For this year´s Family Show, Finding Nemo, Parkland High School will have a new feature in its theatrical production: puppets! The actors playing Nemo, Marlin, and Dory will not be wearing fish costumes, as they have been provided with custom puppets made by a local puppeteer: Angel D’Andria.

D’Andria began making puppets while she was in high school after she wanted to create a replica of Niki from Avenue Q. “When it comes to puppets a big part of it is enjoyable just to kind of take something that is just a material and bringing it to life. Make it blink. Make it move. That is fun for me,” D’Andria said.

Her first time making puppets for community theater was in February 2024, when made puppets for Into the Woods for Munopco. This fall, she crafted the fish puppets that will grace Parkland’s stage.

“I had a lot of fun recreating the original characters,” said D’Andria. “A lot of what was put into that was a lot of molding, a lot of researching, a lot of using different materials.” 

D’Andria described some of the challenges that came with making the puppets, noting that “there are so many fish and a lot of the process is repetitive doing the same thing for each fish and just doing it over and over again for how many months I have been at this.” Additionally, financial costs of making the puppets themselves are not cheap, as D’Andria has spent in excess of $1000 in order to craft the puppets.

 In spite of these challenges, her passion for this role is clear. “It was really fun. I really enjoyed bringing these beloved characters to life, D’Andria said. “I really loved seeing the high schoolers really take these puppets and run with it. It is really great just seeing the cast members enjoy the puppets. I find that’s just as enjoyable as seeing an audience enjoy them.

The actors themselves are going to be holding their puppets for the entirety of the show. “They can and just kind of using the puppets as a vessel to put their talent,” D’Andria said.

The cast is enthused about getting to use their puppets. “I think it will be a lot of fun,” said Halle Colabroy-Whitmire (10), who is casted as Dory in the upcoming play. “It will be cool to figure out how to use it in a different way to extend our character.”

Make sure to see the puppets in action from November 15th to November 17th at Parkland High School!