The Puppets

One of the exciting new features in Carousel's production of The Wizard of Oz, is the introduction of larger-than-life puppetry. Created by Puppet Designer Robin VanLear and Ian Petroni, these incredibly imaginative beings have a life of their own. Each will be manipulated by an actor as you can see in the bottom image of the Gatekeeper. To the far right is the gatekeeper's head in the beginning of the construction process and also some final paint touchups during rehearsal week.

Also adding to the exciting puppetry are the flying monkeys. There are five different versions of the winged monekys being used on stage including small windsocks up to a winged moneky with a 13-foot wingspan. Below are just a couple of the versions. Both are still in construction phase and are not the final version.

As you can see, there are many fantastical elements that all contribute to making Carousel's production of The Wizard of Oz, an all new wildly imaginative version.