Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a puppet cost?
We’ve made a lot of different kinds of puppets over the last 10 years or so, from Finger Puppets to Giant Puppets. We’ve found that the major factors that affect the cost of building a puppet are: Timeline, Number of Puppets & Services per order, Functionality & Medium, and whether we’re working from established patterns from our archives. We work with some of the best designers, builders, and costumers, and all of our work is designed from scratch to meet the needs of each individual production.
what is included in puppet pricing?
Do I need to hire a puppeteer?
Performing with a puppet is very similar to playing a musical instrument. A well-built instrument can sound okay in untrained hands, and a trained performer can often coax beautiful performances out of everyday objects, but there's nothing that compares to a well-build instrument in the hands of a trained artist.
We can connect you to some of the best performers working in the field of puppetry, and can often find performers who are trained in the style of puppetry you're looking for. Please refer to our Guide To Puppetry Roles below for rough guidelines on the various kinds of puppetry roles available.
If you've never operated a puppet, or are working with untrained performers, we offer a wide variety of training, coaching, and consultation services to help you get the best performance possible Check out our Workshop/Store page, or Contact us for more information.
Can I come visit your studio?
Puppet Kitchen operated out of New York's East Village, in the Cornelia Connelly Center from 2008 - 2017. We also had a large studio in Brooklyn from 2014 - 2016, but we have since moved out of both locations. This allows Puppet Kitchen to be much more mobile, and to better serve clients around the country (and the world!)
Do you offer workshops or classes?
We do! We love sharing what we've learned, and you can find out about our current workshop offerings on our Workshop/Store page.
We have a number of wonderful teaching artists who can bring the workshop to you, or we can rendezvous at a studio space nearby. If you don't see what you're looking for, drop us a line, and we'll create a custom workshop just for you!
Do you have an intern or apprenticeship program?
Unfortunately, when we moved out of our studio in September 2017, we suspended our apprenticeship program indefinitely. If you're looking to learn more about puppetry, please feel free to contact us with any questions you have, and we'll do our best to share what we know.
Where can I see puppetry in my area?
There are so many great productions using puppetry. A good place to learn about what's happening in your area is by subscribing to the Henson Happenings Newsletter (especially if you live in the NY Metro area)