Judy Puppets, Founder & Director

Ever since, Judy has toured the globe with her puppets and curiosity, working with puppet masters of traditions ancient & modern.  She has written, directed, produced, designed, and performed in more than 50 plays and films in California, Connecticut,  New York, and Japan.  Judy is trained in bunraku, wayang kulit, and muppetry, among other diverse styles.  Her puppetry has been featured in theater, television, films, newspaper, and documentaries the world over, from New York City to Tokyo to Bangkok to Afghanistan and beyond. 

Judy's "Puppetry Bootcamp!" has trained actors, nutritionists, health educators, and social workers the fundamentals and advanced skills of puppetry.  Her emphasis on hands-on practice and fun exercises has cultivated both performers and educators alike into confident and successful puppeteers. 

As a puppetmaker, Judy is skilled in fabrication of many varied styles.  While living Japan, she apprenticed to a master carver in karakura ningyou, sculpting puppets from wood.  She has experience carving Balinese shadow puppets from leather, building large-scale puppets of papier-mache and wire sculpture, sewing all manners of fabrics, and constantly explores emerging materials and techniques.

Judy designs and creates the puppets of the Puppet Treehouse drawing from contemporary and ancient traditions to yield the most expressive and fun-loving crew of Puppet Treehouse pals!

Puppeteer
Judy has always been a performer, singing and dancing and making strange voices from a very young age.  One day, her grandmother gave her a puppet.  Once that puppet came into Judy's life, she began performing non-stop, making new puppets, writing plays with friends in school, and touring from classroom to classroom with new plays throughout the school year. 

on set of "The Adventures of Chuchi-Qualin," a landmine safety & awareness film for children in the Middle East

with  bunraku kashira she carved from Japanese hinoki wood