![]() ![]() “I was six weeks pregnant with my second son and my oldest son was about 18 months. It wasn’t until 2020 that her big break came out of the blue with a simple email. She continued performing on the weekends and practicing in the early morning while working a full-time job. Still, she didn’t give up on her original dream after college. ![]() So she did it as a hobby while studying in school to nurture her creative side, while earning a master of science degree in finance to tap into her quantitative financial side. I hoped those opportunities would lead to a full-time position but they didn’t.” “I performed throughout the country while I was in undergrad, did The Tonight Show and America’s Got Talent. “I always dreamed of having a career in puppetry, but unfortunately, there weren’t that many opportunities for me to become a full-time puppeteer when I was coming straight out of college,” she says. She found herself performing across America, hoping it would be something she could use to make a living. Her love of puppeteering and ventriloquism only grew as she got older. “Within like a week, I was cracking jokes with my classmates during our breaks with my new puppet.” She shared that desire with her parents and they helped her find a puppet and VHS tapes on how to do ventriloquism. “I was inspired to be that person who was creating that magical relationship with the puppet.” I fell in love with the interaction between the human and the puppet because that’s the entertainment I grew up watching,” she recalls. “I was exposed to puppeteers from all over the world and ventriloquists too. Puppetry is when the performer or puppeteer is hidden, while a ventriloquist performs as both puppeteer and actor. ![]() That woman signed her, and a few other students, up for a festival (the International Festival of Christian Puppetry and Ventriloquism) to be formally trained. “But I didn’t know it as an art form until I was 10 years old and I started on a puppetry team at my church.”Ī young Megan first got to try puppeteering with help from a woman who did the vacation Bible school program at her house of worship. Rogers and Shari Lewis and Barney,” she tells ESSENCE. “Earliest puppetry memories? Watching Sesame Street and Mr. Long before Megan Piphus Peace was giving voice to the puppet of Gabrielle on Sesame Street, the first full-time Black woman puppeteer in the series’ more than 50 years, she was first introduced to puppetry and ventriloquism as a child watching the show, among a few other classics. These are their stories of how they took up space and are making an impact for those coming behind them. Showtimes: Wednesday and Thursday 10:30AM Saturday and Sunday 1PM and 3PM.The Disruptors is a series for Women’s History Month spotlighting Black women who are blazing trails in spaces that aren’t often filled with women who look like us. The show features wonderful hand puppets, clever scenery, and turn-of-the-century costumes, adding up to an unforgettable theatre experience. Their production of Peter Rabbit Tales features three of Beatrix Potter's most beloved stories: The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Tale of Mrs Tittlemouse, and The Tale of Benjamin Bunny. Marianne currently serves on the board of directors for UNIMA-USA, and they have each served as president of the Greater Philadelphia Area Puppetry Guild (GPAPG). In addition to performing, Marianne and Tom are active in the national puppetry community. They've also performed at the Puppet Showplace Theatre for many years! ![]() Co-directors Marianne and Tom Tucker have performed at puppet, folk, ethnic, and street festivals, and at craft fairs, shopping centers, theatres, and school across the country. Tucker's Tales Puppet Theatre is the performing division of Puppet Perceptions, Inc., a Philadelphia-area-based performing company founded in 1981. ![]()
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