Bright Lights, Big Bird, but Not Much ‘Sesame Street Story’

“Big Bird’s Sesame Street Story” looks like a little bit of Las Vegas.

A ramp, bordered by glittering lights, juts into the floor of the arenas where the touring extravaganza is staged (it’s at Anaheim Convention Center on Wednesday through Sunday). The proscenium of the stage proper is ablaze with light. Before the acts begin, colored lights swoop around the hall, heralding the arrival of the Sesame Street denizens.

It’s exciting, as Las Vegas is, but it’s awfully grandiose for these unassuming characters. And the story line is even more narcissistic: a look at how “Sesame Street” got to be a TV show.

It isn’t a factual story; no one mentions Muppets creator Jim Henson. But its explanation of how everyone had to be convinced that kids would want to learn something from TV, as well as be entertained, is ridiculously self-promotional. Have writers Jon Stone and Joseph A. Bailey run out of story ideas that would more directly relate to the real concerns of preschoolers?

Many of the kids pay no attention to the story. They respond with shouts and stares to the sight of life-size Muppets (notably excepting Kermit the Frog, who is nowhere to be seen) dancing, skating, singing, even bathing.

Furthermore, there are so many souvenirs to buy and play with. The most distracting of these are annoying $4 flashlights. A couple of children near me, at the L.A. Sports Arena last week, waved these at each other throughout the second act, oblivious to the show.

“Big Bird’s Sesame Street Story” will be presented Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. , Thursday at 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. , Friday at 7:30 p.m. , Saturday at noon and 3:30 p.m., and Sunday at 1:30 and 5 p.m. at the Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W. Katella Ave., Anaheim. Tickets: $4 to $10.50. Information: (714) 999-8900.