Sesame Street is visiting Grand Rapids this weekend.  Sesame Street Live's "Elmo Makes Music" has five shows at Van Andel Arena this weekend: one Friday, two Saturday, and two on Sunday.

I went to the 10:30am show on Saturday with my wife and 3-year-old boy.  Was it worth it?  Well, let's ask the expert.  My 3-year-old.

He says, "I liked seeing Elmo's head."

What was his favorite part?  "Seeing Mr. Noodle."

Biggest disappointment?  "Elmo didn't play a guitar!"

But what about the grown ups?  I liked "Elmo Makes Music".  It's not the greatest show you'll ever see with your kids, but your kids will have fun, so you will too.

The show lasted about 1.5 hours with a 15 minute intermission about 30 minutes in.  It's a built-in potty break.  That's if your child can make it that long.  Mine didn't.  It's also a built-in Elmo balloon selling extravaganza.  Want an Elmo balloon at intermission?  They're $10.

There's really not a bad seat in the house.  The stage is set up at one end of Van Andel Arena.  More than half of the seats are closed-off for this show.  If you get a floor seat you will get an extreme close-up as Sesame Street characters run through the aisles multiple times.

At about 90 minutes total, the show is a good length for it's target age group.  The last 20 minutes of the show were filled with the constant drone of the cry of a few dozen 2-and-unders who needed a nap, a change, or maybe they just decided that an 6-foot-tall talking red monster is kind of scary.

Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster, and all the others were there too.  But Elmo steals the show.  At least for the kids.  Mom and Dad appear to think otherwise.  I saw a whole lot of cameras come out the first time Oscar the Grouch made an appearance.  When I was a kid, it was cool to be grouchy.  This Elmo guy is way too happy.

We tried the pretzel sticks for a snack.  They are an interesting sort of breadstick/pretzel hybrid.  All three of us liked them.

Tips:  If you want to go, do it, your kids will have fun.  Get a cheap seat if you're budget conscious, you'll still have a good view.  Remember the intermission.  If you need a snack, the pretzel sticks are tasty.

Did you go?  What did you think?  Did your kids like it?

 

 

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