Tag: Fraggle Rock

If you harbor any doubts that Jim Henson’s creations remain relevant more than a quarter-century after the celebrated puppeteer’s passing, look no further than the strident social media reactions to every change made to his classic characters. Whether it’s the removal of the MuppetVision 3D theme park attraction or the introduction of performer Matt Vogel as the new voice of Kermit the Frog, fans obviously still feel a fierce sense of ownership over their felt friends. And while Jim Henson’s family sold the Muppets to Disney decades ago, his namesake company retains rights to several of his other fantastical franchises, including Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal and Fraggle Rock. 

The carefree Fraggles and industrious Doozers — who made their debut on HBO in 1983 and were rebooted by Apple TV in 2022 — have emerged from their underground utopia into Outer Space with their new live show at an iconic Central Florida attraction. But this original musical makes one big change to these beloved characters that might leave some longtime Fraggle fans feeling more dazed and confused than old Doc. 

Fraggle Rock: A Space-y Adventure debuted Dec. 22 at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (which is privately operated and not funded by NASA) with a media event featuring John Tartaglia, who wrote, choreographed and directed the production. Best known as the Tony-nominated originator of “Rod” in Broadway’s Avenue Q, Tartaglia started his puppetry career while still a teenager working part-time on Sesame Street, and went on to create Johnny and the Sprites for Playhouse Disney. More recently, he returned to the Jim Henson Co. as executive producer of the Emmy-winning Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock and was appointed the brand’s creative supervisor two years ago, taking the helm of the Fraggles’ future.

Ironically, although he’s now their “No. 1 fan,” Tartaglia wasn’t a regular watcher of the Fraggles during their original run, because (like mine) his family didn’t pay for HBO. It wasn’t until a fateful road trip with his mother at age 7 that he first encountered the series he’d someday shepherd.  

“We were in a hotel, and she turned on the television, and there was the original Fraggle Rock, and I just instantly became enchanted by it,” Tartaglia said during a post-premiere Q&A hosted by Jenora Duprey, senior manager of public programs at KSCVC. “Then it occurred to me that there were people behind the scenes that make this thing, and that began my love for Jim Henson and puppetry. I had a dream of working for the Jim Henson Co., and I never thought years and years later that I would get to oversee this brand that literally changed my life at 7 years old.”

The 30-minute performance, which was produced and designed for KSCVC by the Producers Group in association with the Jim Henson Co., is staged several times each day in the Universe Theater. The storyline follows three adventurous Fraggles — Uncle Traveling Matt, Red and Gobo — and Cotterpin Doozer as they explore the Visitor Complex, encountering an Exploration Ground Systems crew member and even “talking” with a real (prerecorded) astronaut aboard the International Space Station. 

Although he admits the connection between Fraggle Rock and NASA might appear nebulous at first glance, Tartaglia points out that “ever since the show’s beginnings, the joke has always been that the Fraggles think of our world as Outer Space, this whole new world to be explored that’s right above them. … The heart of Fraggle Rock [is] about worlds connecting and how interconnected we all are, and how we all need each other. I think that’s also part of NASA’s mission: how we’re connecting with another world, connecting with what’s out there.”

In bringing these characters to KSCVC’s stage, a major adjustment was made to their dimensions. All the Fraggles — which have previously been depicted as puppets approximately 18 inches tall — are here portrayed by adults in full-body costumes. The tiny Doozer remains a hand puppet onstage, but has been enlarged to about triple its canonical height, yet the human character interacting with the quartet evidences no alarm over these oversized intruders. 

“We really were mindful about kind of upscaling everything, so that they would look really good on a theatrical stage,” explains Tartaglia, who praises his cast for learning to operate their articulated mouths (using sensors inside their gloves) in sync with a soundtrack voiced by Henson performers after barely two weeks of rehearsal.

“The real Doozers are shorter than this water bottle in real life … so we had to kind of upscale everything to human size. Really, it’s just about, how do you make it work for the theater in the best way possible?”

For those who can suspend their senses of disbelief and/or scale, this upbeat edutainment will elicit warm memories from Gen X Silly Creatures like myself — as well as their younger spawn — as evidenced by the opening day audience’s reflexive double-clapping during the earworm theme song. 

“Fraggle Rock is one of the few brands that has so many generations attached to it. My grandmother knew what Fraggle Rock was, my mother knows, I know, and beyond. So I think it’s nice to see families enjoying it together, and I think hearing the reactions to the characters is wonderful,” Tartaglia said after seeing the latest product of his dream job.

“To me, it feels like play; it doesn’t feel like work at all. To get a chance to bring these characters out to the world in new experiences is something that means so much to me, and I’m passionate about it.”

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