Sesame Street: The Musical

Sesame Street: The Musical is an off-Broadway stage production featuring songs and characters from Sesame Street. It was announced in a press release exclusively reported to Variety on June 7, 2022.^[1]

In the show, the Sesame Street Muppets are putting on their own musical, but have forgotten to get a special guest star. A lost human audience member is wrangled into the proceedings and taught how to sing and dance for the show's big final number.

The show first opened on September 22, 2022 (with previews beginning Sept 8) at Theater Row on West 42nd Street, and ran through November 27. Musical numbers consist of established songs from the show's history as well as new material written especially for the production.^[1] The new songs are by Tom Kitt, Helen Park, and Nate Edmondson.^[2]

The cast of characters appearing via live puppetry^[3] include Elmo, Cookie Monster, Grover, Abby Cadabby, Rosita, Bert, Ernie, Oscar the Grouch, Count von Count, Gabrielle,^[1] "and a host of Honkers, Martians, and other favorites." The show was announced to feature "special guest stars from Broadway and beyond."^[4] In the show as opened, the only human actor is Stephen Fala, playing an audience member who joins the show.^[5] The show also features a Muppet Sheep stage manager, referred to on the show's website as "Barry,"^[6] who interacts with the special guest and encourages them as they prepare to perform.

In June 2023, the show was announced to mount a second run at Theater 555 starting on July 29; it was originally announced to run through October 29,^[7] but was later announced to extend its run through December 31.^[8] Genevieve Joers features as the human lead for this run.^[9]

In November 2023, it was announced that following its New York run, the musical would begin touring in 2024. It was initially announced to begin its tour in Fort Worth, Texas in February,^[10] but that was later rescinded. In April 2024, it was announced that the tour would instead begin at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, Georgia, from June 4 to August 5.^[11]

Songs[]

"Sesame Street Theme"
"Hey! We're in a Musical!" (original song)
"C is for Cookie"/"Me Am What Me Am"
"Elmo's Got the Moves"
"Sing After Me"
"I Love Trash"
"Rubber Duckie"
"The Batty Bat"
"Number of the Day"
"Imagination" (original song)
"Fuzzy and Blue (and Orange)"
"Belly Breathe"
"Pinball Number Count"
"But I Like You"
"Believe in Yourself"
"You Can Be a Star" (original song)
"Hey Friend"

Credits[]

Directed & Written by Jonathan Rockefeller
Cast: Stephen Fala (2022), Genevieve Joers (2023)
Performers: Mecca Akbar, Mia Castillo, Chris Coleman (2022), Yanniv Frank, Joe Newman-Getzler, Joshua Peters, Rebecca Russell, Dustin Scully, Matteo Villanueva, Anthony White (2023)^[12]^[13]^[14]
Score & Orchestration by Nate Edmonson
Puppet Consultant: Tyler Bunch
Puppets & Costumes: Jim Henson's Creature Shop
Props & Set Dressings: Rockefeller Productions

Promotional spoofs[]

Parody posters promoting the show were shared weekly across the production's various social media accounts, riffing on current and established musical theater productions. The same posters, along with others not shared on social media, were also displayed in the theater lobby and appear onstage during the opening number.

Several of the parodies were sold in a printed collage on the musical's website shop as a benefit poster.