COLOURS AND MUSIC: A still from one of the many shows of Elmo Makes Music that is held around the world.

By Anand Holla


Imagine Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and their friends, pop out of the TV screens and entertain your kids by trying to play music. That and a lot more is in store for kids in Qatar, this Eid, at the very successful Broadway-style musical Sesame Street Live – Elmo Makes Music.
From July 18 to July 22, two shows of Elmo Makes Music, every day at 5pm and 8pm, will treat children to their favourite Sesame Street characters’ antics at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC).
Tickets for all 10 performances are on sale at all Virgin Megastores (also online), Q-Tickets.com, Lulu Centers & Hypermarkets, FNAC (Lagoona Mall) & Sharaf DG (Ezdan Mall): QR350 VIP, QR230 Platinum, QR170 Gold, and QR110 Silver.
Since its debut in the US on November 10, 1969, Sesame Street has been the biggest and most popular children’s television series. In fact, it boasts of the largest worldwide audience of any children’s TV programme, to date, and has won 159 Emmy Awards and 8 Grammy Awards – more than any other children’s show.
Created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett, the programme has won millions of fans around the world – it has been translated in more than 20 languages – for its educational content, and images communicated through the use of Jim Henson’s Muppets, animation, short films, humour, and cultural references.
Just like the TV series, the Sesame Street Live productions, too, weave in timeless lessons for all ages. In Elmo Makes Music, enthusiastic new music teacher Jenny arrives on the famous Sesame Street only to discover that all of her instruments are missing. Jenny’s new Muppet friends rush to the rescue and discover “instruments” they never knew existed – rubber duckies, pots and spoons, trash can lids and cookie jars. Easily the most-loved furry red monster, Elmo is an eternal child and perennial optimist, and “the very essence of Sesame Street’s innocence and enthusiasm.”
The thought that Elmo and friends want to convey to the children is simple but powerful – that everyone can make and enjoy beautiful music together. The musical wows children as much with its fun and games as it helps them learn about patience, acceptance and teamwork. Grown-ups are likely to recognise songs such as The Hustle, You Should Be Dancing, and Rockin’ Robin, from the nearly two dozen numbers that the show has – including classic children’s sing-alongs like C Is for Cookie and The Alphabet Song.
As a TV show, Sesame Street’s format consists of a combination of commercial television production elements and techniques that have evolved to reflect the changes in American culture and the audience’s viewing habits.
In fact, it’s the first children’s TV show that used educational goals and a curriculum to shape its content. As author Malcolm Gladwell rightly said, “Sesame Street was built around a single, breakthrough insight: that if you can hold the attention of children, you can educate them.”
For the first time, a TV show’s educational effects were studied. Thousands of research studies regarding Sesame Street’s efficacy, impact, and effect on American culture have been carried out.
Author Michael Davis has said, “Sesame Street is perhaps the most vigorously researched, vetted, and fretted-over programme on the planet. It would take a fork-lift to now to haul away the load of scholarly paper devoted to the series.” The results of numerous studies have shown that the show has had a significant educational impact and a positive impact on its young viewers.
In 2001, there were more than 120 million viewers of various international versions of Sesame Street, and by the show’s 40th anniversary in 2009, it was broadcast in more than 140 countries.
Sesame Street was the 15th-highest rated children’s television show in the US by its 40th anniversary in 2009. A 1996 survey found that 95 per cent of all American pre-schoolers had watched the show by the time they were three years old, and in 2008, it was estimated that 77 million Americans had watched the series as children.
Let your kids be part of an epic entertaining and educational journey this Eid at QNCC – they will surely thank you when they grow up.