Superintendent’s Spotlight: Violet Tinnirello

Warwick Valley High School sophomore Violet Tinnirello has been performing professionally since she was four years old. She is an accomplished and awarded dancer and actor with stage and screen credits that have taken her from Broadway to Hollywood. However, Violet is most well-known for her recurring television role as Charlie, an Army brat whose family moved to the happiest street in the world… Sesame Street!

“So, my rabbi’s son was a Broadway performer, and I got connected and started musical theater when I was really little,” Violet said. “As soon as I was signed with my agent, I was begging to be in the background of Sesame Street.”

At that time, the only kids on the show were in groups or as extras in the background. Violet first began appearing on the show in that capacity when she was six, and when she turned eight auditioned for the part of Charlie. Interestingly, Charlie would be the first recurring human kid character to appear on the show in 20-plus years.

“It was actually, a self-tape [audition] that I did while I was on vacation,” Violet said. “I had a bunch of callbacks and then I booked the role, it was really exciting!”

As a lifelong Jim Henson fan, Violet has shared that it was a dream come true to land the role. Charlie made her debut in season 50, when the character’s parents decided to move to Sesame Street after retiring from the military. To date, Violet has appeared in five seasons of Sesame Street and somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 episodes as Charlie.

When Sesame Street debuted in 1969, Jim Henson famously directed his human actors to interact with the Muppets as though they are also living actors, a practice that Violet told us continues today.

“Yea! You know all the puppeteers, and you’re friends with them, but then as soon as you’re on set, [the Muppets] come to life,” Violet smiled. “They’re characters on the show and you’re friends with them, too! It comes very naturally.”

Violet explained that she and Charlie share a few personal details, and that it was a purposeful choice by Sesame Workshop writers to inform the character with some of Violet’s own background and interests. In particular, Violet is honored to share aspects of the Jewish faith through Charlie with the Sesame Street audience.

“I’m Jewish — grew up and raised Jewish — I had a bat mitzvah, so that’s been really special to me,” she said. “I did a Hanukkah bit that was me teaching Elmo and other characters about Hanukah. That one wasn’t on the show, but it’s all over social media. Then, more recently I got to do a Shabbat episode.”

The episode focused on tradition and family, as Charlie’s family shares a Shabbat dinner with Elmo, Alan, Big Bird and Tamir, including a lesson on preparing the Shabbat meal.

Violet and Charlie are also both accomplished tap dancers. Violet has been training in dance since she was one and a half, and practices all styles, including ballet, point and tap, which is her favorite. Today, she’s a busy dance instructor herself.  

“I dance every day. I train in the city and then also up here, and I teach all of the tap classes at New York Dance Center here in Warwick. I’ve been dancing at New York Dance Center since well before I started acting.”

Spoiler Alert: Violet is looking forward to an episode that has already been filmed but has yet to air, during which she teaches Abby how to tap dance!

At the moment, however, Violet is getting ready to attend the Young Entertainer Awards (YEA) in Los Angeles on January 18, where she is nominated for the 2024 YEA Best Recurring Young Actress in a Television Series for her Sesame Street work. She has won the award for the past two years! Will this year’s award ceremony be brought to us by the number three?

“Oh, I have no idea. I didn’t think I’d win either of the last two times,” she laughed. “But this was just a special season, especially because it was about sharing my Jewish heritage and getting to teach about that, so I’m really glad to be nominated; it’s really nice.”

If you were watching this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, you may have seen Violet performing with her pals on the Sesame Street float, something she’s done twice before.

“I was on it in 2018, but not as Charlie; I just happened to be hired as a dancer that year,” Violet said. “Then, the next year I booked Charlie and got to go back on it again. This year was definitely the most fun, though, even though it was pouring rain.”

Violet said that being on Sesame Street is an incredible honor and that she treasures getting to be a part of something that touches so many children and families throughout the world.

“Getting to be a part of something like Sesame Street is special,” said Violet. “Being able to do good by helping people learn, for example, about Judaism, or learning the alphabet, or learning about the importance of friendship… it’s just very special.”

Watch some of Violet’s Sesame Street highlights here!