After 42 seasons with minimal changes to the shows format, “Sesame Street” will be changing up Elmo’s usual routine.
The fuzzy red puppet’s “Elmo’s World” segment that viewers have watched for 13 years is being phased out for a new segment, “Elmo the Musical.” Ten 11-minute skits have been prepared. Sounds like Elmo is hopping on the Glee train!
Senior vice president of education and research at Sesame Workshop Rosemarie Truglio told the Huffington Post that the new skit will emphasize concepts in science, technology, engineering, and math using music as a learning tool. The new segment will be directed largely at pre-school aged children rather than the current Elmo who is geared more toward 2-year-olds.
“With really young children, the arts are very relevant to their lives,” Truglio said. “We want to be able to use the arts as a tool.”
The new and apparently more mature Elmo will used singing and dancing to bring attention to problem-solving skills and will be featured in several different performances including “Sea Captain the Musical,” “Mountain Climber the Musical” and “President the Musical.”
Along with the revved up Elmo segment, “Sesame Street” will be bringing on a usual series of celebrity guests including Charlize Theron, Halle Berry, Melissa McCarthy, Steve Carell, John Hamm, Zac Effron, Blake Griffin, the rock band Train and rapper Common.