Written and Composed by Josh Gross
Directed by Katy Curtis and Alyssa Marie Mathews
Cast:
Forest Gilpin ……………………………John Lagrasse
Alex Giorgi…………..Burt the Shoggoth / Cthulhu
Alyssa Marie Mathews ………..Francine Thurston
Hunter Prutch……Captain Collins / Henry Wilcox
Jake Raiter …………………Jenkins / George Angell
Music performed by Josh Gross (drums), Daniel King (bass guitar), and Joel Tefteller (electric guitar)
Projection Design and Sound Design by Aubry Hollingshead
Lighting Design by Mads Hamilton
Puppets made by Brooke Sharpe
Photography by Matt Honnies
Katy Curtis – Director
Originally from Arcata, California, Katy Curtis moved to Southern Oregon in 2012, attending SOU for her theater performance education. This is where her hand held its first puppet, and the rest is history…. After performing in two Puppeteers For Fears shows and directing two more, “Cthulhu: The Musical!” will be her fifth production with the company . When she isn’t working with these talented weirdos, she enjoys writing music and learning the piano while the cutest dog in the world is curled up nearby.
Forest Gilpin – Puppeteer (John Lagrasse)
What does he want? Where did he come from? No one knows when Forest exactly joined the group, a spectral outline theorized to be Forest can be seen in the background of Puppeteers photos dating back to 1846. His First recorded physical manifestation was in 2018 Cthulhu Tour and He’s been Haunting the Productions of Puppeteers For Fears ever since, murmuring poorly conceived Jokes and bits to induce minor bouts of madness, despair and anger. “Ang-er? I Hardly know ‘er”
He’d combat Cthulhu by explaining the Man Made horrors we’ve already designed without him, kinda making him obsolete in this modern era.
Alex Giorgi – Puppeteer(Burt The Shoggoth/Cthulhu)
Alex was once a normal college student who went to Southern Oregon University in Ashland to study Theater. He grew up in the Portland (OR) area and had a history of messing around with the dark magic known as puppetry in the past. So one day, while in college, his curiosity led him to see a previous run of Cthulhu: The Musical. From the moment he saw that show, he was forever changed. He must wield this dark power, he thought to himself. After he performed in a few shows at the Oregon Center for the Arts and graduated with a BFA in theater, he soon found himself performing in his first PFF show: Cattle Mutilation The Musical. Rumor has it that he moved back to Portland afterwards, but he has not been seen since… Until now.
He has returned and joined forces with Cthulhu. Now, he may actually be unstoppable.
Josh Gross – Playwright/Musician(drummer)
Known loudmouth and ukulele hooligan. Don’t feed after midnight. Also, he wrote the show.
Mads Hamilton – Lighting Designer
Mads is a recently graduated stage manager and designer who years ago found themselves transplanting from Sacramento to Ashland to pursue their BFA in Theatre Arts, and has since continued their work in many theaters in the Southern Oregon area in varying technical roles. They previously appeared as a sound engineer alternate on the 2018 tour of Cthulhu and was absolutely lit up (ha!) when they received the call to action to join forces against the unruly old one once again. Having already made the insane choice to pursue theatre as a career, Mads is unafraid of Cthulhu’s rumored madness, and thinks they actually might have him beat. They are also personally familiar with the burning sensation in the retinas caused by looking directly into stage lights, and are confident they’ll be able to catch and blind Cthulhu in the spotlight he’s been seeking.
Aubry Hollingshead – Projection Designer / Sound Designer
Aubry has been with PFF since the dawn of PFF — first wielding a box cutter to craft cardboard-on-stick props for the inaugural Halloween show in 2015, then computering a computer to design digital projections and run sound for every show since. She also designed that logo on your shirt (…wait, did you *not* get a PFF shirt yet?) and dubbed the operation Puppeteers for Fears (narrowly overtaking the contending name suggestion, Hand-in-Butt Theatre). Aubry has been involved with every production of “Cthulhu: the Musical!”, which means every hard drive she owns is riddled with Lovecraftian imagery and her tech is now exclusively powered by nightmares. So if anything goes wonk during the show, blame old man Cthulhu and his psychic temper tantrums.
Daniel King – Musician (Bass Guitar)
Though Dan’s hands don’t have the pleasure of being inserted into puppet rectums to fight ancient demons, they do know a thing or two about fingering. Honing their skills at Hendershott School of Guitar in Grants Pass, OR beginning in 2003 and graduating a few years later, these fingers went on to pluck guitar and bass strings in a variety of genres and bands, most notably and recently for The Elephant and Casey & the Cut Offs in Ashland, OR. When these fingers aren’t thumpking bass strings for Puppeteers for Fears, they can be found gripping bike handlebars, lifting perspiring glasses, and clenching into fists to keep evil, green octopus-dragons out of Denver, Colorado.
Alyssa Marie Mathews – Assistant Director/Puppeteer(Francine Thurston)
This is actually Alyssa’s 4th time being in Cthulhu: The Musical, and they say the 4th time’s a charm, right? That, or she’s just slowly going more insane as the years go on….. She is a long-time member of PFF, being involved in every show except one since 2016. The resume is too long to list, so she’s not gonna try. Being decently obsessed with puppetry, she holds a Masters degree in Puppet Arts at the University of Connecticut(yes, that really exists) and a BFA in Acting at Southern Oregon University. She currently resides in Portland, Oregon and uses any and all art tools to keep up her defenses against the nightmares Cthulhu brings.
Hunter Prutch – Puppeteer(Captain Collins/Henry Wilcox)
Hunter Prutch is a Pacific Northwest native that found his way to Ashland, Oregon for his college career. During that time he studied and received a BFA in Performing arts from Southern Oregon University. It was while treading through those treacherous waters that he was shown the eldritch horror that was Puppeteer for Fears. Since then he has been getting dragged further and further into rabbit hole having performed in other PFF productions such as: Robopocalypse, The Musical!, Cattle Mutilation, The Musical!, and the Cabaret at the end of the world! You can find him scrawling eldritch runes on the inside of the puppet box, while playing dungeons and dragons, and laughing at his own jokes.
Jake Raiter – Puppeteer(Jenkins/George Angell)
This is Jake’s second tour with PFF, officially making him a puppet harlot. He first witnessed the mind-bending horrors of Cthulhu while attending the Oregon Center for the Arts in Ashland, OR, and all his BFA in Performance Arts taught him is that nothing can stop that handsome devil. If he survives this campaign and manages to retain his sanity, he’ll be heading to the East Coast and attending Mary Baldwin University’s Shakespeare and Performance Graduate program. Fortunately he’s learned Cthulhu is susceptible to a deep-tissue massage and a bluesy harmonica, so he thinks he has a solid chance of survival.
Joel Tefteller – Musician (Electric Guitar)
Hi my name is Joel and I live under a bridge in Ashland OR. I’ve been writing/recording songs for nearly twenty years and have to play my guitar annoyingly loud to keep the local newts and crawdads from stealing my potatoes. If I’m not masquerading around performing music as The Elephant, I can be found skulking around Garfield Park searching for the hidden entrance to the lost City of Lasagna…I haven’t found it yet…but it’s out there! Please fax me if you have any info.