Getting back to Sesame Street

Young Chang

Talk about imaginative.

A green-furred grouch who dwells in a trash can. A blue monster that

eats cookies like it’s his job.

A googly-eyed red Muppet with blazing-red fur and a honking yellow

nose.

A 6-year-old bird that stretches more than 8 feet tall and is liked by

everyone on the block.

Or the street.

Sesame Street, that is.

With characters that are so inventive they’ve lived through

generations since the late 1960s, the musical “Sesame Street Live:

Everyone Makes Music,” based on the popular television show, closes

Imagination Celebration’s two-week festival this weekend at the Orange

County Performing Arts Center.

“I think the ‘Sesame Street’ show is going to be very interesting not

just because kids today watch it, but I remember growing up on ‘Sesame

Street’ as well,” said Daniel Stekol, executive director of the festival.

“I think a lot of parents that are my age enjoyed it so much as a kid

that they certainly want their kid to see it as well.”

Imagination Celebration’s 17th run involved 56 events held in 15

cities celebrating all forms of art. The location of the finale event --

the Center -- adds to the experience, Stekol said.

“Not everyone gets the opportunity to see a show in Segerstrom Hall,”

he said. “But [the Center] always provides that. Later on in life, [the

kids] will remember it and want to come back and experience other shows.”

“Everyone Makes Music,” which started Thursday, is about how a new

teacher arrives in town intent on teaching the Sesame Street crew how to

make music. Her truck of instruments doesn’t arrive though, so Big Bird,

Elmo, Bert, Ernie and all the other playful creatures try to welcome

their guest by finding instruments in everyday things -- pots, pans,

cookie jars, anything and everything.

Hannah Kim, a 22-year-old New Yorker playing Elmo, said the show’s

wild creativity makes it universally understandable.

“Because all of the characters don’t look like a specific type of

person,” Kim said. “They’re monsters. They don’t look like anyone else.

It allows room for everyone to relate to the characters.”

Growing up as a Korean-American in Los Angeles, the actor said she

loved relating to something that required such a stretch of imagination.

“It was something entirely different, and I think that was just a

great thing,” she said. “My parents immigrated here, and there wasn’t a

lot to relate to.”

Kim added that watching “Sesame Street” on stage offers a new

perspective on a children’s classic.

“Watching ‘Sesame Street’ on television is great, but when you take

your kids out and expose them to theater and music, it feeds the

imagination,” Kim said.

FYI

* What: “Sesame Street Live: Everyone Makes Music”

* When: Through Sunday. Show times are 10:30 a.m., 2 and 5:30 p.m.

today; 1 and 4:30 p.m. Sunday

* Where: Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive,

Costa Mesa

* Cost: $15-$25. $10.50 for Sunday performances if you present the

Imagination Celebration brochure at the Center box office.

* Call: (714) 740-7878