LIGHTS! MUPPETS! ACTION!

To be or not to be a lion tamer, a forest ranger, a ballet dancer or maybe something really exotic is the dilemma facing the Sesame Street gang in "When I Grow Up," a live musical stage show playing at the Show Me Center this weekend.

All the favorite TV characters will be there -- Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Elmo, the Count, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, Grundgetta, Prairie Dawn, Betty Lou, Telly Monster, Amanda and Honkers -- along with Cookie Monster, who in this show plays a singing chef at a '50s-style drive-in.

Also along this time will be Rosita, who is Hispanic, turquoise-blue and furry, and speaks Spanish and English in a high-pitched voice; and Roxy Marie, a spunky 10-year-old from Brooklyn who is very smart and shows kids how to use their intelligence creatively.

The show is designed for children between the ages of 2 and 10.

The performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday, at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, and at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets are $9 and $8 and are available at the Show Me Center Box Office, Capital Bank branches, Disc Jockey Records and Schnucks. tickets also can be charged by phone 24 hours a day by calling (314) 651-5000.

The last Sesame Street Live show to appear at the Show Me Center was called "Big Bird and the ABC's." It drew an audience of 8,500 people to four shows in April 1993.

The 90-minute "When I Grow Up" will present actors and actress costumed as life-size replicas of the Sesame Street Muppets. The pre-recorded soundtrack includes many of the Sesame Street favorite tunes, along with "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

The 34-member company travels by bus, while two 48-foot semi-tractor trailer units carry the 16,000 light bulbs, 20 miles of wire, 16 painted backdrops and 50 props required to stage the show.

"When I Grow Up" is a production of VEE Corp., which has mounted 15 Sesame Street Live productions over the past 14 years.

The "Sesame Street" TV show has been on public television for 26 seasons and is seen by more than 16.5 million people each week.