John Tartaglia is back where it all began. As a kid growing up in the 1980s, he fell in love with the fantasy show “Fraggle Rock.” It put him on his path as an acclaimed puppeteer and Tony Award nominee for the Broadway comedy “Avenue Q.”
“I found ‘Fraggle Rock’ when I was about 6 or 7 years old, and it just completely changed my life,” Tartaglia says. “I saw it, and I knew immediately that was what I wanted to do. It combined everything I loved. It’s music, it’s acting, it’s characters, it’s comedy. …It was the first time I saw puppeteering that was so filled with depth.”
A puppeteer for “Sesame Street” when he was 16 years old, Tartaglia is now the creative director of the “Fraggle Rock” property, which includes the Apple TV+ reboot “Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock,” for which he also contributes voices. Tartaglia wrote and directed the first live version of the show, “Jim Henson’s Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock LIVE.” The national tour stops at Wilmington’s The Playhouse on Rodney Square.
In the live show, Gobo, Red, Mokey, Wembley, and Boober Fraggle embark on an adventure to find a long-lost Fraggle treasure called the Celebration Stone, which has the power to bring everyone together for the greatest party of all time. It features walk-around and puppet-sized versions of old favorites, plus new creatures from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.
“The audience will visit all the things that you love,” Tartaglia says. “You’ll see the trash heap, see the Gorgs, see the Doozers—all the things you want to see in ‘Fraggle Rock.” You’ll also meet new characters and new creatures, and have a brand-new quest to go on.
Tartaglia adds that the production will appeal to aficionados of the old show, which ran from 1983 to 1988, as well as fans of the new version.
“Being at the live show and seeing the line for merchandise, it was so funny to watch a 4-year-old kid so excited about getting a Gobo doll,” he says. “At the other end of the table was a grandma, who grew up with the show, who was also freaking out [about] getting that same doll. It was such a beautiful reminder of how much people love this show.”
For information and tickets, visit the Playhouse website or call 888-0200.
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