Elmo Tickle TmxKevin Clash honors Jim Henson in LI Muppets show
With the whole world tickled pink to see him anywhere he shows up - at least the whole 5-and-under world - it's hard to believe that Elmo began life as an unwanted Muppet child.
The perpetual 2-year-old was twice given up for adoption before landing in the hands of Kevin Clash. "He literally threw Elmo at me," Clash said of Richard Hunt, the late master puppeteer who never really connected with the little red monster after he was passed to him by another indifferent Muppets colleague. "He didn't like performing the character," Clash said. But as the new guy on the "Sesame Street" block, Clash was thrilled. "I gave him this little falsetto and talked about love. Pretty soon he was a star."
Clash will bring his star puppet to Huntington's Cinema Arts Centre this weekend for an appreciation of Jim Henson and his puppet/marionette universe. He'll be joined by Dave Goelz, creator of Gonzo, among other Muppet stars and Fran Brill, whose preschool alter ego Zoe is one of Elmo's playmates. Muppet historian Craig Shemin is also scheduled to appear, plus Henson's youngest daughter, Heather, and puppet maker Steve Widerman. There will be a Q&A panel, screenings of the Muppets' movies (Heather Henson leads a "Muppet Movie" sing-a-long Tuesday), puppetry-related features and a $100-a-person benefit reception.
It's an extensive program - but then, the Muppets remain big, even 38 years after they charmed their way onto the national stage with the debut of "Sesame Street" on public TV in 1969. Besides teaching preschoolers to read, count and be tolerant of others, the show delighted generations of parents who discovered an undertow of humor that went over their toddlers' heads. As a result, adults followed Henson into prime time with "The Muppet Show," originally airing from 1976 to 1981, and to a series of movies, beginning with "The Muppet Movie" in 1979 - to say nothing of the merchandising empire that sprung from the franchise, featuring, most notably, Elmo TMX, the souped-up Tickle Me Elmo that was last year's hottest Christmas toy.
The Jim Henson retrospective is part of a national tour running before the Muppets collection takes up permanent residence at Atlanta's Center for Puppetry Arts, so this weekend may be a rare opportunity to see the Muppets in New York - and to address such important issues as "What is Gonzo, anyway?"
Lovable figures
He's a monster, of course, with a bird-like beak but no feathers. But like all the Muppets spawned by the genius of Henson - who died in 1990 of a bacterial infection - and his colony of puppet masters, Gonzo is lovable.
"Kermit [the Frog] set the personality mold. He reflected what Jim was like, working with the Muppets," Goelz said, "the calm emcee in the center of anarchy, barely keeping it together, yet somehow in charge."
Goelz, 61, began his career as an industrial designer, which he says "turns out to be great training for building puppets." He was drawn to puppets since age 5. Later, he'd interrupt his studies at Los Angeles Art Center's College of Design to watch a new kids' show, "Sesame Street."
"I was fascinated by the cohesion of it all," Goelz recalled in a phone interview from his Marin County, Calif., home. "And yet it was so free. I wanted to meet these guys. I wondered if they were all hippies."
Goelz met Muppeteer Frank Oz at a puppetry festival in Oakland, Calif., and was invited to the "Sesame Street" workshop in New York, where he first met Henson. "I was utterly charmed," he said. He joined the team in 1976, flying to London for one of the first episodes of "The Muppet Show."
"I felt so unentitled to be working with all these big stars," he said. "Raquel Welch completely intimidated me. Then, one of my heroes, Peter Sellers, was a guest and said he wanted to work with Gonzo because he reminded him of Clouseau. I was so nervous I wanted to leave town."
Finding charm in flaws
Goelz, now working on a series of Disney Channel shorts to introduce the Muppets to a new generation, says Gonzo and his other characters all represent a different flawed aspect of his personality. Gonzo, for instance, is a bug-eyed optimist who's delusional about his ability to pull off whatever plan he may hatch. "With each of my characters, I take something of myself that I think of as a flaw and emphasize it to make it lovable," he says. "It's therapeutic."
Clash, 47, who along with Brill, introduces "Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland" Saturday at Cinema Arts, tapped into his childhood reservoir of playfulness to fill in Elmo's personality blanks when the discarded puppet first nestled into his arms. Born just outside of Baltimore, Clash was always surrounded by children. His mother ran a day care center from their Turners Station home. Clash discovered "Sesame Street" at age 10 and was so enthralled that his mom often had to pull his face away from the TV screen. "I'd edge up to within inches," he said in a phone interview from Manhattan.
Drawing from experience
Self-taught in puppetry arts, Clash began living out his dreams on a Baltimore TV show, "Caboose." In 1979, he heard that the Muppet family needed puppeteers for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Clash filled in as Cookie Monster and joined "Sesame Street" in 1983. At that time, Elmo was just a face in the crowd. "Being a baritone, it seemed to me that a falsetto was the only way I could speak for Elmo," Clash said. "And I just drew on the kids' stuff I remember from growing up with a houseful of little guys."
But it was the Tickle Me Elmo toy phenomenon that launched Clash's puppet into what he calls "the stratosphere."
In his book tour last year for "My Life as a Furry Red Monster," Clash - who's at work on an Elmo Christmas special for ABC - said he was "blown away" by the "I love you Elmo" response he and his "monster" evoked. "He's a love icon all over the world."
WHEN & WHERE
"Muppets, Music and Magic: Jim Henson's Legacy," Cinema Arts Centre, 423 Park Ave., Huntington, 631-423-3456, 2696, cinemaartscentre.org. "Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird," 1:30 p.m. Friday, 9:30 a.m. Sunday; "Muppets From Space," 4:45 p.m. Friday, 9:15 a.m. Saturday; "Dog City & Storyteller," 7:15 p.m. Friday; "The Dark Crystal," 9:30 p.m. Friday; "Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland," 9:30 a.m. Saturday; "Rockin' Sock Puppetmaking Workshop," 10 a.m. Saturday, 11:45 a.m. Sunday; Kevin Clash book signing, 11:15 a.m. Saturday; "A Better World: Living in Harmony," 11:30 a.m. Saturday; "The Muppet Movie," noon Saturday; "Muppets Musical Moments," 1:15 p.m. Saturday; Muppets panel, 3 p.m. Saturday; "The Great Muppet Caper," 5:15 p.m. Saturday; benefit reception, 6:15 p.m. Saturday; "Muppet Commercials & Experiments," 7:30 p.m. Saturday; "Labyrinth," 10 p.m. Saturday; Peter Jackson's "Meet the Feebles," midnight Saturday; "The Witches," 11:15 a.m. Sunday; "Muppets Fairy Tales," 11:30 a.m. Sunday; "Muppet Treasure Island," 1:30 p.m. Sunday; "Puppetry & the Art of Storytelling," 1:45 p.m. Sunday; "Muppet History 101," 3:45 p.m. Sunday; "The Muppets Take Manhattan," 5:45 p.m. Sunday; "Mirrormask," 8 p.m. Sunday; "Muppet Movie Sing-a-long," 7 p.m. Tuesday; "Handmade Puppet Dreams," Heather Henson's highlights, 7:30 p.m. next Wednesday; adults-only puppet slam, 8 p.m. Aug. 16; Happy Puppetry Company, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Aug. 18. "Puppets on the Sound" exhibit, Petite Gallery, Huntington Arts Council, 213 Main St., Huntington, through Aug. 20; 631-271-8423.
