Rick Lyon

2025-06-22T05:34:42Z

2603:8000:2700:8A:38BF:DC4B:C9BC:710A:

{{Short description|American puppeteer (born 1958)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Distinguish|Nick Lyon}}
{{Infobox person 
| name = Rick Lyon
| image = Avenue Q Nicky.jpg
| imagesize = 150px
| caption = Lyon, performing the ''[[Avenue Q]]'' character Nicky, during a performance in 2006
| birth_name = Richard S. Lyon
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|mf=y|1958|02|25}}
| birth_place = [[Rochester, New York]]
| years_active = 1987–present
| education = * [[Penn State University]]
| occupation = Puppeteer, puppet designer, actor, puppet builder
| website = [http://www.lyonpuppets.com/ www.lyonpuppets.com]
| awards =
}}
'''Richard S. Lyon''' (born February 25, 1958) is an American [[puppeteer]], actor, and [[puppet designer]] and builder.<ref name="bio">{{cite web |url= http://www.lyonpuppets.com/page4.html
|title= Rick Lyon Bio|last1= Lyon|first1= Rick|date= |publisher= |accessdate=January 22, 2010}}</ref> He has worked for [[The Jim Henson Company]] as one of the operators of [[Big Bird]].<ref name="playbill">{{cite web |url= http://www.playbill.com/celebritybuzz/article/87899-PLAYBILL-ON-LINES-BRIEF-ENCOUNTER-with-Rick-Lyon|title= Playbill On-Line's Brief Encounter with Rick Lyon|last1= Hernandez|first1= Ernio|date=August 24, 2004 |work= Playbill|accessdate=January 22, 2010}}</ref> He appeared on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] originating the roles of [[Trekkie Monster]], [[Nicky (Avenue Q)|Nicky]], the blue Bad Idea Bear, and other characters in the [[Tony Award]]-winning musical ''[[Avenue Q]]'', a musical for which he designed and created all of the puppets. In the fall of 2005 he reprised his roles in the production of the show in [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]] for eight months before returning to the Broadway cast. Rick was a puppeteer on [[Sesame Street]] for 15 seasons, from 1987 to 2002. He also worked with Nickelodeon on the [[Stick Stickly]] project and on the ''Me + My Friends'' pilot. He was a lead puppeteer for the first season of [[Comedy Central]]'s television program ''[[Crank Yankers]]''.<ref name=resume>{{cite web |url= http://www.lyonpuppets.com/page5.html|title= Rick Lyon resume|last1= Lyon|first1= Rick|date= |publisher= |accessdate=January 22, 2010}}</ref><ref name=imdb>{{cite web |url= https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0528975/|title= Rick Lyon|date= |publisher= IMDb|accessdate=January 22, 2010}}</ref> Rick has also appeared numerous times on ''[[The Late Show with Stephen Colbert]]'', for which he also provided the puppets he performed. Rick puppeteered a xenomorph chest burster in an "Alien" parody sketch with guest star [[Sigourney Weaver]], and [[Yoda]], [[Kermit the Frog]], and [[Big Bird]] in satirical sketches, a pair of singing pants, and the Number Two. He also performed the [[Kukla, Fran, and Ollie]]-inspired puppets for the black and white throwback clip on the "15th Episode Anniversary Show" of ''[[At Home with Amy Sedaris]]''.

Lyon's company, The Lyon Puppets,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lyonpuppets.com|title=Puppets -- Rick Lyon and The Lyon Puppets|publisher=|accessdate=October 28, 2016}}</ref> maintains a large permanent workshop outside New York City in [[New Jersey]]. In addition to building all of the Broadway and Las Vegas ''Avenue Q'' puppets, the company has built puppets for the original [[West End theatre|West End]] production of ''Avenue Q'' in London, the US national tour, and international productions in Brazil, Mexico, Australia, [[Switzerland]], Germany, France, and China. Rick frequently coaches actors in puppetry for productions of ''Avenue Q'' for which he provides puppets. He also directed a production of ''Avenue Q'' at Smithtown PAC.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Giordano |first1=Melissa |title=BWW Reviews: AVENUE Q at Smithtown PAC - Still Fulfilling Its Purpose |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/long-island/article/BWW-Reviews-AVENUE-Q-at-Smithtown-PAC-Still-Fulfilling-Its-Purpose-20120419 |website=BroadwayWorld |accessdate=July 4, 2020}}</ref>

He studied theater at [[Penn State University]] and [[puppet]]ry at the Institute of Professional Puppetry Arts in [[Connecticut]] and the Institut International de la Marionnette in France.<ref name=bio/>

==Puppeteering credits==
* ''[[Sesame Street]]'' - television
* ''[[Crank Yankers]]'' - television
* ''[[Bear in the Big Blue House]]'' - television
* ''[[Avenue Q]]'' - [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]
* ''[[Muppet*Vision 3D]]'' - film attraction at [[Disney's Hollywood Studios]]
* ''[[The Book of Pooh]]'' - television
* ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze]]'' - film
* ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III]]'' - film
* ''[[The Neverending Story III]]'' - film
* ''[[Men in Black (1997 film)|Men in Black]]'' - film
* ''[[Gullah Gullah Island#Production|Binyah Binyah!]]'' - television
* ''[[The Backyardigans#Production|Me and My Friends]]'' - television<ref>{{cite web|
title=ME AND MY FRIENDS A Nickelodeon Pilot|url=http://www.lyonpuppets.com/meercats.html|website=lyonpuppets.com|accessdate=March 7, 2016}}</ref>
* ''[[The Late Show With Stephen Colbert]]'' - television
* ''[[At Home with Amy Sedaris]]'' - television

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0528975}}
* [http://www.lyonpuppets.com/ Lyon Puppets]
* [http://www.facebook.com/ricklyonpuppets/ Lyon Puppets Facebook Page]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyon, Rick}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American puppeteers]]
[[Category:American male stage actors]]
[[Category:Penn State College of Arts and Architecture alumni]]
[[Category:Artists from Rochester, New York]]
[[Category:1958 births]]

{{US-theat-actor-stub}}

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Rick Lyon