Getting to Sesame Street

Public television staple's songs and characters are introduced to a second generation

By Laura Johnston ~ Southeast Missourian

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?

Chances are, if you're a parent or someone near 30, you can because you grew up watching the antics of Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird, and Bert and Ernie.

Now children tune in to see Elmo, Zoe, Rosita and a cast of others to learn letters, languages and something about diversity in each episode of "Sesame Street."

Of course, the show is brought to you by its sponsors: a letter and a number. Locally, it airs at 10 a.m. weekdays on WSIU, the public broadcast channel in Carbondale, Ill.

"Sesame Street Live" brought its cast to Cape Girardeau this weekend for a Broadway-style show that also teaches children about friendship. There are performances at 1 and 4:30 p.m. today at the Show Me Center.

The show, "Let's Be Friends," is the story of how Elmo and Zoe start a new friendship club that is open only to monsters with red or orange fur. But they learn that more friends are better than fewer, so they lift their restrictions.

The show teaches lessons about friendship, loyalty, acceptance and even cleaning up your room.

"The show teaches great values and always teaches lessons," said cast member Annemarie LaTulip, who plays Prairie Dawn.

Area parents like "Sesame Street" for those reasons -- and because it's familiar.

Marie Seesing's sons, Mason, 6, and Blake, 4, aren't avid fans, but both like Elmo. "They don't even know who Big Bird is, which is funny because when I was a kid, that's who I watched."

Laura Norman of Cape Girardeau watched "Sesame Street" religiously as a child. "I think it was on twice a day, and I watched," said the mother of two.

But her children aren't able to watch the television program because the family cannot pick up the WSIU signal.

"We used to have a video game with 'Sesame Street,' so they know all the characters," she said. "The monsters are a little bit on the edge of scary" for her children, ages 2 and 4, though.

Most of the children in the audience at "Sesame Street Live" productions are surprised by the size of the characters on stage. "We're a little larger than they expect," said LaTulip.

LaTulip has been with the Sesame Street production for six tours and typically played Elmo, a favorite of all ages. The show provides a great "first Broadway experience," she said.

As a cast member, seldom are there times when LaTulip gets to hear what the audience says about the show. "But you can hear the gasps from the crowd" when the characters walk on stage. "It's just crazy loud."

LaTulip likes the "Sesame Street" show because it's what she grew up on.

But even knowing who's behind the costume doesn't take away excitement from the show, said Sharon Pliego, performance director. "When they put that costume on, they're really in front of you and transform into those characters."

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126