Sesame Street was a must-see for Becca Smith when she was a kid. It still is, but in a very different way.
Smith now serves as creative producer for Sesame Street Live! Elmo’s Got the Moves, coming to Carpenter Theatre at Dominion Energy Center on June 14 at 2 p.m.
“I love this brand so much,” says Smith, who works with Round Room Live Productions.
As a brand, Sesame Street aired its first television episode in November 1969 and is currently celebrating its 56th season.
Smith has been working on Elmo’s Got the Moves for a year, helping plan the production from inception to opening.
The show is all about Elmo finding the moves he needs to put on a dance show,” says Smith.
Elmo starts getting ideas for his own moves when he watches his friends — Big Bird, Abby Cadabby, Cookie Monster, Grover and Oscar — and their unique dance styles — think jumping a rope, doing a cartwheel or doing yoga.
“Elmo just loves to dance,” says Smith, who really had fun selecting the music for each character’s movement and song for their dance show.
Lessons Beyond the Stage
“The production talks about why it is important to move your body and that there are different ways to move,” Smith says. “It also talks about how important stretching is before we move.”
While it is geared toward a young audience, there is a broad audience appeal, she adds.
“I think there is something familiar for parents to come back to. The songs, like Sunny Days are in their childhood music cannon,” she says.
But, perhaps it’s the universal message that the show has been emphasizing from day one — how to be a good neighbor and a good friend and be inclusive.
“It resonates generation to generation,” she says. “It’s a great way to share this with your kids.”
Sesame Street Live! Elmo’s Got the Moves comes to Dominion Energy Center’s Carpenter Theater on Sunday, June 14, at 2:00 PM. Tickets are available on the Dominion Energy Center website.
