Meet the First Black Woman Puppeteer on 'Sesame Street'
October 5, 2022
:focal(2313x1839:2314x1840)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/9c/da/9cda04ef-48fc-4071-99a7-2c7186b40152/zsh_1724.jpg)
Megan Piphus Peace with Gabrielle
Megan Piphus Peace with Gabrielle Β©2022 Sesame Workshop / Photo by Zach Hyman / All rights reserved
Over more than 50 years, βSesame Streetβ has been introducing children to a diverse ensemble of characters, cast members and puppeteers.
Megan Piphus Peace is one of them: In late 2021, she became the showβs first full-time Black woman puppeteer, playing a 6-year-old Black girl named Gabrielle. Last month, she celebrated her one-year anniversary as a member of the teamβand officially left her real estate career, which she had been pursuing as she tried to establish herself as a puppeteer.
βI always dreamed of working in television, but I never imagined myself being at βSesame Street,ββ she tells NPRβs Ayesha Rascoe and Michael Radcliffe.
Piphus Peace, now 29, grew up watching βSesame Street.β As a young child, she considered the puppets to be her friends, not realizing until she was older that they werenβt real, she tells the Washington Postβs Sydney Page.
She has been pursuing puppeteering since then. When she was a high school senior in Cincinnati, students knew her as the βVentriloquist Valedictorian.β At Vanderbilt University, where she studied economics, she was known as the βVanderbilt Ventriloquist.β She even appeared on βThe Tonight Showβ in 2012 and βAmericaβs Got Talentβ in 2013.
One of Piphus Peaceβs mentors, Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, who debuted the βSesame Streetβ character Abby Cadabby in 2006, tells the Washington Post that Piphus Peace is a gifted storyteller and natural leader.
βTo say that I was intrigued by Megan would be an understatement,β says Carrara-Rudolph. βMeganβs sheer talent as a singer, actress, writer and performer is incredible on its own, but I was instantly inspired by her loving heart, strength of character, humor, humanity and what an energetic creative force she is.β
Although Piphus Peace submitted her first video audition to βSesame Streetβ in 2017, she didnβt hear back until 2020, when Matt Vogel, the puppet captain of the show, reached out to her, reports Ebonyβs Rashad Grove.
βShe comes from a different kind of puppetry background than most of us other βSesame Streetβ Muppet performers,β Vogel tells the Washington Post. βSome of us went to college to learn puppetry, or acting schools, etc., but Megan is a self-trained ventriloquistβsomething none of us have done.β
After going through an extensive audition process, Piphus Peace first performed as Gabrielle on βSesame Streetβ in 2020 for a childrenβs town hall called βStanding Up to Racismβ in partnership with CNN.
Piphus Peace commends the show for tackling difficult topics and presenting them in a way that children can process. βOne of the lessons that we have was on using your voice. It speaks subtly to equity,β she tells NPR. βYou know, we didnβt have Gabrielle go into the camera and say, βBlack Lives Matter.β She says that we all have a voice that matters and we can use our voice.β
βSesame Streetβ got its first Black male puppeteer much earlier: Kevin Clash started working on the show in the 1980s, playing Elmo in addition to various other characters.
The show, broadcast in more than 150 countries, has roots in Black culture and was heavily influenced by New York Cityβs Harlem. In its early years, the show intentionally featured a range of Black guest starsβincluding actor James Earl Jones and singer Nina Simoneβto help teach numbers and letters to a target audience that included young Black viewers. More recently, Gabrielle has been featured on the show alongside tennis player Naomi Osaka and poet and activist Amanda Gorman.
Season 53 of βSesame Street,β recorded earlier this year, will stream on HBO Max this fall and then air on PBS Kids in 2023.
Jacquelyne Germain
October 5, 2022
Megan Piphus Peace with Gabrielle
Megan Piphus Peace with Gabrielle Β©2022 Sesame Workshop / Photo by Zach Hyman / All rights reserved
Over more than 50 years, βSesame Streetβ has been introducing children to a diverse ensemble of characters, cast members and puppeteers.
Megan Piphus Peace is one of them: In late 2021, she became the showβs first full-time Black woman puppeteer, playing a 6-year-old Black girl named Gabrielle. Last month, she celebrated her one-year anniversary as a member of the teamβand officially left her real estate career, which she had been pursuing as she tried to establish herself as a puppeteer.
βI always dreamed of working in television, but I never imagined myself being at βSesame Street,ββ she tells NPRβs Ayesha Rascoe and Michael Radcliffe.
Piphus Peace, now 29, grew up watching βSesame Street.β As a young child, she considered the puppets to be her friends, not realizing until she was older that they werenβt real, she tells the Washington Postβs Sydney Page.
She has been pursuing puppeteering since then. When she was a high school senior in Cincinnati, students knew her as the βVentriloquist Valedictorian.β At Vanderbilt University, where she studied economics, she was known as the βVanderbilt Ventriloquist.β She even appeared on βThe Tonight Showβ in 2012 and βAmericaβs Got Talentβ in 2013.
One of Piphus Peaceβs mentors, Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, who debuted the βSesame Streetβ character Abby Cadabby in 2006, tells the Washington Post that Piphus Peace is a gifted storyteller and natural leader.
βTo say that I was intrigued by Megan would be an understatement,β says Carrara-Rudolph. βMeganβs sheer talent as a singer, actress, writer and performer is incredible on its own, but I was instantly inspired by her loving heart, strength of character, humor, humanity and what an energetic creative force she is.β
Although Piphus Peace submitted her first video audition to βSesame Streetβ in 2017, she didnβt hear back until 2020, when Matt Vogel, the puppet captain of the show, reached out to her, reports Ebonyβs Rashad Grove.
βShe comes from a different kind of puppetry background than most of us other βSesame Streetβ Muppet performers,β Vogel tells the Washington Post. βSome of us went to college to learn puppetry, or acting schools, etc., but Megan is a self-trained ventriloquistβsomething none of us have done.β
After going through an extensive audition process, Piphus Peace first performed as Gabrielle on βSesame Streetβ in 2020 for a childrenβs town hall called βStanding Up to Racismβ in partnership with CNN.
Piphus Peace commends the show for tackling difficult topics and presenting them in a way that children can process. βOne of the lessons that we have was on using your voice. It speaks subtly to equity,β she tells NPR. βYou know, we didnβt have Gabrielle go into the camera and say, βBlack Lives Matter.β She says that we all have a voice that matters and we can use our voice.β
βSesame Streetβ got its first Black male puppeteer much earlier: Kevin Clash started working on the show in the 1980s, playing Elmo in addition to various other characters.
The show, broadcast in more than 150 countries, has roots in Black culture and was heavily influenced by New York Cityβs Harlem. In its early years, the show intentionally featured a range of Black guest starsβincluding actor James Earl Jones and singer Nina Simoneβto help teach numbers and letters to a target audience that included young Black viewers. More recently, Gabrielle has been featured on the show alongside tennis player Naomi Osaka and poet and activist Amanda Gorman.
Season 53 of βSesame Street,β recorded earlier this year, will stream on HBO Max this fall and then air on PBS Kids in 2023.
Jacquelyne Germain
