Rick Lyon

Rick Lyon (right) and John Tartaglia in Avenue Q

Rick Lyon (b. February 25) is a puppeteer and actor from Rochester, New York, who began working on Sesame Street in Season 20 and has performed in many projects for The Jim Henson Company.

He originated the roles of Nicky, Trekkie Monster, and Blue Bad Idea Bear in Avenue Q, a Broadway play for which he designed and created the puppets. In fall 2005, he reprised his roles in the production of the show in Las Vegas. He also worked with Nickelodeon on the Stick Stickly project. He was the chief puppeteer for the first season of Comedy Central's television program Crank Yankers.

When Bobby Lopez and Jeff Marx presented highlights from their unproduced musical Kermit, Prince of Denmark to the BMI Workshop, they asked Rick Lyon to perform the songs for Kermit...

“All of a sudden, Kermit the Frog was twenty feet away from you. It was like having Frank Sinatra in the room. Even though Rick was right there with the puppet sitting on his lap, all anyone could watch was Kermit. Most people never get that experience unless you go backstage at Sesame Street and see the puppeteers do it live in front of you.”

“Rick was absolutely brilliant. When he put the puppet on his arm and brought it to life, you completely believed that Kermit was alive. Everyone was just captivated. We had never seen anything like it. He made our song better than it was. He took it to a level that was beyond what we had dreamed of. And we said, "We've got to work with this guy again. Because this is a magical combination."”

Lyon studied theater at Penn State University and puppetry at the Institute of Professional Puppetry Arts in Connecticut and the Institut Internationale de la Marionnette in France.

Henson Credits

• Sesame Street: Beginning Season 20, Bernie the Baker, Donkey in Barn in the USA
• Elmo's World: Computer Graphic Puppeteer
• Inner Tube
• The Jim Henson Hour: Dog City, "Song of the Cloud Forest"
• Muppet Meeting Films
• CinderElmo
• Sesame Street Goes to the Doctor
• Bear in the Big Blue House
• Elmopalooza
• Muppet Sing Alongs: Billy Bunny's Animal Songs
• Monster Hits!
• The Muppets at Walt Disney World
• Rock & Roll!
• The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson
• Muppet*Vision 3D
• Big Bird's Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake
• Sing, Hoot & Howl with the Sesame Street Animals
• Elmo's Sing-Along Guessing Game
• Sesame Street Stays Up Late
• Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting
• Sesame Street's All-Star 25th Birthday
• Don't Forget to Watch the Movie
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze: Tokka (puppetry)
• Elmo's Magic Cookbook
• Elmo's Musical Adventure: Peter and the Wolf

External links

• Official site