Prairie Dawn

Our Daily Grace!!! 

December 7, 1971 – On this day, Stephanie Ann D'Abruzzo Shemin was born and the world was graced.

Stephanie Ann D'Abruzzo Shemin is an American actress, voice actress, singer, and puppeteer. She is the puppeteer and voice of the diminutive Prairie Dawn. 

Prairie Dawn is a Muppet character on the children's television show Sesame Street. She has appeared on the show since early in its history. On seasons 35 through 38 of Sesame Street, she helps Cookie Monster during his Letter of the Day segments, describing the letter of the day and trying to prevent Cookie Monster from eating it, but Cookie Monster finds a way to eat it anyway. She is also one of the lead characters on Play with Me Sesame, a Sesame Street spinoff produced for Noggin. A younger version of Prairie appears in the Sesame Beginnings video series. 

In celebration of the Frances Joan Brill, Amazing Grace is transformed as Prairie Dawn.

Catch more of Amazing Grace's hilarious antics when you buy a copy of Manila Bulletin every Sunday.

Betty Lou

Our Daily Grace!!! 

September 30, 1946 – On this day, Frances Joan Brill was born and world was graced. 

Frances Joan Brill is an American actress and puppeteer, best known for her roles on Sesame Street as well as playing Sally Hayes in the Hal Ashby film Being There (1979) and Lily Marvin in the Frank Oz film What About Bob? (1991). On Sesame Street, Frances is the puppeteer and voice of Betty Lou. 

Betty Lou is a young girl from Sesame Street who has been played over the years by various performers. She is made from the Hot Pink Little Anything Muppet, much like Prairie Dawn. Prairie and Betty Lou are sometimes difficult to separate. For example, sesamestreet.org once used an image of Prairie for both her character page and Betty Lou's.(As of December 2009, though, the site has replaced the picture with one of Betty Lou.) A 1994 document from the CTW archives also indicates the difference between the girls by their hair. Additionally, when Fran Brill would perform Betty Lou, she would generally use a different voice for her than the one she would use for Prairie Dawn. 

In celebration of the birthday of Frances Joan Brill, Amazing Grace is metamorphosed into Betty Lou. 

Catch more of Amazing Grace’s hilarious antics when you buy a copy of the Manila Bulletin every Sunday.