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Police searching for woman reported missing from Valley Youth House

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Lana Rose Burns

<p>WILKES-BARRE TWP. &#8212; Telling a friend how to get to Sesame Street becomes easy for residents of Northeastern Pennsylvania as the famed fictional avenue and its beloved characters get transported to the Wyoming Valley for a residency on stage.</p><p>&#8220;Sesame Street Live: Elmo Makes Music&#8221; prepares for five performances Sept. 9-11 at the <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/557805/dolly-parton-brings-bluegrass-folk-spiritual-message-to-mohegan-sun-arena" target="_blank">Mohegan Sun Arena</a>. The Sept. 9 show kicks off a nationwide tour of the musical that follows Jenny, a music teacher who loses her instruments and is helped by Elmo and the rest of the Sesame Street characters to remedy the situation.</p><p>&#8220;Her moving truck is missing or lost,&#8221; performance director Jerry DuMars said. &#8220;They come up with some pretty inventive ways of making music with everyday, household items.&#8221;</p><p>Oscar the Grouch plays his trash can lid. Bert and Ernie play cola bottles and Cookie Monster makes music with his cookie jar during performances of Sesame Street standards &#8220;C Is For Cookie&#8221; and &#8220;The Alphabet Song&#8221; as well as recognizable pop and rock tunes like &#8220;You Should be Dancing&#8221; and &#8220;Rockin&#8217; Robin.&#8221;</p><p>The production relays significant lessons to a young audience, such as the importance of working together and the benefits of patience and persistence in solving a problem. It also champions the idea that anyone can make music if they love it.</p><p>&#8220;They try to make (the show) not only entertaining but educational,&#8221; DuMars said. &#8220;It&#8217;s definitely a great show &#8230; especially to introduce kids to live theater.</p><p>DuMars said the show features a lot of audience participation. Children are encouraged to clap their hands, stomp their feet and sing throughout the performance, and characters go off stage to greet the audience periodically.</p><p>The audience is &#8220;seeing the characters they see on television, such as Elmo and Abby (Cadabby), up close and personal,&#8221; DuMars said. &#8220;We want them to experience the joy and beauty of sound.&#8221;</p><p>DuMars, who began as a dancer in productions of &#8220;Jim Henson&#8217;s Muppet Babies Live&#8221; and &#8220;Sesame Street Live&#8221; before landing the directorial role he&#8217;s had for the last 25 years, said the show is entertaining to parents and grandparents as well.</p><p>&#8220;We have a &#8216;STOMP&#8217; number in there where they use spoons,&#8221; DuMars said. &#8220;We have a tribute to &#8216;Saturday Night Fever&#8217; when Bert comes out dressed up as John Travolta with the white suit and the mirror ball and the same choreography they used in that era in the &#8217;70s. We have a lot of dry humor in the show (and) we&#8217;ve got some old school hip-hop in there that the parents are going to enjoy watching.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The cast of Sesame Street Live features 12 dancers portraying beloved Sesame Street characters, old and new. The ensemble is slated for five performances at the Mohegan Sun Arena Sept. 9- 11. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_SesameStreet1.jpg</photo0><caption0>The cast of Sesame Street Live features 12 dancers portraying beloved Sesame Street characters, old and new. The ensemble is slated for five performances at the Mohegan Sun Arena Sept. 9- 11. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_SesameStreet2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">&#8216;Elmo Makes Music&#8217; follows the story of music teacher, Jenny, who has arrived at Sesame Street without her instruments. She enlists the help of Elmo and the other Sesame Street characters to make beautiful music in creative ways. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_SesameStreet2.jpg</photo1><caption1>&#8216;Elmo Makes Music&#8217; follows the story of music teacher, Jenny, who has arrived at Sesame Street without her instruments. She enlists the help of Elmo and the other Sesame Street characters to make beautiful music in creative ways. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photo </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>&#8216;Elmo Makes Music&#8217; in Wilkes-Barre Township</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Matt Mattei</p><p>mmattei@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>If you go:</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> &#8220;Sesame Street Live: Elmo Makes Music&#8221;</p><p>Where: Mohegan Sun Arena, 255 Highland Park Blvd., Wilkes-Barre Township</p><p>When: Sept. 9 at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., Sept. 10 at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. and Sept. 11 at 2 p.m.</p><p>Additional information: Tickets for &#8220;Sesame Street Live&#8221; cost $18 and $25 and are available at the arena box office, online at ticketmaster.com and by phone at 800-745-3000. A limited number of $35 Gold Circle seats and $65 Sunny Seats are available. The Sunny Seats package includes premium seating and a meet and greet with Elmo and two other Sesame Street characters. Sunny Seats are not available for the 10:30 a.m. show Sept. 10. For more information visit sesamestreetlive.com.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Matt Mattei at 570-991-6651 or Twitter @TLArts</p></shirttailMeta></div>

‘Sesame Street Live’ comes to Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township