Sesame Street Circus Spectacular returns after setback in Elmo’s Covid world

Live entertainment has been difficult to manage during the pandemic, something Silvers Circus knows all too well with their Sesame Street Spectacular suffering a setback in Shellharbour.

Elmos have been dotted around the Illawarra with the Sesame Street Circus Spectacular underway at Stockland Shellharbour.

The 90-minute show stars Sesame Street monster Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby, Bert, Ernie and Super Grover, as well as incredible performers from around the globe.

The show had a Covid setback last Friday when a ticket holder tested positive for the virus, leading the Circus Spectacular team to undertake rapid antigen testing with one of the performers returning a positive result.

This caused a week-long cancellation of the circus, with ticketholders contacted about rescheduling their tickets for when the circus gets back up and running on Saturday.

There will be 21 shows in Shellharbour between then and February 6.

Director of Silvers Circus, who put on the Spectacular in Australia, Dominik Gasser said: “Naturally we have been bitterly disappointed about having to cancel shows for the past seven days.

“It’s a challenging time already, but this virus is affecting everyone and of course the safety of our team and the community is our first priority.

“On the advice and confirmation from SafeWork NSW that it is safe to do so, we look forward to putting big smiles on the faces as we welcome everyone to be amazed by our incredible circus performers and laugh with their favourite Sesame Street characters from Saturday. After all, it’s times like these we all need a little fun and joy in our lives.”

Elmo went for a stroll through Shellharbour Village in between shows at the Sesame Street Circus Spectacular. Picture: Dylan Arvela

Mr Gasser, a seasoned performer in his own right, said running a circus during a pandemic hasn’t been an easy task, but his nearly 50-strong team of vaccinated staff and performers have been committed to keeping getting on with the show.

“The Sesame Street show is in its second year, but we’ve only performed for around seven months,” he said.

“There have been a lot of hurdles and a lot of hard times. We have travelled all through Tasmania, all through Victoria and all of South Australia. The virus has been following us and we’ve got used to it.

“We have an immaculate Covid set up and we want families to come in and enjoy themselves and forget there is a pandemic for a couple of hours with us.

“The good thing is we have so many performers from all over the world who are multi-taskers. If the trapeze went out, we could replace it with an entirely different act, they all have at least three or four acts up their sleeve.”

One would have to go back to the last century for the last time Silvers Circus brought a show to the region, but Mr Grasser said he had enjoyed being in town over the holidays, even despite the Covid hitch.

“This is the first time any of our productions have been in NSW for 23 years,” he said.

“It’s very exciting to take the show on the road and be in this part of the world. We usually do shows in Mornington Peninsula at this time of year, but what would be better than being in good, old Shellharbour for the Christmas and New Year holidays – it’s a beautiful part of the world.

Mr Grasser admitted everyone has their favourite Sesame Street character and he is no different, adding that even though the show is targeted at youngsters, it’s a performance that will entertain the entire family.

“I love the Cookie Monster,” he laughed.

“He’s a troublemaker, he’s funny and he can wrap. If you’re in Subway you better get a few cookies for Cookie Monster otherwise he gets very upset.

“This show is great for the whole family, even teenagers come along and walk out saying how much they loved it because there’s a whole lot of action.”

After packing up the tents in Shellharbour the gang from the Sesame Street Circus Spectacular will pitch up in Roselands and St Ives, before spending the Easter period in Newcastle.

Tickets can be purchased through Tickermaster.