Hi. I know I need to be better with posting. I'm sorry that I suck. I'm working on it! Good thing no one actually reads my blog. I'd hate to actually disappoint anyone.
If you know me, you know that I admire John Tartaglia. He is an amazing performer and a really nice person.
No, I have never met him, but we have had a few exchanges on Twitter. He has been in three Broadway productions: Avenue Q, Shrek the Musical, and Beauty and the Beast. He has been in several TV shows, and has has had a couple of shows of his own.
I first "discovered" him when I was babysitting my cousin. She loved watching Playhouse Junior, which is now Disney Junior, I believe. We stumbled across Johnny and the Sprites. Which I don't understand to this day why it ended. It was such an amazing show and the songs were so catchy. Even though I watched the show with my cousin whenever it came on, I didn't really think much about John. I mean I had a small crush on him, but soon forgot he existed.
A few years later, while I was listening to Pandora radio on the bus ride home, I was listening to the Phantom of the Opera 25th anniversary radio and "If You Were Gay" from Avenue Q came on. I am so glad that that was the first Avenue Q song I heard. I looked at the artist and recognized John's name, but I didn't know why. Now fast forward to my first college summer, aka the summer following my Freshman year and I finally watch Shrek the Musical after ignoring it for years because I though it was going to be wack, because it's a musical based off a movie that became a meme. But I watched it and I fell in love with the portrayal of Pinocchio. My favorite Shrek character in the movies is between Donkey and Dragon, however, in the musical, it is Pinocchio.
After the musical was over, I watched the credits because I wanted to know who it was. It said John Tartaglia and I was like, okay. The guy in Avenue Q. I never thought of the possibility that John is Johnny from the Disney show.
Now fast forward again, but this time to a few months later. I am in my first semester of my sophomore year of college. A friend of mine gets tickets to go see Avenue Q off-Broadway with his sister. I know of the musical, but I've only listened to "If You Were Gay" so I decide to listen to the OBC album so that when he comes back, we can talk about it.
Okay so since I loved John's portrayal of Pinocchio and I fell in love with Rod and Princeton in Avenue Q, I googled him, because I knew for a fact I was going to fall in love with him and he was going to be my newest obsession. I have no shame. The man is amazing.
Even after seeing photos of him I still didn't realize that he was Johnny. It took me a hot minute and a visit to YouTube.
If this post is long, I'm sorry, but I'm not. John Tartaglia is one of the best people that I have admired. And why wouldn't I? He is a children's entertainer. And he's good at it. I can write so much about him because he really is one of my heroes. He inspires me everyday.
This post is going to get real for a few moments. I took a semester off from school because 1. I can't afford the college I was going to 2. I have a lot of things I have to deal with mentally and personally. In the middle of this semester off, the conclusion was I would never be able to go back to that college. It's too expensive. I was so heart broken, and this just added to me feeling like my life was going downhill because I applied for school as a history major and then added a double major of theater. But I don't know what I want to do with my life. I haven't found my purpose. You can understand why currently Avenue Q is my favorite (tied with Falsettos) musical of all time. It's sadly relatable to my life in more ways than one. During this hard time in my life, I turned to a few interviews with John and they have inspired me. I still don't know what I want to do, but I write and John has helped me find my passion for writing again and for that I am grateful. There's some other things that I won't mention because they're personal, but I am forever grateful that John Tartaglia exists
If you have not seen an interview with him and have not heard his story of writing to Jim Henson and then becoming a puppeteer at 16, working for Seasame Street, you need to. It's amazing. It's part of he reason he is my hero.
John has done a bunch of other stuff, and if I don't mention everything in this post, don't hate me. I'm actually writing this without looking at anything. This is all from memory and what I know of.
He has a show on PBS Kids called Splash and Bubbles. It's about fish in the ocean. I've only seen clips, so I don't know much about it but it looks great.
He was also in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. I wish there was a recording of it, but there is not, sadly. He portrayed Lumiere, and I know he did great because he is a phenomenal actor. I do not have a photo of him as Lumiere. Sorry
On Netflix he is on Julie's Greenroom and Word Party. In Julie's Greenroom, he puppeteers a character named Hank, who is a boy in a wheelchair and I appreciate the character, because a lot of children's shows don't represent disabled children, unfortunately. And I'm 20 years old, but I binged all the episodes of Julie's Greenroom the night it came out. It was great.
Word Party is an animated kids show. John voices the character Kip, which is a wallaby, an animal similar to a kangaroo. I have seen a few episodes of this, but it's a bit too elementary for me.
I am not ashamed to admit I watch some kids shows. I'm a kid at heart. Sue me.
John used to puppeteer for Sesame Street. I believe he has performed Oscar the Grouch, Ernie, and I think he was the understudy for Elmo, for a while.
He is a phenomenal actor and an amazing singer. If you have not heard him sing here are some of my favorite clips from YouTube
"Who I'd Be" from Shrek the Musical:
"Purpose" from Avenue Q:
Disney Medley:
Clip from Johnny and the Sprites:
Here is a clip of "If You Were Gay":
If none of those clips convinced you that he is amazing, then I don't know what will. I find him one of the most amazing people in the world, but that's me. Sadly, I can't share my favorite photo of John because it has the annoying Getty Images banner so here's a substitute.
If you admire and love John as much as I do, you can follow my Tumblr blog here. I post videos and random casual screaming about how amazing he is. I also post photos every once in a while.
I just want the world to know that he is an amazing person who deserves more recognition than what he's getting.
If you know me, you know that I admire John Tartaglia. He is an amazing performer and a really nice person.
No, I have never met him, but we have had a few exchanges on Twitter. He has been in three Broadway productions: Avenue Q, Shrek the Musical, and Beauty and the Beast. He has been in several TV shows, and has has had a couple of shows of his own.
I first "discovered" him when I was babysitting my cousin. She loved watching Playhouse Junior, which is now Disney Junior, I believe. We stumbled across Johnny and the Sprites. Which I don't understand to this day why it ended. It was such an amazing show and the songs were so catchy. Even though I watched the show with my cousin whenever it came on, I didn't really think much about John. I mean I had a small crush on him, but soon forgot he existed.
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| Johnny and the Sprites |
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| John as Pinocchio in Shrek the Musical |
Now fast forward again, but this time to a few months later. I am in my first semester of my sophomore year of college. A friend of mine gets tickets to go see Avenue Q off-Broadway with his sister. I know of the musical, but I've only listened to "If You Were Gay" so I decide to listen to the OBC album so that when he comes back, we can talk about it.
 |
| John and Rod in Avenue Q |
Even after seeing photos of him I still didn't realize that he was Johnny. It took me a hot minute and a visit to YouTube.
Johnny and the Sprites theme song
The moment I remembered how much I loved Johnny and the Sprites was the moment my life changed forever. Not to be over dramatic.If this post is long, I'm sorry, but I'm not. John Tartaglia is one of the best people that I have admired. And why wouldn't I? He is a children's entertainer. And he's good at it. I can write so much about him because he really is one of my heroes. He inspires me everyday.
 |
| I have so many photos I'm just throwing them in randomly now |
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| John and Princeton in Avenue Q |
John has done a bunch of other stuff, and if I don't mention everything in this post, don't hate me. I'm actually writing this without looking at anything. This is all from memory and what I know of.
He has a show on PBS Kids called Splash and Bubbles. It's about fish in the ocean. I've only seen clips, so I don't know much about it but it looks great.
He was also in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. I wish there was a recording of it, but there is not, sadly. He portrayed Lumiere, and I know he did great because he is a phenomenal actor. I do not have a photo of him as Lumiere. Sorry
On Netflix he is on Julie's Greenroom and Word Party. In Julie's Greenroom, he puppeteers a character named Hank, who is a boy in a wheelchair and I appreciate the character, because a lot of children's shows don't represent disabled children, unfortunately. And I'm 20 years old, but I binged all the episodes of Julie's Greenroom the night it came out. It was great.
Word Party is an animated kids show. John voices the character Kip, which is a wallaby, an animal similar to a kangaroo. I have seen a few episodes of this, but it's a bit too elementary for me.
I am not ashamed to admit I watch some kids shows. I'm a kid at heart. Sue me.
John used to puppeteer for Sesame Street. I believe he has performed Oscar the Grouch, Ernie, and I think he was the understudy for Elmo, for a while.
He is a phenomenal actor and an amazing singer. If you have not heard him sing here are some of my favorite clips from YouTube
"Who I'd Be" from Shrek the Musical:
Here is a clip of "If You Were Gay":
If none of those clips convinced you that he is amazing, then I don't know what will. I find him one of the most amazing people in the world, but that's me. Sadly, I can't share my favorite photo of John because it has the annoying Getty Images banner so here's a substitute.
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| You're welcome |
I just want the world to know that he is an amazing person who deserves more recognition than what he's getting.
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