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“Fraggle Rock: Rock On” By Jamie Donmoyer I


t’s 1 a.m. John Tartaglia lies flat in his bathtub, arm raised. “Lower, I can see your knees,” instructs his partner Devin, a professional dancer/choreographer turned quarantine cameraman. John scrunches as low as he can to get the shot: Uncle Traveling Matt, settling in for a nap in the mixed-up world of the “Silly Creatures” (humans to


you and me) in Fraggle Rock: Rock On!


In this global pandemic, people perform all sorts of unexpected jobs at home—hair stylist, teacher, baker (so much sour- dough!)—but for John, this job is a dream come true. “People would ask ‘what is your dream job?’ I would say ‘it doesn’t ex- ist anymore.’” Best known for originating the roles of Princeton and Rod in Broadway’s Avenue Q as well as creating puppetry-based children’s TV series Johnny and the Sprites and Splash and Bubbles, it was Fraggle Rock that inspired a 7-year-old John to be a puppe- teer. “My Mom and I were stay- ing in a hotel that had the HBO Channel [where the original series aired]. When Fraggle Rock came on, I said ‘this is it. This is what I want to do.’ I went home and made my first puppet…and begged my Mom to get HBO!” Created in the 1980s, Jim Henson wanted a show that would “end war.” Originally titled The International Children’s Show, co-produced in several countries, and dubbed in multiple languages, Fraggle Rock features different societies of characters learning to coexist. Stealing radishes from the Gorgs above and occasionally venturing into “Outer Space,” where the Silly Creatures (humans) live, the playful “dance your cares away” Fraggles dwell underground with the work-focused Doozers. At a recent webinar put on by the Museum of the Moving Image, puppeteer Dave Goelz (Boober Fraggle/Uncle Traveling Matt) shares, “Because the Fraggles


were underground, they could live anywhere: Russia, France. Jim dragged us all over the world. He never thought of people as ‘other.’” Puppeteer Karen Prell (Red Fraggle) recalls, “There was so much about getting characters to grow, evolve, and gain insight about the different societies. They start out kind of dismissive and


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Uncle Traveling Matt and John Tartaglia using a bathtub to shoot a scene for Fraggle Rock: Rock On. Photo courtesy of The Jim Henson Company


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