Interview with Muppeteer John Tartaglia, Part 2
Conducted by Ryan Dosier
Be sure to read Part 1 of our interview.
RYAN: The Carnegie Hall show was, of
course, not your first foray into the world of musical theater. You made a big
splash by playing the lead of Princeton in the original Broadway cast of Avenue Q. As I’ve told you before, I adore
the show and the music. Can you tell us a little bit about how you got involved
with the show and won the lead?
JOHN: Thanks
Ryan! Well, it was such a once in a lifetime kind of showbiz story. I was
working at Sesame Street with all of us who ended up being in the show and Rick
Lyon called and mentioned they were going to be doing this reading of a new
show--which at the time was going to be a TV series for something like Comedy
Central--and they wanted a young leading guy kind of Musical theater type (I was
young at the time, a-hem). They wanted to do a live presentation and see how
people reacted. At the time, there was no through-line to the show, it was only
like six songs (including some that were written by other composers) and a couple
of scenes. The two moments that actually have ended up being fairly close to
what they started out as are "If You Were Gay" and "Everyone's a
Little Bit Racist." Anyway, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Rick, Lara MacLean (the
original Mrs. T--Jen Barnhart joined us later), and I did this live presentation
of the show and it went over like gangbusters. And the idea quickly went from
being a television series to being a live theater piece and from then on we did
lots of readings and work sessions on it and it continued to evolve.
The funny
thing is, none of us (at least not the performers!) ever had any idea or desire
that it would go to Broadway! We were jubilant when we got the word we would be
off-Broadway. It just shocked us how much people loved it as much as we did. As
far as my participation in it, I said yes to that first presentation (which is
something I always tell people--say yes!!!)
and then kept waiting to be replaced at each new incarnation by a big Broadway
star! I really was expecting to get the call "Hey John, thanks for all the
work but Neil Patrick Harris will be playing your part, buh-bye!" So, it
was thrilling to ride the show all the way and it says a lot about the
producers and the creative team that they kept us all involved. When you think about
it, we had no stars, five of us had never been on Broadway before, etc. It was
a big risk, but I guess it paid off!
RYAN: What do you think of the
lasting success and popularity of the musical?
JOHN: It's
honesty and observations about life. There's a timelessness to the show in its
characters and stories. I've recently taken over maintaining the show off Broadway
and we're about to celebrate its 10 year anniversary. It's very sentimental for
those of involved since the beginning. I still get chills when I'm at the show
taking notes and watching this new set of fresh talented faces keeping it
alive. But yeah, I think the story of finding ones reason for being is the kind
of story that will always be relatable.
RYAN: How do you think that puppetry
and theater intermingle and influence each other? Do you think that they mix
well together?
JOHN: Oh yeah.
I think puppetry is incredibly theatrical in so many ways and it's a truly
limitless art form in a theatrical setting. I think directors love using
puppetry in theater because it allows them to visualize things in a way that
nothing else does.
RYAN: You returned to the stage this
summer for Disney's
Aladdin stage musical in St. Louis,
Missouri. This is where we met, as you know. Can you tell us a little bit about
this show and playing the coveted role of the Genie?
JOHN: It was a
dream come true! For so many reasons. I had always heard about the fabled MUNY
and how much people loved seeing shows there but also working there and now I
can see why. It's just this huge, gorgeous theater (it's over 10,000 seats!)
and the productions they do there are mind blowing. In our show alone we had
three live camels, a motorcycle, an electric car, a flying carpet. I mean, come
on! As far as playing the Genie, wow. It was incredible. What's funny is I had
been in talks to play the Genie in another production and it just didn't work
out timing-wise which killed me. I really wanted to play it. But, I thought
"Well, it's not to be" and let it go and not even two weeks later I
was asked to play him at the MUNY and I said yes without a second thought. I
think I might have literally screamed yes loudly into the phone! 
But, to have
the opportunity to stand on a huge stage in front of over 10,000 people
laughing, cheering, etc., is just unforgettable. I never thought I'd have that
chance. I can see why rock stars love it! I mean that's a LOT of folks! And the
Genie kind of felt like I was getting a chance to be an overly caffeinated
version of myself! Aladdin is one of my favorite movies and scores. So much so
that it was harder un-learning the movie music and lyrics I knew so deeply from
my childhood to learn the newer musical versions of some of the songs. Singing
"Prince Ali" and "Friend Like Me"... man. As I told you last summer, it's one of the
highlights of my life that I still get chills thinking about.
RYAN: One of your biggest successes
came with your own children's television show on Disney Channel, Johnny and the Sprites. Where did the idea for this show come from?
What was your favorite part of being on it?
JOHN: Well,
funny enough, I had the idea for it when I was 16! Well, a version of it. At
the time, I had this idea for a puppets-only show that took place deep in a
magical forest with these Sprites that had their own magical world and had
never heard of humans before. I even wrote down the names Basil and Ginger and
some illustrations. Then I put it away and never thought about it again. Fast
forward 10 or so years and I had just been nominated for a Tony for Avenue Q.
Rich Ross, who was president of the Disney Channel at the time, had seen me in
the show and asked to meet and he basically offered me the opportunity to have
my own show on the channel. After picking my jaw off the floor I kind of
stuttered out without thinking about this sprites show and he seemed to like
that and offered to set up a meeting with his VP and head of development. Well,
I went home and found that old notepad that I had written that idea down on
long ago, and myself and four wonderful co-creators came up with the show that
ended up airing. The funny thing is I never thought of myself being onscreen.
It was one of my co-creators, Jill, who suggested it. In fact, I completely
disagreed with it! I guess it's a very good thing she pushed me to be a part of
it, and there ya go! It was a glorious few years of my life. I really miss it.
RYAN: Most Muppet fans are labeled "different" or "weird" in the eyes of "normal" people. Did loving the
Muppets when you were young help you if you ever felt "different"?
JOHN: It's what
literally got me through my childhood and adolescence. Literally. My parents
divorce was hard as it is for any kid, and that's right around the time I found
Fraggle Rock, which became my escape. The world I lived in for awhile. Then the
Muppets and of course, Sesame Street. And from my initial love of the shows,
came my interest and geekiness over puppetry itself and all of these amazingly
talented people who were like me! I wanted to be one of them! But, I suppose
most importantly, puppetry was an outlet for creativity for me and let me
express myself. I mean, I never directly used puppets as therapy or anything
like that, but I was able to play characters and create and use my imagination
and that's what I love most about it. Muppet fans are weird and we're awesome
darn it!!!! Normal people are boring!
RYAN: What advice do you have for young Muppet
fans who dream of performing or working with the Muppets some day?
JOHN: Hmmm... it's
funny because it's all changed so much even since I was a kid. You have to
remember that everything's different now- the characters are owned by three
different companies, there's many less television series with puppetry than
there used to be, etc. We used to have these big auditions and workshops
because we needed so many puppeteers and those haven't happened in awhile. I
have a lot of younger fans who want to know exactly how to become a Muppeteer
and here's the truth- there's no right or wrong way. If you line up all of us,
we all entered into it in different ways, in different times of our lives, and
for different reasons. I will tell you this- get as MUCH experience in every
aspect of performance you can. I get a lot of younger folks who are fantastic
manipulators but dont have confidence as performers when it comes to voices,
etc The only way you can get better at
that is to "do". Take improv classes, take dance, take sculpture,
take mime, take voice lessons, take accent lessons etc. There's so much theatre
based puppetry work so try to focus there. The more skills you have, the more
you stand out and become a unique "voice" or talent that is needed. I
think there will always be a need for a new generation of Muppeteers, but just
make sure you have as many tricks up your sleeve as you can. And practice, practice
practice!
RYAN: What’s next in the slate of work for John Tartaglia? Anything
exciting coming up that you can share with us?
JOHN: Well,
we're moving along with The Jim Henson Company on developing ImaginOcean for
television using the HDPS system and it's incredibly exciting. The HDPS is
allowing us to do so many things we could have only dreamt of before. I'm also
developing two shows for Broadway that I'm attached to as director and creating
some new live shows for Carnival Cruise Lines. And I'm going to be heading back
to the MUNY this summer, this time directing Shrek the Musical which I'm really
really excited about. They'll be lots of puppets in this production! And, I'm
continuing work on Sesame Street which I just love. It's home to me.
RYAN: John, thank you so much for doing this
interview with me. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate everything you’ve done for me! Thank you,
thank you, thank you.
The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com
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Fantastic interview, amazing performer!
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