'Avenue Q' star John Tartaglia talks 'ImaginOcean'

An interview with Tony Awards nominee John Tartaglia is long over due. He has appeared on many Broadway shows through out his career. He starred in the acclaimed musical "Avenue Q", "Shrek: The Musical", and in Disney's "Beauty and The Beast." He is also credited to creating his own show and starred in the playhouse Disney series, "Johnny and The Sprites." John spoke with TheCelebrityCafe.com's Steven Jackson about making it big on "Avenue Q" and his newest off-Broadway show, "ImaginOcean."

TheCelebrityCafe: Hey, John, how are you?

John Tartagalia: I'm fine...thank you for having me.

TCC: This is really a treat for me. It seems like I've known you all my life! Look John, I wanted to get you before you started your day. Let's talk!

JT: Ok!

TCC: So John where are you from?

JT: Before I came to New York some years ago, I lived with my parents in Pennsylvania.

TCC: It's almost like you didn't have a choice but to get involved with show business.

JT: You're right. Even though back in Pennsylvania where my parents raised me our community was a hard working community. My family was the only ones who were entertainers. My father was in show business, my mother was an actress, my mother's mother--my grandmother--was a singer.

TCC: Ok...so you have entertainment all in your blood.

JT: Yes I do. And I'm lucky to have that.

TCC: Not long ago you made a pledge with an organization called, "World Society For The Protection of Animals" (WSPA) - "Animals Matter To Me" a group that work towards protecting abused and abandoned animals. What's the story with that?

JT: Yeah...well last month in June I found out about "WSPA" and their fight against cruelty to animals. I wanted to do something. I had already adopted two rescued Cocker Spaniel dogs who are disabled and I named them Dora and Parker, and two cats named them Mia and Shanti. These animals are members of my family and we give them plenty of love and affection.

TCC: That's great!

JT: Yeah...I'm happy with them.

TCC: You got involved with show business at an early age. What year did you graduate from high school?

JT: I graduated in 1996, and you're right, I did start working in the industry kinda early in life. I traveled from South Jersey to New York to attend acting workshops and acting classes as a young teenager. But it was in 1994, I was 16 years old, when I read for the producers of Sesame Street. To my surprise not long after I received a call from them for me to return back to Sesame Street and I was hired as a puppeteer. That was amazing!

TCC: That is something because that show is an all time classic. I loved it. My children loved it, and I'm sure their children will love it as well! Ok...so how long were you on Sesame Street?

JT: I started working on that show part time at the age of 16 and when I reached 18 years old I was on board the show working full time along side Cookie Monster, Big Bird and Elmo. But yeah I was there for about 12 years and I was one of the youngest puppeteers to perform on the show.

TCC: Do you have any superstitions?

JT: Let's see how can I put this...uhhh...ok! Whenever I go into a theatre I never worked in I always kind of speak to the spirits in the house. I am very superstitious when it comes to spirits and ghosts of the theatre. I've gotten to work in a lot of different types of theatres where there's traditions about ghosts being present and how certain ways I'm suppose to approach the theatre. So whenever I close a show I've always gone around the stage and give thanks. I know it sounds cheesy but I realize the history being there and how many performances that has been there. The other thing is... "hope you break a leg thing" for good luck on the opening night of a show... that's another thing I play into; its just the little things like that. So, yeah, I have a few things that I am superstitious about.

TCC: After work when you get home, you get comfortable, you play with Dora or Shanti, what do you watch on television?

JT: You know what, that's funny because my schedule is so crazy I don't get to watch a lot of TV shows and some of my friends try to get me to watch "Mad Men" and I still haven't taken the time to do so but every now and then I'll get to watch "True Blood" or something like that. For me I might just catch some bad reality show to watch because it doesn't take much mental capacity whatsoever to get into and I also watch--even though everybody makes fun of me for it--I love to watch "The Golden Girls"... always! It's great writing, it's funny and it's dependable! I'm sure most people would want me to say that I watch "Two and A Half Men" or something like that. Flatly no! It's "The Golden Girls" and "Jersey Shore" [laughs].

TCC: What is your choice of beverage coffee, tea, orange juice, or soda?

JT: Coffee for sure! I used to work for Starbucks when I first moved into the city. I got with Starbucks back in 1996 as they were working on becoming what they are now.

TCC: We always read or hear about celebrity kids who have made bad choices in life, who went down the wrong road and don't get to enjoy the happy endings in their careers. How did you manage to avoid all the entrapments that celebrity kid stars seem to get caught up in during the height of their fame?

JT: I think I was lucky because I was prepared for it. My mother and my father were in show business from the time I was born. I was basically prepared for this and I was groomed from the very beginning. I had family around me who had the best intentions for me. Coming up I had a sense of thankfulness, awareness and a sense of appreciation. Actually I didn't experience fame really until I was involved with "Avenue Q" and I was 26 years old at that time. So I had the time to become well grounded.

Now when you get to work behind the scenes on "Sesame Street" as a puppeteer it's incredible to be able to say you do. But when you're walking down the street nobody recognizes you because they never get to see your face. So even though I knew I was working on the number one kid show of all time and working with all these celebrities and all this kind of stuff... so in that world I guess you can say I had achieved something quite amazing but no one knew that. So I had a lot of time to prepare for and understand what fame really means, what it is and what it's not. I think a lot of people in this business don't have that understanding and they are spoiled, frankly, and they don't really know how lucky they are. I see some of these 19, 20 year olds who are these huge movie stars or huge TV stars and they have no idea how things work and how the reality of things are.

Like I said I was lucky enough to have family around me that are really amazing people who kept me grounded. My mom being an actress... there were so many times when she would advise me about many things about this business and I am very happy that I experienced fame later in my career and not so young. But who knows how I would have turned out if fame came to me at 8 years old. You just don't know! I think with these kids... when you don't have to worry about paying your rent or never worry about putting food in your mouth, I think you don't have any respect for what you have from being famous.

TCC: Tell me about "Avenue Q."

JT: Well... the show came out about through Jeff Marx, who is one of the composers of the show, and he had an internship at Sesame Street. When I was there I kinda knew who he was but at the time we really didn't have any direct interactions and I would see him around the set. When Jeff left Sesame Street he got together with another friend, Robert Lopez. Since they had this love for the Muppets on Sesame Street they joined together to create the show, write it's music and lyrics. "Avenue Q" is basically about a coming-of-age parable addressing and satirizing the issues and anxieties associated with entering adulthood. One of the main puppets is Princeton, a recent college graduate who is anxious to discover his purpose in life. At this point if I remember correctly Jeff and Robert were around 20 years old. When I first got involved with "Avenue Q" it was first being worked on to be a TV show but producers suggested that this project should be made for theatre. So I was known for my work as a puppeteer and as a theatre actor, so I was asked to read for the show and that's how I got attached.

TCC: When you first received a nomination for an award what was it for and how did you feel about being nominated?

JT: Oh wow... man! I was 25 years old and it was my first nomination for my work in "Avenue Q". It was actually the Tony Awards. Look...when you're in a show especially a new show when there is so much going on around it you're in a little bit of a bubble. I'm a big believer that you can't believe what you read about yourself. That's the most tragic thing anyone can do is to believe their own hype or believe their own press, you know, so there were a lot of people around me who in their very own loving way were saying... your gonna get nominated, your gonna win all these things. I remember me being excited because all of a sudden I was in the position to where it can happen. Listen...we were a little show with puppets in it with seven actors on a very basic stage in a little theatre and we all thought that maybe we would be acknowledged for best musical but that was it! But to actually wake up the next morning to the nominations being announced and to be able to say that I was a Tony Award nominee is a life changer.

My mom said it best when she said "Listen, you may not win, this may not happen again, this may be your highlight of your career but you will always be able to say to the day you die that you are a Tony Award nominee." And so that is really what kind of sunk it in so when people ask the question was I upset that I didn't win, but I am so happy that she said that because I walked into the awards that night being so happy and so proud that I was there more than hoping that I would win. I had a true sense of respect for that! And the same thing happened when I got nominated for my Emmy Award. So you know it's really amazing! That nomination for "Avenue Q" kinda spiraled into a lot of other wonderful awards. Sometimes you wanna pinch yourself and say, "did that really happen"?

TCC: Sounds like you put a lot into this show. Ok so let me ask you this... when working on a project do you create from a writer's perspective or from the mindset of a producer?

JT: Yeah it is amazing! Well the main thing about being a producer is that I can say we can't do this but we can do that! I can figure out how far I can take it as I'm writing it. I write form both perspectives. I believe that if I write or create or whatever I do from the right place or with the right heart with the right intentions then the right thing will come out. I want to make sure that I am serving what is in my head as a writer and also be aware of what I have to do as a producer so I am not writing a 4 million dollar show that is way off from my projected budget.

TCC: Where do you see yourself in five years?

JT: That's funny... that's such a hard question! People always ask me what I dream of and I always say that I don't necessarily want to be a huge movie star. I don't necessarily want to be a huge TV star or theatre star; I just want to work. I think the place I am in right now I am truly thankful for is that I get to create things.

With "Avenue Q" I was able to create humor for adults and because of my work with "Johnny and The Sprites" I was able to do something for kids and family. I think I wanna keep, whether performing or creating, putting out really good quality work. I don't know... I think it's something wonderful to hopefully be able to look back if I reach ninety years old to say wow! I'm really proud of some of the work I have contributed to the world! I hope I'm in the position to be able to create more great stuff and still make a difference... and that's what we should all aim for: to make a difference in some form or way.

TCC: Have you done any work in Hollywood?

JT: Not really. I've done some small things out there but not as much as I like. I'm New York based so most my stuff is here. The closest was in Las Vegas when I opened "Avenue Q" there for four months. That was fun! But I would like to do some work out there in Los Angeles.

TCC: I understand you have a new show called "ImaginOcean" a puppet show for children between the ages of 2 and 105 years old. And "ImaginOcean" is about fish. Not any kind of fish... but glow-in-the-dark fish. Am I right?

JT: 105...ha! You got it right!

TCC: How did you come up with the idea for "ImaginOcean"?

JT: Well I was on vacation enjoying the beautiful clear waters in St. John. As I was watching the fish play amongst themselves in the water ideas started popping in my head about the fish. I was like, well, what if I was to give these fish names, personalities and make them glow in the dark... would that be entertaining? So I worked on the idea until I came up with something strong and real and "ImaginOcean" was created and now it's on Broadway.

TCC: Interesting! Now, I've heard you say that "ImaginOcean" is absolutely magical.

JT: Absolutely! "ImaginOcean" is a one of a kind interactive show. It's amazing!

TCC: Is that right. Ok, so tell me about it?

JT: "ImaginOcean" is a magical, musical undersea adventure for kids of all ages. My main characters, Bubbles, Tank, and Dorsal, are three best friends who happen to be fish. These fish glow in the dark. They set out on a remarkable journey of discovery. The thing is their journey starts with a treasure map as they swim off in the deep waters to search for clues. They are so entertaining. They sing, they dance and along the way they make new friends. It's amazing.

TCC: Interesting. It sounds like a lot of fun! So how do the puppeteers and the puppets interact with each other on stage?

JT: It's really a huge trust show. One of the things we were really careful about when we cast the show was casting puppeteers who had a certain attitude. We watched very carefully at the auditions how people worked together. We also had people go through several different physical exercises with one another to see if they could develop that trust factor. It can be a little scary because basically you're standing up there on a black stage in total blackness and you're in black and they really can't see each other and their movements give the effects that the puppets are floating in mid-air. So much of it is about the puppeteers trusting each other to know that everybody will be on their mark at the right time so they don't trip over somebody and fall. So it's a lot of team building and trust building that is vital to the show as the puppeteers communicate by tapping each other when it's time to receive or pass a glowing puppet. It takes a lot of concentration to get used to. The audiences love it. The show is really going well! It's amazing!

TCC: Where did the first show premiere?

JT: We did our first preview on March 17th on off-Broadway and then we opened March 31, 2010. We were lucky... it's like this is one of the only shows I have ever worked on where the first preview, you know, which is the test period was what it was on opening night. Now you use your previews to see if you need to change things like the actor's scenes or to change a song or to change a costume or something like that and our preview and opening night went very well! Everyone was nervous but we came together and we totally pulled it off. We are very proud of this show. It was created to entertain the kids and their parents. Believe me Jackson...the whole family will go home with a smile!

TCC: Sounds great! Where on off-Broadway is this show?

JT: You and the family can catch the show at New World Stages/Stage 5, 340 West 50th Street between 8th and 9th Avenue New York, NY, 10019. So come down, I guarantee you and the kids will have a wonderful time!

TCC: John Tartaglia... I truly had a blast with you today and I look forward to seeing your show!

Steven Jackson started writing screenplays while practicing as a licensed real estate broker. Prior to becoming an author, he ventured into acting landing work with Universal City Studio's production of "Friday Night Lights" directed by Peter Berg and Roland Emerich's "Day After Tomorrow."

Corrections: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Mr. Tartaglia moved to New York from South Jersey when he moved there from Pennsylvania; that he came up with "ImaginOcean" in Jamaica when it was in St. John; that "ImaginOcean" is on Broadway when it's off-Broadway; and that he adopted his pets when he joined WSPA when he had already adopted them prior to joining WSPA.