'Elmo's Health Heroes' come to Nassau Coliseum
Elmo stars in the Sesame Street Live production at the Nassau Coliseum from September 16-19. Credit: Sesame Workshop / Jesse Grant
Multiple choice: In the newest Sesame Street Live Broadway-style production, Cookie Monster is featured in a song-and-dance number with a) a chocolate chip cookie; b) a black-and-white cookie; c) both a and b; or d) a stalk of broccoli?
Shocking as it may be, the answer is d. "Elmo's Health Heroes," at Nassau Coliseum this week for eight shows, features an enlightened Cookie Monster who realizes cookies are a "sometimes" food and is trying to get more nutrition in his diet. He performs the "Healthy Food" number accompanied by the aforementioned broccoli as well as a dancing strawberry, a dancing orange and a dancing yellow pepper.
"He still eats cookies, don't worry. He just eats them in moderation now," says Jennie Andreasen of the VEE Corp., which produces the live shows. Her company works closely with the Sesame Workshop, which produces the Sesame Street TV shows. The Workshop has been focusing not just on the traditional learning of letters and numbers, but also on helping kids adopt healthy habits to counter the obesity trend, she says.
The show is in two acts with a 15-minute intermission, for a total of 90 minutes. "Elmo's Healthy Heroes" is the 26th Sesame Street Live production; it was out on the road several years ago as "Super Grover! Ready for Action" but has been revamped and updated this year to include Abby Cadabby, the newest Sesame Street character.
BIG BIRD HINTS AT SOME SURPRISES
Newsday scored this exclusive interview with Big Bird - played by 27-year-old Minneapolis native Christopher Ellis - about the Nassau Coliseum show:
What's the show about?
Everyone is dancing, learning the number and letter of the day when superhero Super Grover falls out of the sky. He loses his superness. . . . We have to figure out a way to get his superness back. Elmo, Telly, Abby Cadabby and Zoey - they are the Fantastic Four, and they have to help him.
We hear they teach Grover to get enough sleep, eat healthy food and exercise. What's your favorite scene of the show?
Each character has a mission to accomplish to help Super Grover, and Elmo doesn't think he can do his. We do this production number, it's like a pep talk - pep song-and-dance - telling Elmo we think he can do it.
Any surprises you can share with us?
We have a new character, Kay. She's the letter of the day. She's the human character in the cast. She's a Lucille Ball type. She's sassy, she has curls. She has plenty of costume changes. She leads the Fantastic Four. . . . Just be ready for an amazing show. Even the adults will learn things, too.
We're told Big Bird is 8 feet 2 inches tall and that the costume is made from 4,000 custom-dyed turkey feathers. What's it like dancing in that?
I've been doing it for seven years now. At first, just getting in was so hard. You only have one arm you can work with, the other arm controls the head and mouth movements. You've got to find the right balance. I got the hang of it, and the rest is history.
- BETH WHITEHOUSE
INFORMATION
WHAT Sesame Street Live "Elmo's Healthy Heroes"
WHERE | WHEN 7 p.m. tomorrow, 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. Friday, 10:30 a.m., 2 and 5:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 and 4:30 p.m. Sunday at Nassau Coliseum, 1255 Hempstead Tpke., Uniondale
INFO $103.50 (VIP Sunny Seats, which are floor-level seats and come with a pre-show meet-and-greet with a character), $58.50 (Gold Circle, also floor seating), $43.50, $28.50 and $18.50; 516-794-9300, 800-745-3000, nassaucoliseum.com
NEW SEASON
Super Grover, in his signature cape and medieval knight helmet, continues to get attention as "Sesame Street" kicks off its 41st TV season on Sept. 27. He'll have his own segment called "Super Grover 2.0" on six of the 26 new episodes, all focusing on scientific inquiry. Other plans for the season include celebrity appearances by Amy Poehler, Reggie Bush and Katy Perry. The show is on at 7 a.m. weekdays on PBS Kids.
UPCOMING DVD
"Elmo and Friends: The Letter Quest and Other Magical Tales" will be out Nov. 9, with a suggested retail price of $12.99. In it, the Sesame Street gang explores magic and whimsy and discovers learning is the greatest magic of all.
