MASSENA - More than two dozen people from the Massena area are expected to find their way to “Sesame Street” in Syracuse when a traveling production begins its three-day run of fun and fur at the Landmark Theatre on Friday.

They particularly want to see Abby Cadabby, the Sesame Street character in “Elmo Makes Music” played by Massena native Cassie J. Vice, 22, daughter of Nora and Ricky W. Vice of Massena.

“I have a very big family,” Miss Vice said, and Syracuse is the closest city the production will stop in.

This is the second touring “Sesame Street Live” show Miss Vice has acted in. Two years ago, she played Elmo in “1-2-3 Imagine! With Elmo and Friends.”

Miss Vice is a 2012 graduate of Point Park College in Pittsburgh, where she was a dance major with a jazz concentration. She got involved with the “Sesame Street” shows, produced by the Vee Corp., after a Point Park faculty member alerted her about an opening.

“I went to the audition and got the job that day,” Miss Vice said last week in a phone interview from New York City. “It was a whirlwind.”

Her “Elmo Makes Music” tour began in December. After its Syracuse run ends Sunday, it travels to Cleveland.

Sesame Street describes Abby Cadabby as a “bright fairy-in-training who moved to Sesame Street from Fairyside, Queens.”

The plot of “Elmo and friends” involves Jenny, an enthusiastic new music teacher who arrives on Sesame Street only to discover that her instruments are missing. Jenny’s new Muppet friends quickly come to the rescue and discover “instruments” they never knew existed.

“The show basically shows children that you can make music with anything: jars, spoons, pots and pans,” Miss Vice said. “Life is full of music.”

She added, “It’s a Broadway-style show with lots of lights and dancing. It’s a lot of fun.”

“Elmo Makes Music” features nearly two dozen songs, including classics that children may sing along with, such as “C Is for Cookie” and “The Alphabet Song.”

Adults will recognize such songs as “The Hustle,” “You Should Be Dancing” and “Rockin’ Robin.”

Miss Vice said she doesn’t mind being in costume with the audience not seeing the real her.

“But honestly, after being with Vee Corporation, I’m very interested in the production side,” she said. “I’d like to become a PD (production director) some day. It’s an interest of mine to be in the PD spot where you have to be in charge of what the entire show looks like.”

She said she hopes to stay with the Vee Corp., based in Minneapolis, for the immediate future.

“We have people on tour who have been touring with Vee Corporation for 15 years,” she said. “It’s a great company to work for. They treat you very well and it’s easy to stay with them.”

Miss Vice said she wasn’t “too much of a ‘Sesame Street’ child” while growing up. “But I did watch it eventually,” she said. “I never thought in a million years I’d be doing this show.”

Thousands of readers like you have made Northern New York Newspapers the number one ranked website* for local news and sports coverage in the north country.

You can continue on to this article in a few seconds, or you can visit one of our websites:

• Watertown Daily Times
• The Ogdensburg Journal
• Daily Courier-Observer