Take a sharp left at Avenue Q and that’s how you get to Sesame Street!
John Tartaglia’s journey from a 16 year old puppeteer on Sesame Street to originating the first ever puppet sex scene on Broadway. John talks about the new season of Fraggle Rock on Apple TV and his full circle experience with Jim Henson.
Also in this episode - Jackee Harry’s historic Emmy win in 1987 when she became the first Black Actress to win Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for 227.
Eila & Bruce discuss seeing Lempicka during previews and its new ending debut.
At the age of 16, John Tartaglia began his professional career as a puppeteer for Sesame Street. He earned a Tony award nomination for his Broadway debut in the dual roles of Princeton and Rod in Avenue Q". Other Broadway roles include Lumiere in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and originating Pinocchio and the Magic Mirror in Shrek the Musical. John went on to create, executive produce and star in his own preschool series Johnny and the Sprites, for Disney Junior, nominated for 8 Emmy awards, including a nomination for “Outstanding Performance in a Children’s Series” followed by creating the acclaimed Off-Broadway and international touring musical "ImaginOcean" that was re-imagined for television on PBS Kids called "Jim Henson's Splash and Bubbles” (Creator, Co-Executive Producer and starring as "Splash"). John also stars as Kip the Wallaby on Jim Henson's Word Party and as Hank in Julie’s Greenroom(starring Dame Julie Andrews) both on NETFLIX.
John’s theatrical directing credits include both Stephen Schwartz's The Secret Silk and Jim Henson's Inspired Silliness for Princess Cruises, Kinky Boots(3d Theatricals), Disney's Beauty and the Beast (Maltz Jupiter Theater), Claudio Quest(NY Musical Theatre Festival- Winning 6 awards including "Best in Fest” and Best Director), Shrek The Halls(Dreamworks Theatricals), Because of Winn Dixie (Arkansas Rep and Goodspeed Operahouse development) and Jim Henson’s Musical World (Carnegie Hall).
Most recently, he finished filming the second season of the EMMY winning Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock where he performs Gobo Fraggle, Architect Doozer, Gunge, Barry Blueberry and Sprocket the Dog as well as serving as an executive producer, writer and puppet captain.
John has worked many summer seasons at the country's award- winning oldest outdoor theater, the St Louis MUNY, directing such shows as Shrek the Musical, The Wizard of Oz, Tarzan, Annie, Matilda, Mary Poppins and most recently Disney's Beauty and the Beast. the national tours of Jim Henson’s Dinosaur Train Live and Jim Henson’s Sid the Science Kid Live! as well as several shows for Sesame Place, PA.
John can be heard every Sunday on Sirius XM On Broadway on his show “Sunday Funday with John Tartaglia.”
Make sure to check out Eila's book, "The Tony Awards", and all her other amazing books: https://amzn.to/43WMu5Y.
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- Eila @eilamell
- Bruce @cominghomewithbruce