Since Sesame Street first appeared on public television in 1969, it has educated and entertained generations of children. Multiple generations — from the excited toddlers dressed as their favorite characters to the parents and grandparents who brought them to the show — were in attendance this week at Sesame Street the Musical at the Kennedy Center, and director Jonathan Rockefeller aims to deliver something for everyone.
As you enter the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, a series of parody Broadway posters line the walls, including Bath to the Future – The Musical (starring Ernie in his beloved bathtub), Les Macarons (starring Cookie Monster), The Fraction of the Opera-ah-ah (starring the Count), and Waiter (starring Grover) among the highlights. Literally and figuratively over the heads of most of the children walking into the theater, the parody posters appear later as part of the set (Tyler Schank, scenic designer) and establish from the beginning that Sesame Street the Musical is not only a show for kids, but a playful send-up of theater itself with plenty of self-referential humor for the adults in the audience to enjoy.
Opening with the beloved Sesame Street theme song, Sesame Street the Musical features a pre-recorded score of classic songs from the show, numbers that Rockefeller refers to as “deep cuts,” and original songs written by Nate Edmondson in collaboration with Broadway composers Tom Kitt and Helen Park. (Edmondson also serves as the show’s sound designer.) A talented ensemble of puppeteers (Mecca Akbar, Julia Feinberg, Yanniv Frank, Joe Newman-Getzler, Natalie Michaels, Vickie Oceguera, Molly Penny, Dustin Scully, Matteo Villanueva, and Anthony White) strategically hidden behind the walls of the set, operate the cast of puppets in sync with the recorded voices of the Muppet stars. That the layers of sound design function near-seamlessly in tandem with the puppetry — with the occasional miscue (such as when voices were difficult to hear over the music during the original number “Hey! We’re in a Musical!”) quickly corrected — is a testament to the skill of the ensemble and crew.
The musical functions as a revue, loosely tied together by a frame story in which the Muppets are trying to stage a musical but have forgotten to book a guest star. When Olivia (Olivia Bernábe), the only non-puppet actor in the performance, wanders onto the set in search of their seat, they are recruited as the “special guest” and taken on a journey to learn to sing, dance, choose a costume, overcome their nerves, and perform with confidence. The frame story was lost on my Sesame Street-loving three-year-old, who asked if Olivia was “the mama,” but the familiar Muppet musical numbers delighted him, especially “Elmo’s Got the Moves,” featuring Elmo dancing with several pairs of golden puppet shoes; “C is for Cookie,” starring Cookie Monster with a set of anthropomorphized puppet cookies that he attempts to eat; and “Rubber Duckie,” with Ernie and his duckie blissfully “splashing” on stage as a bubble machine blew bubbles into the audience. The Count’s disco-flavored “Number of the Day” (complete with disco ball at stage right and dazzling lighting by Malory Hartman) was another crowd pleaser, although very young or especially sensory-sensitive children may be overwhelmed by the pulsating lights and beats.
My son’s all-time favorite Sesame Street character is Oscar the Grouch, and Oscar does not disappoint in the musical. Popping up from his trash can for the first time following Olivia and Rosita’s duet “Sing After Me,” Oscar prevents the musical from turning too saccharine with his appearance as the “critic-at-large” for the “New Yuck Times.” As a display of his newspaper headlines appears as a backdrop (“Stinky! Rotten! Trash! Scram!”), Oscar announces to the audience, “You better not be enjoying yourselves or else I won’t have anything to write about!” as he launches into his number “I Love Trash,” accompanied by a cast of trash puppets including a broken umbrella and a dilapidated trombone. The irony that I laughed harder at Oscar than at anything else in the show at a performance I was there to review is not lost on me.
While Oscar would undoubtedly have found the moment too “nice” for his liking, the song “Fuzzy and Blue (and Orange)” for me best summed up the spirit of the musical (and of Sesame Street). In solo verses and a shared chorus, Cookie Monster and Grover sing of their pride in being “fuzzy and blue.” When an orange Martian wanders on stage, they notice its difference (“You’re not fuzzy and blue — you’re orange!”) but quickly update the song to include the newcomer. Just as Sesame Street has evolved over the years while remaining true to its identity, as Rockefeller notes in an interview in the Kennedy Center’s CENTER magazine, Cookie Monster and Grover keep singing on beat, proud of being fuzzy and blue — while making space for the Martian to join the chorus and belong. As the Muppets take the stage in our nation’s capital at a time where questions of American identity and who is welcome in America take center stage in national news, the United States can learn much from Sesame Street about remaining true to itself while being welcoming to newcomers and willing to evolve.
Running Time: Approximately 70 minutes without intermission.
Sesame Street the Musical plays through August 31, 2025, presented by Rockefeller Studios, performing in the Terrace Theater at the Kennedy Center, 2700 F St NW, Washington, DC. Purchase tickets (starting at $45) in person (the Hall of States Box Office is open Monday – Saturday 10 am – 9 pm and Sunday 12 pm – 9 pm), by calling the box office at (202) 467-4600, online, or through TodayTix. Sensory-friendly performances are available Sunday, August 10, and Saturday, August 30, both at 3:30 PM.
Best enjoyed by ages 2+
View the digital program here.
