"Elmo's Green Thumb," featuring singing, dancing Sesame Street Muppets learning about nature's garden, will come to Grand Forks with shows at 7 p.m. Tuesday and 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Alerus Center.
Politicians and scientists aren't the only ones these days who are interested in flora and fauna. In this show, Elmo is concerned about his sunflower (named Sunny) and finding the best place for Sunny to grow.
"The environment and grasping the whole going green thing is a big concept even for adults to understand," said Jennie Andreasen, publicity manager for VEE Co., the Minneapolis-based company that produces Sesame Street Live.
"So, it was a challenge to do it for children. But I think this show does it very well," Andreasen said. "It picks out a few key facts and concentrates on them."
"Elmo's Green Thumb" is the only Sesame Street Live production touring right now, and Grand Forks is one of its first stops. Two more Sesame Street Live shows will open within the next month, Andreasen said, and VEE Co. has recently acquired a new property, Curious George Live, that will open in October,
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The shows tour nationally and internationally. "Elmo's Green Thumb" is coming to Grand Forks from Winnipeg. Another show is set to travel to Puero Rico and the Dominican Republic.
In "Elmo's Green Thumb," Elmo has raised his sunflower, Sunny, from a seed, but his floral friend has outgrown the flower pot. Elmo and friends find Big Bird's garden the ideal place for Sunny to flourish. But after he's planted there, they are too excited to let nature take its course, and Abby Cadabby casts a spell to make Sunny grow.
The result is an illusion in which the Sesame Street characters seem to shrink, giving them a new, up-close look at the garden.
The show is just over 90 minutes including a 15-minute intermission. Sixteen performers play 17 characters in costumes that have a cable down one arm with a trigger cast members can push to open and close their characters' mouths.
"I think this is a really good introduction to theater for kids, whether it's the first time a child has seen a show, or if, for a lot of families, it's a family tradition to see the Sesame Street shows," Andreasen said.
Tickets are on sale now and are available at the Alerus Center box office, online at www.ticketmaster.com or can be charged by phone by calling (800) 745-3000.
Reach Tobin at (701) 780-1134; (800) 477-6572, ext. 134; or send e-mail to ptobin@gfherald.com .
