Lin-Manuel Miranda Sesame Street Performance - Freddy Flapman

I'm going to give Lin Manuel Miranda a B+ for his Sesame Street performance as realtor Freddy Flapman, which will probably get me eviscerated by Broadway lovers everywhere.

Grade: B+

Character: Freddy Flapman

Sesame Street Characters: Big Bird, Chris, Gordon and Maria

Episode: #4187

Original Air Date: November 10, 2009

I'm going to give Lin Manuel Miranda a B+ for his Sesame Street performance as realtor Freddy Flapman, which will probably get me eviscerated by theater lovers everywhere. Sure, Miranda is a genius in Hamilton, but this ain't Broadway. This is Sesame Street where your credentials get checked at the curb and acting chops are truly tested.

And this was years before Miranda created his insanely popular musical and became a household name.

It was actually the transitions to the music that took the performance down a notch. But I'll get to that momentarily.

Lin-Manuel Miranda did a really good job nailing the sleazy salesman kind of vibe. And that's important because you really don't want Big Bird to move away from Sesame Street. So viewers really don't want to be on his character's side. So he does have that obstacle in his way that he has to play an unlikable character doing an unlikable thing.

Although it was a bit rushed at times. It was as if Miranda wanted to convey the urgency to make a sale, but it went a little too urgent here and there, overtaking the performance. It was hard to follow in spots, so children in the audience may have missed quite a bit of the fast-paced dialog.

So Miranda did a good job in nailing the salesman aspect of the role, but the transitions to the music and the music itself was the weakest part of the performance. The way Miranda sang it didn't seem to fit the moment and kind of broke the performance for me a bit, taking it down from being an A or A- to B+. The transitions just didn't seem very easy and seemed a little too forced and rushed.

It also seemed like the music should fit the environment where Flapman brings Big Bird since habitat is what was being taught. The music didn't fit those habitats at all. The rapping was fine and even catchy, which is good, but it would have been nice for the beat or sound to change up a little each time to reflect the environment. Like putting a little Caribbean drum flare to the beach habitat or rapping at a more relaxed pace.

Instead the songs kind of took you out of the skit for a bit. So yeah, I'd have to say B+ is what I'll give Lin-Manuel Miranda on his Sesame Street performance as Freddy Flapman. Pretty good job overall. To be honest, he did a really good job with a tough character. It was just the musical transitions that kept it out of the A category.

Sesame Street Neighborhood News: Lin-Manuel Miranda Was on the Street Before Freddy Flapman

If Lin-Manuel Miranda's habitat rap sounded a little familiar it's not your imagination. He performed "Murray has a Little Lamb" for the skit of the same name.

You can hear more about Lin-Manuel Miranda's performances on Sesame Street from the actor himself in a not so long ago interview with Playbill.

What Do You Think About Lin-Manuel Miranda's Sesame Street Performance?

Do you think Lin-Manuel Miranda deserved an A+ for his role on Sesame Street? Or did Freddy Flapman fall just a little short of really selling the performance?