Westbeth Entertainment

WESTBETH ENTERTAINMENT is a unique company that has produced live entertainment for over 35 years with artists such as Billy Connolly, Noel Fielding, John Leguizamo, Eric Idle, and The Jim Henson Company. Our most recent productions include Eddie Izzard’s Wunderbar, Hannah Gadsby’s Nannette and Douglas, and Professor Brian Cox’s Universal Adventures in Space and Time in multiple cities across the US and Canada, as well as award winning Australian comedy troupe Aunty Donna premiering 2 hit shows across North America.

Visit www.WestbethEnt.com for more and never miss out on one of our shows!

ithamar enriquez (guest host)

Ithamar Enriquez is an alum of The Second City Chicago and has been a guest performer at The Groundlings and Upright Citizens Brigade. His TV and film appearances include: WandaVision, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Lady Bird, The Conners, Arrested Development, 9-1-1, The Office and A Series of Unfortunate Events. His voice can also be heard on American Dad and Netflix’s Chicago Party Aunt. His live solo show, Ithamar Has Nothing To Say, has played all over the country and became a web series produced by Keegan Michael Key and Jordan Peele.

willie etra
(MUSICAL DIRECTOR)

Willie is currently editing the 4th installment of a video history of The Groundlings Theater “Dying Is Easy, Improv Is Hard: The New Millennium”. For info and updates, please visit littletheaterbiglaughs.net It’s planned for release in 2024 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the company. His band, the Etra Glasser Group’s first single from the upcoming album is “Dance 4ever With Me” and follows this year’s “Truth Or Lies” and “If You Need A Friend”. Scoring credits include: 'Mr. Show', 'Tracey Takes On...', 'Son Of The Beach', 'The Wild Ride Of Outlaw Bikers' and 24 episodes of the series 'Biography'. He hopes your holidays are filled with joy and laughter!

PERFORMING OUR 1ST WEEKEND - DECEMBER 1, 2, AND 3

ben schrader (performer)

Career highlights: TV/FILM: Disney’s Frozen, True Detective, Revenge, Coop & Cami Ask The World, Crank Yankers. BROADWAY: Original cast of The Book of Mormon, Avenue Q, Ragtime, Peter and the Starcatcher, Big River, and the developmental cast of Next to Normal. Host and creator of The Stage Door Supper Club on SiriusXM Broadway for 4 seasons. In addition to his work in puppetry, Benjamin has been a headlining magician at The Magic Castle and directs and consults for Walt Disney Imagineering, Disney Cruise Lines, Disneyland, The Magic Castle, and The Pasadena Playhouse.

Colleen Smith (performer)

Colleen Smith is a Groundlings' Sunday Co. and Second City Conservatory alumna. She teaches and directs shows at The Groundlings. Colleen co-created GLOP, The Glorious Ladies of Puppetry glop.us.  Her television credits include Selfie, How I Met Your Mother, King of The Hill, No You Shut Up and The Office. Her puppet credits include The Happytime Murders, Rose in The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell on Netflix. Beti in Earth to Ned on Disney + and Brendar in The Barbarian and the Troll on Nickelodeon. colleensmi.com @colleenmariesmi

grant baciocco (performer)

Grant Baciocco has been with Puppet Up! since 2006 and has performed with the show in Australia, Toronto, Las Vegas and at Knott's Berry Farm. His other puppetry credits include Wet Hot American Summer, The Muppets, Last Week Tonight, Earth to Ned and Mystery Science Theatre 3000 where he plays M. Waverly.  Grant is also the creator of Toiley T. Paper (@thetoiley) who has over 3 million followers across various social media platforms.

john tartaglia (performer)

John Tartaglia  joined Sesame Street at 16 as one of the youngest puppeteers in the show’s history. He is a 2 time Emmy nominee for Jim Henson’s Splash and Bubbles and Disney’s Johnny and the Sprites. TV/FILM: Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, Jim Henson’s Word Party, Julie’s Greenroom, The Happytime Murders, Animal Jam, Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss, Bear in the Big Blue House, Blue’s Room, Dog City, Ugly Betty. BWAY: Avenue Q (Tony nomination), Beauty and the Beast and Shrek. DIRECTOR: Jim Henson’s Inspired Silliness, The Secret Silk , Mary Poppins, Matilda, The Wizard of Oz, Beauty and the Beast, Claudio Quest, Shrek the Halls. Instagram/Twitter/Cameo: Johnnytartags

michael oosterom (performer)

Puppetry credits include Cornelius on Earth to Ned (Disney+), Rankle in The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell (Netflix), Blurp in Sigmund & The Sea Monsters (Amazon), No, YOU Shut Up!, and numerous projects with The Muppets. Film & TV: Where The Wild Things Are, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Happytime Murders, Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge, Pushing Daisies, A.N.T. Farm, The Amanda Show, The Middleman & Strange Angel. Stage: A.C.T., California Shakespeare Festival, The Wilma Theater, The Magic Theater, The San Francisco Mime Troupe & the national tour of Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile. Michael is an alumni of The Groundlings Sunday Company.  www.michaeloosterom.com

nicolette santino (performer)

Nicolette has traveled across 30 countries performing on stage with Coldplay as the puppet character Angel Moon in the Music of the Spheres World Tour.  She also is a series regular on Nickelodeon’s The Barbarian and the Troll where she plays multiple characters including Sharon, Tee-Winkle, and Kendar. Her puppetry can be seen in other films and television shows such as Muppets Haunted Mansion, The Muppets Mayhem, Earth to Ned, Crank Yankers, and the feature film The Happytime Murders. When she's not puppeteering, Nicolette loves to paint, sculpt, and teach her cat Walter new tricks!

peggy etra (performer)

Peggy is a series regular on "The Barbarian and The Troll”…find it on Amazon Prime. She also worked on Showtime's Kidding, as well as Happytime Murders, Earth to Ned and has performed with The Muppets and Fraggle Rock. Most recently she performed on America’s Got Talent. She is also a proud member of GLOP (the Glorious Ladies of Puppetry). Follow her: @peggerpoo2 @paint.the.pic Peggy Etra Entertainment on Facebook

PERFORMING OUR 2ND WEEKEND - DECEMBER 8, 9, AND 10

COLLEEN SMITH (PERFORMER)

Colleen Smith is a Groundlings' Sunday Co. and Second City Conservatory alumna. She teaches and directs shows at The Groundlings. Colleen co-created GLOP, The Glorious Ladies of Puppetry glop.us.  Her television credits include Selfie, How I Met Your Mother, King of The Hill, No You Shut Up and The Office. Her puppet credits include The Happytime Murders, Rose in The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell on Netflix. Beti in Earth to Ned on Disney + and Brendar in The Barbarian and the Troll on Nickelodeon. colleensmi.com @colleenmariesmi

DAN GARZA (PERFORMER)

Dan Garza has contributed his puppetry and character voices to diverse projects with skill, laughter, and kindness. Some of his credits include Junior Gorg on FRAGGLE ROCK: BACK TO THE ROCK (AppleTV+), Ennui Le Triste on KIDDING alongside Jim Carrey (Showtime), THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS (Henson Alternative), Jim Henson’s SPLASH AND BUBBLES (PBS Kids) among others. Dan is consistently pushing his craft through a love of collaboration, connection and his Latino heritage. @outtapez - Twitter/Instagram  //  www.dangarzacreative.com

DONNA KIMBALL (PERFORMER)

Donna Kimball most recently played Mokey Fraggle in Henson's FRAGGLE ROCK: BACK TO THE ROCK on AppleTV+.  She also voiced Aughra in Henson's DARK CRYSTAL AGE OF RESISTANCE on Netflix.  Other puppetry credits include THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS, LIFE IN PIECES, GLEE, COMMUNITY, WORD PARTY, MUTT & STUFF, SID THE SCIENCE KID, SPLASH & BUBBLES, NO YOU SHUT UP!, PAJANIMALS, CRANK YANKERS, and Doc Ock’s badass upper right claw in SPIDER-MAN 2.  And she co-created GLOP: THE GLORIOUS LADIES OF PUPPETRY (www.glop.us).

DREW MASSEY (PERFORMER)

Drew Massey is the costar, co-creator and an executive producer of Nickelodeon's all-puppet fantasy series The Barbarian and the Troll, streaming on Paramount+ in 2023. His film resume includes: GoodBurger 2, MIB: International, The Happytime Murders, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Men In Black I and II, The Hangover, Doctor Dolittle, Muppets Wizard of Oz, Darjeeling Limited, and Team America. His TV work includes: Harley Quinn, Abbot Elementary, Muppets Mayhem, Earth to Ned, American Housewife, Young Sheldon, The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell, Sid the Science Kid, Community, Greg the Bunny, and Angel. As a director, he helmed six Splash & Bubbles episodes for the Jim Henson Company and over 50 web shorts for DreamWorks Animation.  As a person, he enjoys sculpting, science journals, and overly caffeinated beverages.

RAYMOND CARR (PERFORMER)

Raymond is a Jim Henson Company-trained puppeteer who's been performing for over 20 years. He was recently the Puppet Captain for the upcoming Netflix limited series ERIC, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, and is also a former board member of The Jim Henson Foundation. He is a main character on JHC's, Splash and Bubbles for PBS Kids. Some credits include: JHC Earth to Ned on Disney Plus, JHC Word Party, Crank Yankers, Moon and Me for the BBC, Lazytown for Nick Jr, Doom Patrol on HBOmax, Woke on Hulu, Walking with Dinosaurs The Arena Spectacular Tour, and various projects for Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, Cartoon Network & Adult Swim.

STOPH SCHEER (PERFORMER)

Stoph Scheer is a puppeteer, puppet builder, writer, circus performer, recent LA transplant and prize-winning rabbit breeder who is thrilled beyond words to be in Puppet Up!  Her puppetry credits include Slumberkins, The Muppets Mayhem, Womp & Co., Feel Your Best Self, and The Creatures of Yes, which she also co-writes.  She’s a grantee of the Jim Henson Foundation and her original work was called “endlessly inventive” by The New York Times. The New York Post has accused her of being Banksy.  She is not Banksy.  She once accidentally won first place in a drag competition at a bar in Montpelier, Vermont.  Scheerbrilliance.com

TED MICHAELS (PERFORMER)

As an actor, Ted has starred in tv shows like The Comeback, CSI, According To Jim, Mad TV, and in the acclaimed web series The Guild. As an improviser, Ted performed with Eddie Izzard in his One Word Improv and is a founder of the Crazy Uncle Joe Show at the Groundlings Theater in LA.  As a puppeteer, Ted starred in The Happytime Murders, The Muppets on ABC, MTV's Warren The Ape, and the 2011 Grammy Awards as Cee Lo Green’s bass player. He also wrote and directed an independent film, Tangoborn Menclenty, now streaming on Amazon Prime.