Review of Sesame Street Live: When Elmo Grows Up

On February 28, 2009 I took my toddler son who will turn two next month to the production Sesame Street Live: When Elmo Grows Up. We saw a 5:30 PM show at Shea's Performing Art Center in Buffalo, New York.

Tickets to the show were easy to obtain through Ticketmaster. I chose to sit in the orchestra section as it is closer to the stage so two tickets to the production ended up costing about $70 after taxes, fees, etc... The tickets were mailed to my home about a week before the show.

I made sure that we arrived at the theater a bit early so that we had plenty of time to check our winter coats, find our seats and get settled. I also wanted to get plenty of pictures of my son in the theater as this was his first viewing of a stage production. My husband dropped us off at the back entrance of the theater on Pearl Street. There is no drop off point in the front of Shea's Performing Arts Center as it is located on main street on which no cars are allowed to drive down.

We saw lots of vendors when we entered the theater and T-shirts, hats, toys, balls, etc... all featuring Elmo were being sold. There was also a cart for snacks and drinks. I had planned ahead and packed my son's favorite snack and some juice boxes as I knew that food at the theater would be overpriced. I was smart to do this. I let him pick one item from the vendor stand and he ended up choosing a $3.00 small bag of M&M's, most of which ended up all over the back seat of our car after the show.

We waited in the lobby for about twenty minutes before the doors to the theater opened. We were guided to our seats and I was impressed by just how good the location were were sitting in was. We were five rows from the stage and sitting next to the aisle. We had an excellent view of the stage and the aisle seat would end up meaning my son would be able to high five some of the characters during the production.

The show itself was well put together, entertaining and full of music and excitement. I was a bit concerned when I bought the tickets that my toddler would not want to sit through a ninety minute production or that he would be afraid of his favorite Sesame Street characters when they were life size. These fears were unfounded. As soon as the lights went down and the music started he got very excited. He was mesmerized by the lights and the singing and dancing characters. The actors dressed in costume moved very much like the characters move on the television show and the dances were artistically choreographed in a way that parents could appreciate and see the artistic beauty of. My son laughed and danced in during the production and clapped and shouted "Yay!" after each song ended. The theater was filled with children ranging in age from six months to six or seven years and all were extremely well behaved and filled with a happy excitement during the show.

The show itself had a vocational theme. The characters talked about and sang songs about what they wanted to be when they grew up. Children were taught about the different types of jobs that they could have when they were old and an emphasis was placed on the idea that they could be whatever they dreamed as long as they believed in themselves. I do not want to give too much of the show away to parents who have not seen it yet, but I will say that it is worth seeing again and again.

I would recommend Sesame Street Live: When Elmo Grows Up for even very young toddlers. It is engaging and interactive. The characters come off of the stage during musical numbers and hug or high five the kids in the aisle seats. My son was able to high five Telly, the Count, Elmo and hug Cookie Monster. He was one happy little man at the end of the night!