Some of New York’s biggest names found their inner child at the annual Sesame Street gala on Wednesday.
The event, which is in its 15th year, was created to raise money towards worldwide education and to honor some of their charities’ biggest contributors. Routinely held at Cipriani 42nd Street, this year saw the return of host John Oliver (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO) and a performance from Broadway star Christopher Jackson of Hamilton.
“Honey I’m Good” singer Andy Grammer was another highlighted performance of the night, who said, “Being around people that put a lot of energy and time into the development of children is a cool thing, I kind of grew up around it.” Growing up watching Sesame Street himself, he said “It’s so funny to be here and have all these feelings come back up. [Sesame Street] is a thing we can all agree on, and it’s so good for the world, and that’s hard to come by right now. Just being here and having everyone smile together is really good.”
Other attendees included actress Holly Robinson Peete (whose father Matt Robinson served as one of the original cast members of the long running series) and guest Téa Leoni of Madam Secretary made the event a family affair, bring along her son Kyd. It wouldn’t be a true Sesame Street event without a few special guests in particular, and Elmo, Count von Count, and Cookie Monster all made sure to cause quite the frenzy on the red carpet themselves, taking pictures with every guest.
