At the age of 16, John Tartaglia began his professional career as a puppeteer for Sesame Street. He earned a Tony award nomination for his Broadway debut in the dual roles of Princeton and Rod in Avenue Q". Other Broadway roles include Lumiere in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and originating Pinocchio in Shrek the Musical. John went on to create, executive produce and star in his own preschool series Johnny and the Sprites, for Disney Junior, nominated for 8 Emmy awards, including a nomination for “Outstanding Performance in a Children’s Series”. John stars as Kip on Jim Henson's Word Party and as Hank in Julie’s Greenroom (starring Dame Julie Andrews) both on NETFLIX.
John’s directing credits include The Secret Silk on Princess Cruises (Creator), Kinky Boots (3d Theatricals), Beauty and the Beast (Maltz Jupiter Theater), the national tours of Jim Henson’s Dinosaur Train Live and Jim Henson’s Sid the Science Kid Live!, Claudio Quest (NY Musical Theatre Festival- Winning 6 awards including "Best in Fest” and Best Director). Lord Tom (York Theater) Shrek The Halls (Dreamworks Theatricals), Because of Winn Dixie (Arkansas Rep), Jim Henson’s Musical World (Carnegie Hall). John has worked many seasons at the award winning St Louis MUNY directing such shows as The Wizard of Oz, Tarzan, Annie and Shrek the Musical. He will be joining again this summer directing Mary Poppins.
John wrote the acclaimed Off-Broadway and international touring musical "ImaginOcean" that has been re-imagined for TV, currently on PBS Kids called "Jim Henson's Splash and Bubbles” (Creator and Co-Executive Producer). John can be heard every Sunday on Sirius XM On Broadway on his show “Sunday Funday with John Tartaglia.”
Johnny returned to the MUNY to direct the Broadway hit Mary Poppins for their 2022 season.
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Jim Henson’s fun-loving, musical Fraggles are back! Join Gobo, Red, Wembley, Mokey, Boober, and new Fraggle friends on hilarious, epic adventures about the magic that happens when we celebrate and care for our interconnected world.
