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bios |
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As a child, David Messick remembers being mesmerized the first time he saw a live touring theater production as it visited the area. "That’s what I want to do!" And that’s what he did. The multifaceted leader of Rainbow Productions has a degree in Theater, Music, and Speech. Over the years, he has worked for a National touring theater company, developed characters and commercials for Chuck E. Cheese and assisted the late Jim Henson in presenting rare Italian puppets at the New Orleans World’s Fair. With Audience Studies, Inc, (now Ipsos-ASI) he has supervised and managed many market research projects for programs on the Disney Channel, NBC and FOX. He now provides market research for the Tribune-owned Daily Press in Virginia where he recently was nominated for a Tribune Values Award. He has taught playwriting and show creation classes for the Puppeteers of America National Convention, The Fellowship of Christian Puppeteers National Convention, the Puppet Arts Center of Virginia, and elsewhere. He has also choreographed award winning teams of tap dancers and been recognized as a talented writer and composer of children’s musicals. In 1996 he was elected President of The Puppet Arts Center of Virginia, an organization dedicated to celebrating puppet history and artistry.
Marcy Messick Marcy is a graduate of the College of William and Mary. She is an award winning tap dancer and now teaches others at the Academy of Dance in Hampton, Virginia. She is a board member of the Miss Hampton-Newport News Scholarship pageant - a preliminary to Miss America. With Rainbow Productions, she handles the scheduling of performances, creates character voices like "Mother Goose," and is a puppeteer. Together with husband David, she is the parent of two young boys.
Helen Spaetzel Helen was known as the "Puppet Lady" of Hampton. Over the years, she created and worked on many fabulous puppet projects like a giant, 16 foot long Monarch Butterfly rod puppet. She was the founding member of the Puppet Arts Center of Virginia. She designed and constructed sets for Christopher Newport University. She conducted countless workshops in puppetry across the state. Nationally, she participated in Puppeteers of America festivals and attended puppet workshops at the Eugene O'Neil Theater Center. For Rainbow, Helen built many wonderful puppets and set pieces like our giant Humpty Dumpty puppet, our bronze drama masks which come to life at the start of every show, and our school of Lookdown Fish from the "Chessie" program. While Helen passed away in December of 2000, her fabulous work lives on in each performance we give. The countless people whose lives she touched through her workshops will always have special memories of "the puppet lady from Hampton."
Jason Wiedel Jason currently works as Youth Minister and Director of Creative Ministries for New Harvest Christian Life Ministries in Surry, Virginia where he writes, directs, and performs puppetry and live drama programs. Jason also works as a professional children’s entertainer. He presents over 200 shows each year performing puppetry, magic, stories, and songs for audiences at schools, libraries, and other special events all over the state of Virginia.Jason’s interest in performing began as a young teenager hanging around at the local magic store. Through the years he learned a lot from local entertainers as well as from some of the best in the country. In 1994 Jason attended a Youth With a Mission School in Lindale, Texas. This involved touring the western part of the country, visiting and helping out local churches along the way. Here Jason began growing his talent for skit writing and presenting challenging dramas as a ministry tool. After this school, Jason returned to Surry where he began to more actively
peruse children’s entertainment. His shows quickly became a huge success with library
summer reading programs. He also worked as a historical entertainer for Colonial
Williamsburg for two years. In 1996 Jason began working with David Messick and Rainbow Puppet Productions. Over the years Jason has studied in the areas of clowning, magic, mime, acting, juggling, ventrilloquism, and puppetry. In 1998 Jason wrote The Drama Ministry Stuff Handbook. In 2000 he wrote Tricks and Tips for Powerful Performance and I’m Sick of Church, a collection of ministry skits. Jason is the co-founder of the Virginia Festival of Puppet Ministry and Creative Arts. He has taught for Circus Magic and the Fellowship of Christian Puppeteers. He is committed to excellence in his performance and presentation, and to helping others become the very best that they can be.
That's Craig on the right. To the left is one of the puppets he created for Rainbow Productions. This is the angel from our nativity program. Craig also created the popular Blue Crabs which sing in the "Chessie" show. Most recently, he completed a group of fish for the dinosaur show. Craig T. Adams is an actor, puppeteer, scenic designer, writer and television
personality, who earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Children's Theatre from the
University of Utah in 1977, receiving the department award for outstanding contributions
to children's theatre.
Laura has worked with Rainbow both onstage and behind the scenes. She was one of the original puppeteers for our "Chessie" production. As a puppet maker, she has lent her considerable talents to many of our programs. Her creations include the loveable, but misguided Bub in Chessie. For the Noah show, she created the memorable elephants as well as Henny the Hen and Barry and Bertha the Beavers. For Jonah, she created the Whale puppet and the human arm Jonah puppets. She also created the life-like Wright Brothers puppets for the show based on their lives. Perhaps her most challenging assignment was the "Dinosaur Show" where she created the huge Wooly Mammoth, the 16 foot long Dipolodocus,the horn blowing Parasaurolophus, the cave man, and the mamma and baby Maiasaura.
Christine has been a puppet enthusiast since early childhood. A
graduate of The Fashion Institute of Technology, she has designed costumes for a variety
of theatrical and performing arts groups. Christine is co- founder of The Puppet Arts
Center Of Virginia, and was elected to serves as President in 1999.
Frank Lakus That's not Frank Lakus but two of his fabulous puppets. There's the eight foot tall T-Rex puppet from our upcoming Dinosaur Show and the life-sized Larry the Loggerhead Turtle from "Chessie." Frank operates his own touring puppet company in Florida and is active with the Frog Prince Puppet Center in Tarpon Springs. We are honored that he has agreed to share his artistry with us.
Cambrai Hayes Cambrai is a talented pre-school teacher, storyteller, and puppet maker. For Rainbow, she crafted the ingenious moon jellies which glow in the "Chessie" program.
Rainbow Puppeteers include: Mel T. Brooks, Kathie Davis, David Messick, David Messick, Sr., Marcy Messick, Judy Silvis, Joyce Timberlake, Jason Wiedel
Rainbow Puppet Makers include: Craig T. Adams, Kathie Davis, Christine Frank, Jill Harrington, Cambrai Hayes, Laura Huff, Frank Lakus, Helen Spaetzel
Rainbow Character Voices include: Chris & Don Bartlett, Kenny D'Auria, Sarah Granger, Jill Green, Frank Mailander, David & Marcy Messick, Patsy Rostkowsky, Lisa Rich & Tyler Ryan, Tim Tharrington, Jason Wiedel More bios and pictures coming soon!
Click below to learn about some of our programs currently on tour:
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Craig T. Adams
Laura Huff
