This live stage show stars Bert and Ernie, who present a variety show starring all of their Sesame Street friends, and directed by Prairie Dawn, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Like its East Coast companion Sesame Street Live! at Madison Square Garden, the show was held in April 2020 to capitalize on Sesame Street's 50th season.
Sesame Street Live! at Staples Center provides examples of:
- Audience Participation Song: "People in Your Neighborhood" and "Three of These Things" turn into this. The former asks for the audience's answer on what the job an Anything Muppet has is based on his attire and accessories, while the latter asks for the "different" thing in a group of four items.
- Bohemian Parody: "Cookie's Rhapsody", a song about Cookie Monster expressing his guilt over eating a flan meant for Gonger and his fear over his friend's reaction. The song begins the second act.
- The Bus Came Back: Murray Monster, and his performer Joey Mazzarino, return in their first major role in a Sesame Street production since 2015. Other Muppet performers also make their return to action in years, including:
- Kevin Clash's first performance with the Sesame Street cast since 2012.
- Kathryn Mullen's first major puppeteering role since Between the Lions
- Vicki Kenderes-Eibner's return to puppetry since the end of Bear in the Big Blue House
- Cheryl Blaylock's puppetry return since the end of Blue's Room
- Louise Gold's return to Sesame Street since 1996
- Lisa Buckley's first credit for Sesame Street since 2008
- Bill Barretta returns to perform Louie for the first time since 2010's When Families Grieve
- Jim Martin's return to puppeteering for Sesame Street since 2014
- Greatest Hits: This show, like Sesame Street Live! at Madison Square Garden, is primarily a collection of Sesame Street's best-loved songs and skits, from "I Love Trash" to "What's the Name of That Song?"; from "Monster in the Mirror" to "The Honker-Duckie-Dinger Jamboree"; from "The Batty Bat" to "Little Things"; from "Fuzzy and Blue" to "We Are All Earthlings" (the most beloved songs from Sesame Street, like "C is for Cookie", "Rubber Duckie", "Elmo's Song" and "ABC-DEF-GHI", are performed as part of a medley that opens the show). Even lesser-known Sesame tunes, including "Honk Around the Clock", "Welcome!", "Lambaba", "Imagine That", "In Your Imagination" and "Picture a World" are performed in the show.
- West Coast Team: In regards to the puppeteers: the Staples Center show features 90 puppeteers based primarily in Los Angeles or the California state (most of them having worked as, or trained to be, puppeteers for The Jim Henson Company), in addition to the 120+ performers from the main Sesame Street team in New York.
