andy Heath, Vicki Eibner, Warrick Brownlow-Pike (Wembley), John Kennedy, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Fred Stinson (Rogers), Heath McIvor, Heather Asch, and Avery Jones (ICC Sydney).
The Joker and Harley Quinn Muppets required up to six people to operate each. In the case of the Joker, his lead puppeteer (Karen Prell) performed his head and left hand, with a second performer operating his right hand. Another operator, working offscreen, controlled the puppet's lips via radio-control. Finally, three additional puppeteers were in charge of his eyelids, pupils, and eyebrows, all of which were also operated by animatronics.
The Sly puppet was the most complicated of the show's cast to perform. Firstly, the puppet was mainly a full-body costume, inhabited interchangeably by Barney costume actor David Joyner and character actor Morgana Ignis. Its lead puppeteer controlled the beak using a radio-control system situated backstage, while a team of ten additional performers assisted in operating the face, eyes, eyebrows, eyelashes, tongue, wings, tail, and talons, all controlled using animatronics.
While Big Bird is primarily performed by Matt Vogel, for instances where he has to leave and return to the stage quickly, or whenever Vogel has to perform another character, Noel MacNeal puppeteers the Bird, lip-synching to Vogel's live vocals.
Ventriloquist Darci Lynne was originally meant to be a guest star for the Staples Center show, having her puppet Petunia the Bunny sing a song. However, because the show already ran long enough and the puppeteers were slightly short in numbers, Lynne was instead offered to perform as an additional puppeteer, to which she gleefully accepted. She performed and assisted on several background characters throughout the show, and operated the penguin puppet originally used as Shivers in "The Street I Live On" finale. Lynne would serve in the same capacity for the Amway Center show a few months later.
A few of the main performers' children, including Joey and Phoebe Rudman (David Rudman's son and daughter respectively), Jack Vogel (Matt Vogel's son), Jackson Barretta (Bill Barretta's son), and Aria and Mica Linz (Peter Linz's daughters), were recruited to help puppeteer some of the characters. Other relatives, including Annie Evans (writer and wife of Martin P. Robinson), Craig Shemin (writer and husband of Stephanie D'Abruzzo), Kerry Butler (actress and wife of Joey Mazzarino), Matt Vogel's wife Kelly, Steve Whitmire's wife Melissa, and Mia Sara (actress and wife of Brian Henson), were credited as "assistants", and others, including Dave Goelz's wife Debbie, David Rudman's son Noah, and Matt Vogel's son Hunter, were given "special thanks" credits.
Several ideas for the shows were pitched, but never used. Some were ideas for new "Cookie Monster's Foodie Truck", featuring Cookie Monster and Gonger cooking different dishes with another Muppet as a guest; chocolate fondue (with Miss Piggy as a guest), chef's salad (guest-starring Red Fraggle), and triple berry pie (with Bear from Bear in the Big Blue House). While Sesame Workshop did secure the rights to those characters, these sketches were never performed onstage. However, rehearsal footage of these skits were included as bonus features on home video releases. Another involved an appearance by Kermit the Frog, who would've performed "Bein' Green". Another idea involved Lefty the Salesman trying to sell Elmo a "DANGER" sign, which he claims will keep him safe from standing below low-hanging planes, opening zoo cages, and walking across circus tightropes. Footage of this sketch, which has Lefty puppeteered by John Tartaglia to Ryan Dillon's vocals opposite Dillon as Elmo, can be found on video releases as an "Easter egg".
An early idea for the Amway Center show was to have the Sesame Street characters, the Disney Muppets, Fraggle Rock characters and Bear in the Big Blue House characters sing "We Are the World", a song originally written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and sung by USA for Africa. While the staff had enough additional puppeteers for such a number, writer Christine Ferraro was concerned that they couldn't afford the rights to use them. Luckily, both Disney and the Jim Henson Company allowed the use of their licensed characters, and "We Are the World" replaced "The Street I Live On" as the closing number for the Amway show.
Another idea would've seen a medley based on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, featuring performances of "Won't You Be My Neighbor", "It's You I Like", "Sometimes I Wonder If I'm a Mistake", "Garden of Your Mind", "There Are Many Ways to Say I Love You", and "It's Such a Good Feeling". However, being a Sesame Street live show, the medley would've been out of place and would've slowed down the pace too much.
Other songs, like "Adventure", "The Birdcall Boogie", "Bones", "The Boogie-Woogie Piggies", "Count it Higher", "Dancing Shoes", "Different People, Different Ways", "Frazzle", "Get Along", "Girl of the World", "Has Anybody Seen My Dog?", "How Do You Do?", "If Moon Was Cookie", "I Want a Monster to Be My Friend", "I Wish I Had a Friend to Play with Me", "Ladybugs' Picnic", "The Lovable Monsters of Sesame Street", "Nearly Missed", "One and One Make Two", "One Fine Face", "Songs", "Ten Tiny Turtles", "Transylvania 12345", "What Do I Do When I'm Alone?", "What is Friend?", "Windy", "With a Little Help From My Friends", and "Zig Zag Dance" were also considered for inclusion in the show, but were dropped late in production. Rehearsal footage of "Girl of the World" (with Abby Cadabby singing Betty Lou's parts), "One Fine Face", "I Wish I Had a Friend to Play with Me" (with Bert backed up by three Anything Muppets), "Has Anybody Seen My Dog?" (with Julia's father Daniel asking Grover if he's seen his dog Rose, and Grover presenting a mouse, duck, cow, frog, and wolf), "With a Little Help From My Friends" (with Telly singing lead), "Windy" (with Ernie singing lead and Grover, Abby and Trevor as backup singers who are blown away by an offscreen fan), "The Boogie-Woogie Piggies", "If Moon Was Cookie", "Dancing Shoes", "How Do You Do?", "I Want a Monster to Be My Friend" (sung by Prairie Dawn), "Get Along" (with lead vocals by Elmo), and "Ten Tiny Turtles" (sung by Grover and ten Muppet turtles performed by Matt Vogel, Kathryn Mullen, John Kennedy, John Tartaglia, Tim Lagasse, Paul McGinnis, Peter Linz, Noel MacNeal, Tyler Bunch, and Spencer Lott) were featured as bonus features on home video. In the new version of "I Want a Monster", the controversial lines "I'll let him do whatever he wants to/Especially if he's bigger than me" are changed to "I'd let him do whatever he wants to/Unless he was much bigger than me".
The PBS airings of the MSG, Staples Center, and Amway Center shows were funded by Scholastic (who helped produce the shows), McDonald's, Subway, Burger King, Chuck E. Cheese, Sears, Earth's Best, Walmart, American Greetings, Macy's, Target, The Ford Foundation, The Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Arthur Vining Davis Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the New York State Governor's Office for Motion Picture and Television Development, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and "contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you. Thank you!"