Hello?????? Is anybody paying attention?

Amen

Wishing my dear friend, Jim Henson, a happy 90th birthday in Heaven. Did you know that @TheMuppets were once part of my live show? Jim, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, and John Lovelady, the Muppeteers were invited to join us on stage by my late husband, Hugh Lambert, after Hugh visited the Henson workshop. Jim jumped at the opportunity because he was looking to expand the Muppets beyond children’s television. He was happy to take them to Las Vegas and play to an adult audience, because he thought the wildly successful Sesame Street had led people to believe that was all the Muppets did. We opened at the International Hotel in Las Vegas on June 16, 1971. The show was a critical and commercial smash, breaking the box-office records that I had previously set during my Las Vegas debut less than two years earlier. It was an exciting time, and let me tell you, it was nearly impossible to make it through “Mahna Mahna” each night with Harry without breaking out into laughter!! Audiences of all ages adored the Muppets. Our show was a launching pad for the lovable bunch of creatures to become the icons we know today. My Hughie, in his brilliance, was responsible for taking the Muppets off Sesame Street and into primetime. Our show was adapted into a television special and soundtrack, Movin’ With Nancy Nice ‘n’ Easy, that sadly went unreleased after NBC pulled its funding. Jim gave the Muppet footage to me, but he passed away without anything in writing, so it has been sitting in my vault in limbo ever since. I hope that one day I’ll be able to share what we created. Happy birthday, Jim. I miss you. Photos: 1: Me, Harry and Jim. 2: From left to right: John, Jim, Frank, Jerry, and moi, holding a stuffed Thog they gave me, which was lost. 3 and 4: AP photos taken during rehearsals.