Elmo the Musical



Elmo the Musical is the newest Sesame Street segment and began airing in the 43rd season. 10 segments were intially produced (with five additional segments set to debut the following season).

In the segment, Elmo teaches math skills while imagining himself in different musical situations. Segments include "Sea Captain the Musical," "Mountain Climber the Musical," "Prince Elmo the Musical" and "President the Musical." Joining Elmo in his adventures is Velvet, a talking set of curtains, and a series of animal and Anything Muppet friends (see Elmo the Musical Characters).

The segment's theme song was composed by Adam Schlesinger. The song was nominated for the 2013 Daytime Emmy Awards in the "Outstanding Original Song - Children's and Animation" category, along with "I'm the Queen of Nacho Pichu" from the "Guacamole the Musical" segment.

Interactive game versions of some of the segments appear on Sesamestreet.org. Elements of the segment (including Velvet) appear in the Sesame Street Live show, Can't Stop Singing.

Replacing Elmo's World
Production on the "Elmo's World" segments had ceased in the late 2000's, the last segment airing as part of the 2009 season. The segment was meant to appeal to kids younger than the target age of the show (two years and younger). Executive producer Carol-Lynn Parente was not too pleased with the success it received, as it was targeting an age the show's curriculum was not designed for. The "block format" experiment of season 40 proved to be a ratings hit, attracting more children between the ages of 3-4, leaving the "Elmo's World" segment as the youngest-skewing portion of the program, something Parente wished to change even before production halted.

Development
In June 2011, Joey Mazzarino and the other writers began developing new ideas for the new segment. One idea was to have Elmo go on road trips using his tricycle. Mazzarino stated Elmo's character was all about his excited view of the world and large imagination and they decided to go with an idea based on those characteristics. The idea of a musical segment came around and with the success of musical programs like High School Musical and Glee, the writers decided it was a good idea to move forward with.

Production
Each episode took a day to film; the initial segments were filmed between January and February 2012. All the material was filmed in front of a bluescreen, with the performers dressed in blue to allow characters like Elmo to appear full-bodied. Magnetic Dreams Animation Studio, known for producing other animated segments for the show, provides the CGI elements of the segment, including the backgrounds and animated characters. Each episode costs approximately $275,000 to produce.

Cast

 * Starring the Muppets Of Sesame Street


 * Jennifer Barnhart
 * Tyler Bunch
 * Leslie Carrara-Rudolph (as Velvet and others)
 * Stephanie D'Abruzzo
 * John Kennedy
 * Joey Mazzarino
 * Paul McGinnis
 * Carmen Osbahr
 * Martin P. Robinson
 * David Rudman
 * John Tartaglia
 * Matt Vogel
 * And Kevin Clash as Elmo

Credits

 * Executive Producer: Carol-Lynn Parente
 * Co-Executive Producer: Kevin Clash
 * Coordinating Producer: April Chadderdon
 * Supervising Producer: Nadine Zylstra
 * Senior Producer: Tim Carter
 * Line Producer: Stephanie Longardo
 * Producer: Benjamin Lehmann
 * Directors: Kevin Clash, Ken Diego, Joey Mazzarino, Scott Preston, Matt Vogel
 * Head Writer: Joey Mazzarino
 * Writers/Lyricists: Molly Boylan, Annie Evans, Christine Ferraro, Joey Mazzarino, Luis Santeiro, Belinda Ward, John Weidman
 * Jim Henson’s Creature Shop: Mary Brehmer, Matthew Brennan, Andrea Detwiler, Muriel Grabe, Elizabeth Hara, Michelle Hickey, Doug James, Ulysses Jones, Rollie Krewson, Lara MacLean, Colette Nickola, Anney Ozar, Connie Peterson, Jane Pien, Joey Roddy, Jason Seck, Rebecca Sloane, Polly P. Smith, Jason Weber Stacey Weingarten
 * Music Director: Bill Sherman
 * Music Director - Arrangements and Orchestrations: Joe Fiedler
 * Music Director – Vocals: Paul Rudolph
 * Composers: Eli Bolin, Chris Jackson, Tom Kitt, Alex Lacamoire, Justin Paul, Kathryn Raio, JP Rende, Bill Sherman
 * Lighting Designer: Dan Kelley
 * Production Designer: Bob Phillips
 * Prop Coordinator: Keith Olsen
 * Creative Director: Rickey Boyd
 * Art Direction/Graphics: Michael Lapinski
 * Compositor: Rhea Borzak
 * 3D Animator: Andrew Atteberry
 * VFX Supervisor: Julian Herrera
 * Editing Supervisors: Tim Carter, Todd E. James
 * Associate Directors: Tim Carter, Emily Cohen, Ken Diego, Benjamin Lehmann
 * Sound Effects: Dick Maitland, C.A.C.
 * Technical Director: Tom Guadarrama
 * Cameras: Frank Biondo, Jerry Cancel, Saun Harkins, Anthony Lenzo
 * Scenic Artist: Margaret Ryan
 * Vice President of Education and Research: Rosemarie T. Truglio, Ph.D.
 * Taped at Kaufman Astoria Studios