RAGGEDY ANN & ANDY - Casa Playhouse 1973

I've mentioned before that I got my professional start as a designer at the CASA MANANA PLAYHOUSE Children's Theatre in 1972. I was introduced to JOHNNY SIMONS, who was the Director then and ended up filling in for an injured actor in his production of  TREASURE ISLAND. We got to know each other and he was taken with my passion for puppeteering.

The next season, JOHNNY offered me my first work as a professional designer; creating puppets to be used in his production of RAGGEDY ANN & ANDY.

I was 16 years old.

These sketches, which I offered to him at the time, seem very crude and naive today, and yet the finished doll-like puppets were perfectly suited to this simple production. I was even orffered a role in the show and secured my first critical review as an actor as well.....I was on my way!