Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 20, 1990 TAG: 9004200526
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TRACY WIMMER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
At the zoo? Nope.
In the tub with Rubber Duckie? Uh-uh.
Hanging out with Oscar over by his trash can. No.
Actually, Bert and Ernie were no where near 123 Sesame St. that evening.
Try the Whitesnake concert at the Roanoke Civic Center.
"I can't really say we're big rock and rollers," Ernie said, tilting his chair back. "I'm more into pop."
Bert agreed.
To see these two drinking their early morning coffee in an empty restaurant at the Patrick Henry Hotel, you would never suspect they play two of the most famous characters ever created. Nor would you guess that their following is so diverse.
When the stage manager for Whitesnake found out Bert and Ernie were in town Tuesday afternoon, he called and asked them if they would be his guests at the concert that evening. They went out of costume. When they got there, they found that the stage manager had rushed to a toy store and bought a bunch of Sesame Street paraphernalia for them to autograph.
Bert and Ernie aren't sure, but they think the stuff was for his kids.
Steven Gurrola (Bert) and John Cameron (Ernie) are performers in "Big Bird and the ABC's," a "Sesame Street Live" production at the Salem Civic Center this weekend. They have been with "Sesame Street Live," now in its 10th season, longer than any other of the actors - eight and nine years.
These guys love their work.
"Over the years," Gurrola said, "I've noticed a lot of people just want to tell us a story about what `Sesame Street' meant to them. They get a little embarrassed, but you can always see this gleam in their eyes. It's great."
While "Sesame Street Live" is billed as a Broadway musical for kids, these two are not so sure who enjoys the performances more - the kids or their parents. After all, most of the audience grew up with their characters.
Now in it's 20th season, public television's "Sesame Street" is viewed by 14 million people each week. "Sesame Street Live" is an extension of that show, featuring the life-size Muppets originally created by Jim Henson.
Three productions of "Sesame Street Live" are touring North America. The cast of "Big Bird and the ABC's" includes everyone's favorite Sesame Street residents: Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Bert and Ernie, The Count, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, Prairie Dawn and Guy Smiley, America's favorite game show host.
The newest edition is Tee-Hee (think E.T.), an alien from the planet Crayon. She was created by Henson especially for this edition of "Sesame Street Live." Bert and Ernie's job in the first scene is to teach Tee-Hee about laughter, via a bunch of knock-knock jokes.
"Bert's jokes are pretty bad," Cameron said, trying not to laugh.
Neither of these guys ever envisioned donning size 15 shoes and getting on roller skates every night before hundreds of people. While Cameron, 27, grew up watching "Sesame Street" in his native Long Beach, Calif., Gurrola, 30, never saw the show as a child living in a Los Angeles barrio.
But both guys loved acting in high school. And both could dance - a crucial requirement for "Sesame Street Live."
Performing on stage and occasionally on TV, Gurrola and Cameron heard about the "Sesame Street" tour through ads in trade magazines. The auditions held across the country each year attract performers from break dancers to body builders.
While Gurrola has always played Bert, Cameron started out playing Oscar the Grouch because he was able to fit into a garbage can that was at one time used as a stage prop. That role was not without benefits, he explained.
"It was kind of a release," he said. "I'd end up signing autographs, `Have a rotten day. I don't want to be doing this.' And no one cared."
The company consists of 27 people: 13 dancers, three managers, seven crew members and four concessionaires. The voices and music are prerecorded, with Jim Henson and Frank Oz doing all the original Muppet sound.
Fortunately, both Gurrola and Cameron like the road.
Each "Sesame Street Live" show tours for 35 to 42 weeks, giving 300 to 350 performances each season. Most of the traveling is by bus. Someday Gurrola and Cameron hope to get on the international tours to Canada and Japan.
"But we've learned that it's not where you go," Cameron said. "It's who you're with."
The two room together. They feel especially lucky on this tour to be staying in a Patrick Henry Hotel efficiency, where Gurrola can cook Mexican food - "the real stuff" - morning, noon and night.
While the turnover among cast members is brisk, neither Gurrola nor Cameron foresee themselves leaving the production anytime soon.
"It's kind of like instant fame without being famous," Cameron said. "We get the applause. But once we're off work - and I don't even like to call it work - we're anonymous again."
"Sesame Street Live: Big Bird and the ABC's" will be showing at the Salem Civic Center tonight through Sunday. Tonight's show is at 7:30, Saturday's p are at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and Sunday's performance wil be at 3 p.m. Tickets are $8 and $9; Children 12 and under save $1.50. All seats are reserved. For more information, call the civic center at 375-3004 or (800) 288-2122. `SESAME STREET LIVE' Shows through Sunday, Salem Civic Center. 375-3004.
by CNB