Behind the Scenes With Avenue Q’s John Tartaglia

Since he was a little boy, John Tartaglia knew what he wanted to be—a puppeteer.

"I was obsessed with the Muppets and Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock. Jim Henson was my hero and is the reason I got so into it," he said. 

At age 16, Tartaglia became one of the youngest "muppeteers" in history. He puppeteered on Sesame Street for 12 seasons before leaving to make his Broadway debut as Princeton and Rod in Avenue Q, earning him a Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Musical.

Tartaglia, who is currently in the West Coast premiere of Jon Marans' The Temperamentals, began teaching puppet workshops and Master Classes 2005. From New York to Los Angeles, his next stop is the  on May 19 and 20 from 1-5 p.m. 

In the days leading up to his Weho visit, Tartaglia tells Patch why he loves the art of puppetry and how enrolling in formal training can give prospective puppeteers a leg up on the competition.

Weho Patch: What do you enjoy most about the art of puppetry?

John Tartaglia: I love the process of building a puppet from scratch and then getting to bring it to life. The neatest thing is you could do a puppet show yourself any time you want. Really, you could grab a couple of puppets right now and do a show anywhere.

Patch: How did you get your start in puppetry?

Tartaglia: I was lucky enough to be hired as a puppeteer on Sesame Street very young at 16 where I worked for a long time. Then I became a part of the original Broadway company of Avenue Q and earned a Tony nomination, which led to having my own puppet series on the Disney Channel, Johnny and the Sprites. So I've been lucky to have a lot of opportunities in the world of puppetry. 

Patch: What can people expect from your Master Class?

Tartaglia: First and more importantly, expect to have a lot of fun. I really believe that having fun and just letting go opens up everything and it's really what we all want to do at the end of the day. We're going to go through everything from basic puppetry techniques to puppeteering onstage to puppeteering on television and film and everything that goes with all of that . . . voice work to acting, improvisational situations to much much more. 

Patch: You were self taught as a puppeteer. Why should beginners undergo formal training?

Tartaglia: I think like any art, it's always good to try to learn as much about what your passion is as you can . . . Puppetry is one of the few art forms that is more often than not self-taught and there's not as many places that teach puppetry as there probably should be, but I think anyone who has an interest in puppetry or is even just thinking about it should come check this class out.

Patch: What advice would you give to people who are considering this profession?

Tartaglia: When I first discovered puppetry, I couldn't get enough of it. I think if this is really what you want to do, then it's good to learn as much as you can. From a professional place, there's opportunities in television and film and nowadays, a huge amount of puppetry in theatre, so I think you have a bunch of different ways to use your skills. 

For more information and to register, visit www.johntartagliapuppetry.com, or email dan@imaginoceanthemusical.com.