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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Saturday, June 14, 2003

Colorful characters charm in 'Sesame Street Live'

By Joseph T. Rozmiarek
Advertiser Drama Critic

Bert and Ernie sail away on the Good Ship Rubber Duckie as part of the "Sesame Street Live" show at the Blaisdell Center Concert Hall.

Advertiser library photo * May 23, 2003

By the tingling of my thumbs, something blue and hairy this way comes.

Relax, it's only Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch and Elmo along with a stage full of dancers dressed in yards of shag carpeting and upholstery fabric, lip-syncing to a recorded sound track of familiar "Sesame Street" voices and bouncy music.

It's "1-2-3 Imagine!", the latest installment of "Sesame Street Live," the stage show filled with all the characters of your favorite children's TV series. Given the limitations of costuming, use of recordings and the demands of reaching to the back row of the Neal Blaisdell Center Concert Hall, the production succeeds at being lively and colorful.

And who can't be charmed by an environment where purple skin and orange hair are commonplace and ping-pong-ball eyes are everybody's best feature?

Samantha the mail carrier is the only human character in the show. She sings live and delivers the post cards that inspire production numbers in which the cast visits imaginary places. That's the simple theme: You may be stuck on your home street, but you can go anywhere your imagination takes you. The show's designers help you along with painted backdrops and projected videotapes.

The first visit is to Mexico for a rudimentary Spanish lesson and a fiesta with an exploding piņata. Then Bert and Ernie sail away on the Good Ship Rubber Duckie, where it's easy being green and lyrics flow smoothly to the melody of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Captain of the Pinafore."

Next Bert goes snorkeling into a sea of black light filled with glowing sea creatures, the biggest of which has eight chartreuse tentacles, and sings "The Octopus Blues." From there it's just a short hop to a Hawaiian beach party and a chorus of "Surfin' Safari."

There's also that charming pooch Barkley, getting the audience to pretend they're dogs.

But the most dramatic number happens on an imaginary trip to Africa. There, dancers in black body stockings, glowing masks and streamers twirl to the beat of jungle drums.

A visit to Camp Wanna-Go-Home is cheered up by a family of bears that lead the cast in their favorite camping songs while erupting gas geysers inspire a Broadway dance version of "Steam Heat." Then it's off to New Orleans for a Mardi Gras parade to the tune of "When the Saints Go Marching In" and a shower of exploding confetti.

If your young ones are captivated by "Sesame Street" on television, they will do well during the 90-minute run of this show. Even if they're only borderline audience-trained, they might enjoy themselves since participation is encouraged and squirming is allowed.

And it would be hard to find a more kid-friendly environment.