Your Thoughts: Jim Henson's Musical World at Carnegie Hall

[Zeliboba]

Oh, how I wish I could be there! Seems to have been incredible (and the tickets are at such low prices!). Pity I live several thousand miles away from NYC

 

[DannyRWW]

Wow! It sounds like a lot of work went into a show that was only performed once.... wouldn't it be nice if they filmed this to release on DVD. Its nice to see all the different companies who own the properties working together...this is like something we haven't seen since the Muppet family Christmas

 

[Cindy]

Hi Everyone!

I just joined the forum so I could read other fans' reviews of the show. (I saw it today at 12:30pm). As I see no other reviews yet, I'll go ahead and give mine.

Thank you, Mr. Scott Harris! That was a wonderful review! So glad you joined us. Sounds like it was a once in a lifetime experience!

 

[Facebones]

I saw the 12:30 show, and it was great! My only issue was with the microphones. Not only was there a problem with John Tartaglia's, but also with several of the Muppets. (I think Gonzo's wasn't working either.)

And I think there is something wrong with the ventilation at Carnegie. That has to be the reason my eyes kept watering. Right. That must be it.

Also, from where I was sitting in the balcony, I couldn't see the Muppets on the far house right. I heard but did not see Statler & Waldorf and until I saw the above review, I had no idea the Beaker and Bunsen were in attendance. (That's really more my fault for waiting until last night to buy a ticket. I wasn't going to go because of work, but the schedule changed at the last minute allowing me to be there.)

I was very happy that Emmet Otter was included in the lineup as well as the Fraggles - two of my childhood favorites that I don' t think get as much play as they should.

Best part for me was seeing the whole Muppet band at Carnegie. Dr. Teeth, Rowlf, Floyd, Zoot, Janice, and Animal. Also cannot believe that Bob and Susan and Gordon have been on Sesame Street longer than I have been alive.

Really a great show, and I cannot believe that tickets were as low as $9. I couldn't even see the new Muppet movie for $9! Carnegie Hall or the Pops series must have some kind of subsidy to keep the price down. I certainly hope this gets put on DVD, but it is notoriously expensive to film at Carnegie so this may have been the only time this plays.

 

[steveradzik]

i need to see video of the fraggles

 

[Walter White]

Just got back from the show. It was magic!

Let me see if I can remember all of who was there. Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Rowlf, Statler, Waldorf, Animal, Dr Teeth, Floyd, Janice, Zoot, Bunsen, Beaker, Beauregard, Mahna Mahna and the Snowths, Traveling Matt, Wembley, Red, Cookie Monster, Bert, Ernie, Elmo, and a number of Emmet Otter characters and people from Sesame Street.

The show lasted about an hour and 15 minutes and was top notch from start to finish. So many songs were performed!

 

[Squigiman]

Hey Gang,
I was at the 12:30 show, and it was simply amazing. I was not able to attend MuppetFest, back in the early aughts, but this came darn close, with the majority of major performers there. Very surprised Steve Whitmire was not credited anywhere, whether the site or even the handouts we got in the audience. I have to agree about the drawback of audio issues, especially when it came to Gonzo (my favorite Muppet). Uncle Travelling Matt was heard loud and clear, so I'm not sure what the deal was.

Speaking of which, it was beyond the normal level of awesome seeing the Fraggles, especially Wembley (my favorite from that crew) live and in person, especially not expecting Steve and since I thought those puppets were supposedly not in good shape, as they've not been in regular use, thus not getting regular repairs/refurbishment. Not sure how, but all 3 looked the same as always. The Emmet Otter creatures definitely looked rebuilt or done from scratch, but I'm not so familiar with them, either. They looked really in too good a shape, or just too different, to be the originals.

So much greatness, with so much talent, and I really hope it's just the beginning, with The Muppets making a triumphant comeback, leading to more such things, as well as a home release. I did see the links of the video, which I'm surprised about, since I had a Flip camera, tried to be super inconspicuous (thus not always getting the best view, especially being way in the back), but I was still caught and asked to stop. Either way, I was definitely not going to go posting it online and risk getting into any legal trouble with the entertainers I've enjoyed for so many years.

The only other downside, outside of audio issues, is that there wasn't any clear time where I'd be able to meet anybody from the show or be able to afford the meet-and-greet type thing mentioned on this site. I got my The Works out of storage and marked pages in that and the Sesame 40 Years books for everyone there, this morning, but alas, it was for naught. I did get to see a friend from several Muppet events I've been to, so that was nice, and I took along my wife, little brother, and mom, so they all had a great time, as well. Traffic trying to get home was another story. Thanks for hearing my take out, and I hope anyone else who went enjoyed themselves.


-Squigiman

 

[MrBloogarFoobly]

I was so happy watching it. I had bad seats, but the performance was excellent. I was so glad Bill Baretta and Steve Whitmire ended up being there (they weren't confirmed on the guest list.) God... I can hardly process it, honestly. I laughed, cried, and all the rest!

Also, that little African American kid (can't remember his name at the mo!) who was in the Being Elmo Documentary, and who performed on Sesame, was in the lobby afterwords, trying to get people to take pictures with him.

 

[Walter White]

I went to both shows, sixth row up front for the first show and the balcony above Statler and Waldorf for the second show. I could see a lot of the behind the scenes of the Muppeteers performing from the balcony, so that was a neat little change for the second show. The second ran pretty much the same as the first, but the sound issues were fixed, so we actually got to hear Gonzo. The reviews above are great, so rather than a full review I'll just list a few extra items that haven't been mentioned yet.

Mahna Mahna and the Snowths performed.
The last song in the Sesame medley was I Love Trash, albeit without Oscar.
I loved Wembley. He was great.
Piggy gave Kermit a little kiss at the end of the second show, didn't notice if that happened in the first show.
Animal was a real blink and you'd miss it cameo. He was only on stage for about 5 second.
Follow Me was also in the Fraggle segment along with a few small snippets of other songs, Looking at a Fraggle song list, I think they were Wemblin' Fool and Workin' Workin'.
Not sure who was handling Beaker, but they did a great job giving him a lot of personality. He got scared whenever the crowd applauded and hid down in his lab coat.
It was a cool sight to see from the balcony all of Carnegie Hall doing the hand claps in the Fraggle Rock theme.

 

[MrBloogarFoobly]

^Love your icon/name.

Yeah about Wembley! To all those who said that Steve Whitmire was losing his voice, I think we can safely say his upper register is still there.