Costume designer does it all

By John Benson

Sesame Street Live comes to Powers Auditorium Thursday through May 3.

Making the magic behind the Sesame Street Live experience is something Costume and Creatures Director Chris Vesper has been doing for nearly two decades.

Over the years, this creative visionary has undertaken various tough tasks, including fitting Bert (of Bert and Ernie Fame) with a white “Saturday Night Fever” suit for the Sesame Street Live’s new “Elmo Makes Music” production, which comes to Youngstown’s Powers Auditorium Thursday through May 3.

“I started with a background in theater and my very first job here was painting scenery, but then I switched over to the costume shop,” said Vesper, calling from Minnesota. “I used to be the one who made all of the very odd things. The things beyond the standard items. If you remember MC Hammer, I had to make his pants for Cookie, Elmo and Grover. So not only did I have to figure out how to make them but how to hold them up. And Cookie doesn’t have a waist.”

She laughed, “That was one of my first jobs and it just kind of went from there.”

From dancing fireplugs and tap-dancing sheep, to oversized fruits and vegetables, Vesper and her cohorts have done it all. For “Elmo Makes Music,” the jack-of-all trades costume designer said aside from Bert’s “Stayin’ Alive” moment the other creative challenge was creating the Seedie Birds, which are Big Bird’s cohorts and date back far in Sesame Street lore.

So when it comes down to receiving the script of a new show for the first time, does Vesper feel she can accomplish whatever the writers come up with?

“Pretty much, yeah,” Vesper said. “Once it’s set in the script it’s just a matter of figuring out how. And sometimes it’s going back and forth and saying it would be a little safer and better if we did it this way or that way. That’s the kind of challenge that the people here like. They like to have something new every year to wrap their brains around and try to make it work.

“The other part is there are live dancers inside these designs and we have to think a whole lot about weight and coolness and washability of the costumes. So we’re building something that will tour well, that the performers can wear and can feel safe and comfortable in doing their jobs and balance that with how it has to look from the outside.”

For “Elmo Makes Music,” the storyline revolves around enthusiastic new music teacher Jenny, who arrives on Sesame Street only to discover that her instruments are missing. As you might guess, Jenny’s new Muppet friends quickly come to the rescue and along the way discover instruments such as rubber duckies, trash can lids and cookie jars.

The Broadway-quality musical production uses dance and song (“The Hustle,” “You Should Be Dancing,” “Rockin’ Robin,” “C Is for Cookie” and “The Alphabet Song”) to teach children patience, acceptance and teamwork.

“I think families will enjoy it because it’s all of their familiar friends and all of the ‘Sesame Street’ characters, which are so well known to children and their parents,” Vesper said. “And it’s non-stop dancing, singing and fun. There are always messages to be taught but it’s done in a very fun and friendly way.”