Adam Kreutinger shares his Williamsville home with an unusual collection of characters.
There is Felix, a magician; Melvin, a mild-mannered monster; and Lily, a feminine frog with wrists draped in silly bands—all puppets painstakingly designed by the 23-year-old Buffalo State graduate. Some other puppets in his repertoire, including a voluptuous female named Lucy and a pair of Bad Idea Bears, aren’t just whimsical creations but stars.
Indeed, 14 of Kreutinger’s handmade puppets appear in the popular music Avenue Q, which opened in late January and runs through March 11 at MusicalFare Theatre on the Daemen College campus in Amherst. The Tony Award-winning musical employs an irreverent brand of humor you’d never find on Sesame Street and features characters sharing universal laments such as finding work, love, and a purpose in life.
Kreutinger, who graduated from Buffalo State’s art education program in December 2011, auditioned for Avenue Q last summer—and brought his puppets with him. While he didn’t land an onstage role, the directors were so impressed by his puppets that they hired him to design and construct the ones for the production.
As prestigious an assignment as this was, it also represented a huge undertaking. Just five days after he was to graduate, Kreutinger also had to create nine characters and make some duplicates in different costumes. Each puppet takes up to 40 hours to create. Kreutinger added his own personal style, keeping the same basic characters but adding a new hairstyle here, a brighter color there.
“I was a huge fan of the show, and knew the characters well,” he said. “(The director and producer) gave me a lot of freedom. Sometimes I’d watch a rehearsal and think a puppet didn’t look quite right, so I’d take him home and change him a little.”
Although Kreutinger has performed magic and dabbled in theater and painting since his early teens, he didn’t discover puppetry until a few years ago when he was cast in a local production of Little Shop of Horrors, and operated a puppet for the infamous man-eating plant.
“I had always thought of puppets as toys,” he said. “Then I saw they could be art.”
Kreutinger also discovered that puppets make great educational tools. He used them to connect with kids during student-teaching stints at Country Parkway Elementary and St. Mary’s School for the Deaf.
“Kids really respond to the puppets, especially students with special needs,” he said.
Candace Masters, assistant professor of art education, said that Kreutinger was a great student and shared this story to illustrate his creativity:
“Early in the semester, the students were asked to create a self-portrait and present it to their peers as a way of getting to know each other. They were also asked that in the process, they share something 'surprising' about themselves.
Most came with two dimensional works: small portrait drawings or little paintings with still-life objects meaningful to them (they only had about a week to complete it), but Adam had something quite different. When it was his turn, Adam pulled out a skillfully crafted puppet of himself and performed for the group, having the puppet speak about himself. The puppet interacted with classmates and the entire group was engaged in his presentation, all surprised and delighted.”
While he definitely has a gift as a puppet-maker, Kreutinger said he identifies first as an educator. He’s searching for a job teaching art, his first choice being middle school. At this age, he said, students have honed their fine-motor skills, but don’t have the narrow focus high school students often do.
“In middle school, a good art teacher has the chance to hook them,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kreutinger is making a living selling his puppets online and performing at children’s parties with his puppet troupe, The Nimals, which includes his girlfriend, Maria Droz, also a Buffalo State graduate.
While Kreutinger’s home is full of puppets and imagination, his future is full of promise.
Photo: Chris Cavanagh for MusicalFare Theatre.
Pictured: Adam Kreutinger and the Puppet Cast of Avenue Q
