Annett Mateo puppet designer builder puppet coach

	Puppet designer and builder, puppeteer, artist

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	Puppets big and small


		King Lear Freehold Theatre http://www.freeholdtheatre.org/theatre-lab/engaged-theatre Directed by Robin Lynn-Smith Every year Freehold Theatre runs a program called Engaged Theatre where they take a production designed for the experience to culturally under-served populations such as correctional institutions and long term inpatients. In 2012 King lear was the production and the brilliant Robin Lynn Smith chose to have Gloucester, the Fool and the 99% that inhabited Lear’s domain be puppets. These productions always involve wonderful and amazing people and this year was no exception. I was honored to be part of the group.

		Worlds Shortest Parade First Night Tacoma http://www.firstnighttacoma.org/ Every year on New Years Eve Tacoma pulls out all the stops and there is a large party down town. Part of this is ‘the worlds shortest’ parade to kick off the event. Each year I have been building a large parade style puppet to represent the Chinese Zodiac 2014 Year of the Horse! 2013 Feathered Serpent 2012 Dragon 2011 Rabbit 2010 Tiger

		Dot & Ziggy Seattle Children's Theatre Created by Linda Hartzell, Mark Perry, and Seattle Children’s Theatre Music by Chris Walker Originally created at SCT, this is our entry into early theatre experiences for toddlers. There was a short initial run in August of 2012 before going to the Victory Biograph Theatre in Chicago. It was brought back for a full run in January of 2013 and will be running in the 2014 season as well. Dot, a ladybug and Ziggy, a skunk and their friend a spider learn all sorts of fun things and about sharing! A really cute show as the toddlers are encouraged to participate.

		The Wizard of OZ Seattle Children's Theatre By L. Frank Baum Music and Lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg Background Music by Herbert Stothart Dance and Vocal Arrangement by Peter Howard Orchestration by Larry Wilcox Adapted by John Kane for the Royal Shakespeare Company Based upon the classic motion picture owned by Turner Entertainment Co. and distributed by Warner Bros. Puppeteer/Actors Kasey Nusbickel Ian Lindsey Michael Feldman The classic tale of appreciating home. Originally done in 2008, for this 2012 production all the puppets needed to be recreated. The puppets included Toto, three hilarious crows that gave the Scarecrow a hard time, and a horse costume puppet that was part of Munchkinland. Kasey did such and amazing job with Toto that many people thought he was remote controlled. And I actually got a mention in a review! Toto’s head had full range of motion and his tail wagged. The crows were built on two versions of grabber/reachers. These were great because the handle/control mechanism was already built in. The ones that grab horizontal to the handle operated the wings and the ones that were vertical to the handle controlled the head and beak movement. The legs were spring jointed so they had some realistic movement as they were hopping about the fence. They were a favorite with the kids.

		The Cat in the Hat Seattle Children's Theatre Based on the book by Dr. Seuss Play originally produced by the National Theatre of Great Britain Presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI) All authorized performance materials supplied by MTI Puppeteer/Actor Allen Galli The National Theatre of Great Britain’ production based on the infamous Dr. Suess book. The Fish of course was the puppet. This was the first time I put a hand puppet on stage! But of course it worked quite well especially in the amazing hands of Allen Galli.

		A Single Shard Seattle Children's Theatre Based upon the book by Linda Sue Park Adapted by Robert Schenkkan Used by permission of Curtis Brown, Ltd. Copyright 2001 All Rights Reserved Pupppeteer/Actors A Single Shard an original production is about an orphan boy in twelfth century Korea when Celadon pottery was at its height. The orphan Tree Ear hopes to apprentice with the most renown Master potter who had lost his son. But impoverished Tree Ear lives under a bridge with Crane Man, his one legged friend. In ancient Korea foxes were viewed as bad luck omens. It appears a couple of times in this production as well as a large lovely deer. The heighlight of this show and a puppet I was very excited to make was the crane that started and ended the show: a large marionette on the end of a 12 foot long bamboo pole. The bird flew, legs extended and landed, its wings retracted and then the process was reversed for it to take off.

		Harold and the Purple Crayon Seattle Children's Theatre Book by Don Darryl Rivera, Music by Auston James Lyrics by Rob Burgess Based on the books by Crockett Johnson All Rights Reserved by The Estate of Ruth Krauss Stewart J. Edelstein, Executor Puppeteer/Actors Don Daryl Rivera Caity Sagoian Khanh Doan This was a wondeful and charming show that went on (puppets, sets, costumes) to Children's Theatre Company in Minnesota. There are so many different kinds of puppets in this show but i was really excited to be able to put a marionette on stage! Our stage is generally too big for the scale of a marionette. And it was a trick one to boot! The porcupine jumps into the pie and when he comes out there are berries stuck on his quills.

		Go Dog Go! Seattle Childrens Theatre Steven Dietz play wright and director Allison Gregory playwright and choreographer This was an original production by SCT based on the P, D, Eastman’s classic children’s book. When the dogs are supposed to be sleeping the bed turns into a big top and the circus acts are the dogs playing tennis on dirigible, on the roller coaster, and on the ferris wheel which was controlled by a hand crank.

		Lyle the Crocodile Seattle Children's Theatre A new script by Kevin Kling with Music by Rich Gray Puppeteer/Actors Allen Galli Jane Muirhead Loretta Lyle is the story of a crocodile that lives in New York and what happens when a new family moves into. Mr Grumps played by Allen Galli, lives next door with Loretta his cat that terrorizes Lyle and the neighborhood throughout the show.. There were two Loretta's a full body one and a half, fake arm puppet for when Mr Grumps sings my lovey-dovey to. The full body one was puppeteered by Jane Muirhead.

		The Borrowers Seattle Children's Theatre Actor/Puppeteers Emily Chisholm Ian Bell Marianne Owen Rio Codda Chris Ensweiler Photos Chris Bennion The Borrowers is the story of the little people who live under the floors and 'borrow' things. The stage production presented many opportunities regarding scale. There are times when the characters are small in relation to the actors and then times when the characters are actors and the rest of the world is huge. When the Characters are small the actors are manipulating puppets that are designed to look like the actors. The faces were carved by the amazing Dan Luce. The rest of the puppets come into play when the characters are actors: the moth, the wasp, the cricket, and the amazing crow.

		Miscellaneous puppets for Clay Martin The fearsome Moby Dick! For Clay Martin's witty re-telling of the mariner classic! This is a classic hand style puppet. You can just see the sleeve under his fin.

		A classic frog, of course a repressed prince, for Clay Martin. The arms are loose hanging for effect though the fingers(?) are wired so they can be made to hold something.

		Anansi the famous spider of the African tales. Clay Martin featured Anansi as his narrator for his Black History Month show. This is a classic hand style puppet. You can't see the sleeve at all as it is tucked underneath. Just the mouth moves on this one.

		'Masks' for the Puget Sound Revels annual production of Christmas Revels. This is the Breton version. These are mask/head pieces that are made of a thermoplastic mesh (varaform) so that the actors could have full visibility and they could sing clearly through them. They are for the story of the Green Knight that takes place as part of the whole concert pageant. The characters are Lord Bercilac, King Arthur, Sir Gawain, Lady Bercilac, and Gawain's Squire. They had requested an illustrated kind of look so the colors and details of the faces are deliberatly left quite flat.

		Puppets from Jack in the Beanstalk, the annual fall show that Molbak's produces. They do a different show every year. This show was adapted and directed by BJ Douglas. I designed and built the puppets: Jack, the Chicken that lays the golden eggs, and the Singing harp. They are all rod style puppets operated by actors on stage. On Jack, his head turns and his mouth moves, his hands are controlled by rod(s). The chicken's head turns and it's mouth moves, (though it doesn't have lips!). For the Harp, only the mouth moves. They were constructed primarily out of closed cell foam and fabric and are very light. There were also a smaller chicken and harp for when the puppet Jack is up in the Giants castle they remain the same scale. The small chicken is pictured, the small harp isn't. These tiny puppets don't move.

		These are a few of the puppets from the Seattle Children's Theater premier production of Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe from the 2002/2003 season. Puppet Artistic Director Douglas Paasch. There were over 15 puppets of all sizes from small rats that chewed Aslan's bonds to a 13 foot tall Rumblebuffin. These are the puppets that I designed and built primarily. The two squirrels are having tea with two other woodland creatures played by actors. There are control rods on the back of their heads. The heads have a full range of motion and when the head is pushed forward the hand with the tea cup is raised so they can drink their tea! The little (furrier) guy has to use both his hands to hold his cup. They are mounted to the table. The centaur's back legs are controlled by levers on the actor's thigh. And yes, the mechanism does cross so the gait is correct. The costume nearly completely hid the interesting part so this is a 'naked' shot.

		Left are shown some of the puppets from the Seattle Children's Theater production of The Big Friendly Giant from the 2002/2003 season. Puppet Artistic Director Douglas Paasch. There four small, six giant and a variety of shadow puppets built for this play. These are pretty basic puppets. The small ones have arms that are controlled by short rods as their only moving parts. I constructed the bodies for all the small puppets and also carved the Tibbs head and one of the Giant heads. The Sofie puppet had to survive a total of nearly 200 shows on stage most of the show! The giant heads were constructed out of fiberglass for this reason.

		This bunch of cute bugs were created for the Macy's annual Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2003. They continue to be in the parade every year. I constructed them from designs by Cameron Mason (under the spider). They are carried on poles just about eight feet above ground. The spider is carried on a backpack and has articulated legs that operate by pulling strings. The legs alternate so it looks like it is creeping along. Edward GrassHopper's legs bounce as he is carried (on a bungie type cord) so it looks like he is hopping along. They are very light as they are made primarily out of a closed cell foam product (sometimes reffered to as crosslink foam, L200 is a brand name).

		Sea-sea-lia, is a 9 foot tall sea dragon puppet. She is seen regularly at many regional and national festivals. Recently she has been seen at Bumbershoot, San Juan County Fair, Bellvue Art Fair, and the St Louis Art Fair. Sea-sea-lia's distantly related to Puff the Magic Dragon and Pete's Dragon.

		The Blue Heron has also appeared in many festivals regionally and nationally. I designed and created the structure for a puppet concieved by Andrew Kim. I also assisted with the fabric skin created and designed by Barbara Bowen. The structure allows the bird to 'fly': when the tail is lifted, the head lowers as if the bird were in flight.

		This Salmon is huge. It is hard to get a scale on this but the head is over four feet and the whole puppet is about 16 feet long and carried by two people. The head is carried on a pole on a backpack. The pole allows the head to swivel. The tail is carried by a hand held pole that allows the controlling of the 'swimming' of the salmon. The head is reinforced papier mache and the body is dyed and painted polyester. This was commisioned by Issaqua Salmon Days Festival (Issaqua Chevrolet specifically).