Puppet Pioneers
Writer, Director, Puppeteer | Children's Musical
As the artistic director of Yale Children's Theatre, I collaborated with music and lyric writers to write, direct, and produce shows for children in New Haven. Puppet Pioneers was licensed to be performed at another theatre company in the midwest.
Go West, young pup.
A troup of puppets bouncing from stage left to stage right looking for a new land and a fresh start.
Searching for El Bravado. Soundtracked by a balladeer.
They all continued on / and they never missed a step. Despite their many obstacles / they never lost their pep / Through desert, plains, and tundra, they conquered every climate. / And when they reached a mountain range they only had to climb it.
Chekhov's Puppet Ray 3000
At the top of the show, a lone ray gun sits on stage—the eventual downfall of our villain.
Adult Easter Egg: Puppets are afraid of hands—for obvious reasons.
Whenever the word hand is said in the show, a foam finger comes out from center stage, terrifying our puppet cast.
After our first show, a Yale Literature Major approached me and said that he found my hand motif fascinating. He thought the symbol was uniquely human and that the puppet's fear of hands represented a general fear of humanity and the atrocities we are capable of.
I responded, "Yeah ... I was thinking more about the hand-puppet placement situation."
They'll call us "Puppet Pioneers!"
"They" being the people who write the history textbooks.
