October 1 – November 1, 2026
In This Program
- About the Show
- A Welcome from the Artistic Director
- Themes and Content Guidance
- Cast and Creative
- The History & Process behind Leonardo!
- Print Edition
- More About Seattle Children’s Theatre
About the Show
Seattle Children’s Theatre is grateful to our community and those who made this production of Leonardo! A Wonderful Show about a Terrible Monster possible.
2026–27 Supporting Season Sponsors:
4Culture
The Shubert Foundation
ArtsFund
Microsoft
Leonardo! A Wonderful Show about a Terrible Monster
OCT 1 – NOV 1, 2026
Created by Manual Cinema
Inspired by the Books Leonardo, The Terrible Monster & Sam,
The Most Scaredy-Cat Kid in the Whole World by Mo Willems
Commissioned by The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts
with additional commissioning support from Utah Presents
CAST
Kerry, Puppeteer Leah Casey (OCT 1–OCT 8)
Kerry, Puppeteer Sharaina Latrice Turnage (OCT 9–NOV 1)
Narrator, Character Voices, Vocals Lily Emerson
Sam, Puppeteer Julia Miller (OCT 1–OCT 4)
Sam, Puppeteer Hannah Rhode (OCT 6–NOV 1)
Leonardo, Puppeteer Kevin Michael Wesson
CREATIVE
Director Sarah Fornace
Adaptation Sarah Fornace & Drew Dir
Devised by Drew Dir, Sarah Forance and Julia Miller with Leah Casey, Lily Emerson and Lindsey Noel Whiting
Music, Lyrics & Sound Design Ben Kauffman and Kyle Vegter
2D Paper Puppet and Prop Design Drew Dir
Hand and Rod Puppet Design Lizi Breit
Costume & Wig Design Mieka Van Der Ploeg
Lighting Design Trey Brazeal with Nick Chamernik
Dramaturgy Megan Alrutz
Stage Manager and Board Operator Maydi Díaz and Arden Deforest
Sound Engineers Ben Kauffman and Kyle Vegter
Technical Director for Original Production Mike Usrey
Special Thanks to David Kilpatrick, Chicago Children’s Theater, and Laura Colby
Photo and video capture of any kind (including your mobile device) is prohibited during this performance.*Actors Equity Association Member
^United Scene Artists Member, Local 829
**Stage Directors and Choreographers Society Member
A Welcome from the Artistic Director
Johamy Morales
Welcome to Seattle Children’s Theatre’s 52nd Season! I am thrilled to begin this journey with you. This season, we gather around a single, resonant idea: Home. Not simply a place with walls and windows, but a question, a journey, a memory, and a promise. Home can be where we are known, where we discover who we are, and where we find the courage to become who we are meant to be.
We begin our season with a company I have long admired and a story I absolutely adore: Manual Cinema’s Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster, based on the beloved book by Mo Willems. Leonardo is a monster who is terrible at being terrible. He tries desperately to become the kind of monster he believes he is supposed to be, only to discover that perhaps he was never meant to fit that mold in the first place. What he finds instead is friendship and, ultimately, the freedom to be himself.
That journey feels especially meaningful to me. So much of growing up is about figuring out who we are while also feeling the pressure to become who we think others expect us to be. We experience big emotions, we make mistakes, we struggle to belong, and sometimes we wonder if there is something wrong with us when we don’t quite fit. Leonardo reminds us that there is nothing wrong with being different. Sometimes, our differences are where our greatest gifts begin.
As our season continues, we will explore that question in many different ways. Our world premiere I’ll Be Your Superhero, part of SCT’s Good Human Cycle, reminds us that sometimes our greatest superpower is caring for others. And later, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom: The Holiday Show will bring a beloved children’s book to our stage with a joyful holiday celebration for the whole family.
The universe is vast, filled with many worlds, many stories, and many ways to belong. And through it all, there is one place we return to again and again: Home.
Thank you for making Seattle Children’s Theatre part of yours.
I can’t wait to see where this season takes us,
Johamy Morales
Artistic Director
Themes and Content Guidance
IMAGES BY MANUAL CINEMA, CHARACTER © MO WILLEMS
Friendship Friends come in various shapes and sizes. Some are tough, some are kind, some are funny, and sometimes, are very different from us. Leonardo! A Wonderful Show about a Terrible Monster shows audiences that the best of friends are not just someone who likes all the same stuff as us, but someone who is distinct and special in their own way. The play teaches audiences that while finding friends can be scary, it is wonderful when we make one.
Belonging It can be hard to feel like you belong. Feeling like you do not fit in or are on the outside is not fun for anyone. In Leonardo! A Wonderful Show about a Terrible Monster, audiences learn how when we take the time to understand one another, we create a safe space that can bring people together and ensure that everybody has a place where they belong.
Courage What does it mean to have courage? In Leonardo! A Wonderful Show about a Terrible Monster, the characters discover that having courage means many things – choosing kindness, making your own way, finding friends, and trying new things. The story teaches audiences that courage is something that lives inside all of us, and we have the power to use it.
Choice Choosing Kindness In Leonardo! A Wonderful Show about a Terrible Monster, Leonardo struggles to be a scary monster. Because of this, the other monsters make him feel out-of-place and like he does not fit in. Only when Leonardo chooses to be kind and supportive to Sam does he discover something wonderful. The play teaches audiences that when we choose to be kind, we can make others and ourselves feel seen, welcome, and at home.
Content Guidance
This production allows audiences to see behind the scenes magic as the actors use several different methods to tell the story. This includes projections, live music, live video, and shadow puppetry that may look somewhat spooky but is framed in a humorous context. Some characters engage in teasing language, and there is one moment of audience engagement where the performers prompt the audience to answer a question. The answers are used in performance.
Cast and Creative
THE CREATIVE TEAM
MEGAN ALRUTZ (Dramaturg) is an artist, educator, and scholar with over 20 years of experience in theatre, media, and interdisciplinary performance for youth and families. Megan is a long-time collaborator of author/illustrator Mo Willems, working as producer, dramaturg, and/or director on his musicals, interactive engagements, and other live and televised performance work. She is professor and associate chair of Theatre & Dance at the University of Texas at Austin.
TREY BRAZEAL (Lighting Designer) is happy to be working with Manual Cinema on Leonardo! and thanks Drew and Sarah for this wonderful opportunity! Some of his credits include: The Illusion, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Sweat, & Guys and Doll (Illinois State University); This Wide Night (Shattered Globe Theatre and Interrobang Theatre Project); Little Shop of Horrors (Metropolis Performing Arts Center).
LIZI BREIT (Hand and Rod Puppet Design) is a Chicago-based artist. She has been performing and designing with Manual Cinema since 2011.
NICK CHAMERNIK (Assistant Lighting Designer) is a Chicago-based lighting designer, production electrician, and theatre technician, and is thrilled to be working with Manual Cinema on their incredible production of Leonardo!. He has also worked with Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Porchlight Music Theatre, Apollo Theater Chicago, The Marriott Theatre, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.
ARDEN DeFOREST (Stage Manager OCT 18) he/him – is a stage manager and certified intimacy director born and raised in Seattle. He recently completed the WHPATP program at Seattle Rep as a stage management apprentice. His stage management credits include Two Gentlemen of Verona (Seattle Shakespeare Company), The Play That Goes Wrong, Come From Away, Mary Jane, Lost Girl (Seattle Rep), and References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot (Sound Theatre Company). When not in the theatre, you can find him baking, listening to podcasts, or bullet journaling.
MAYDI DÍAZ (Stage Manager and Board Operator) is a Chicago based stage manager. Since completing a BA in Arts Management from Columbia College Chicago and a MA in Theatre Production from the National University of Ireland Galway, Maydi has worked on multiple areas of technical theater. Her stage management credits include Caucasian Chalk Circle (Mick Lally Theatre), Back In The Day (UrbanTheater Company), The Delicate Tears of the Waning Moon and La Peor de Todas (Water People Theater), Kiev (Aguijón Theater Co), and various shows with PlayMaker’s Laboratory. When she’s not at the theater, you can find Maydi folk dancing or doing calligraphy.
DREW DIR (2D Puppet Design, Storyboards, Adaptation, Co-Deviser, MC Co-Artistic Director) is a writer, director, and puppet designer. Previously, he served as the Resident Dramaturg of Court Theatre and a lecturer in theater and performance studies at the University of Chicago. He holds a masters’ degree in Text and Performance Studies from King’s College London and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
SARAH FORNACE (Director, Adaptation, Co-Deviser, MC Co-Artistic Director) is a director, puppeteer, choreographer, and narrative designer based in Chicago. She is a co-Artistic Director of Manual Cinema. Outside of Manual Cinema, Sarah has worked as a performer or choreographer with Redmoon Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Court Theatre, Steppenwolf Garage, and Blair Thomas and Co. Most recently, Sarah wrote the story mode for the video game Rivals of Aether. In 2017, she directed and edited the first episode of the web series, The Doula is IN. In 2016, she directed and devised an “animotion” production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet with Rokoko Studios for HamletScen at Kromborg Castle in Elsinore, Denmark.
BEN KAUFFMAN (Music, Lyrics, and Sound Design, Co-Deviser, MC Co-Artistic Director) is a Chicago-based composer, director, interactive media artist and co-Artistic Director of Manual Cinema. His film and interactive work has been shown at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion (Chicago), the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum (Chicago), the University of Wisconsin and CUNY’s Baruch College (NYC). He has lectured at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s MediaLab, New York University and Parsons the New School of Design. His past composer credits with Manual Cinema include Ada/Ava, The End of TV and the New York Times documentary The Forger. He holds a Master’s degree from New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP).
KYLE VEGTER (Music, Lyrics, and Sound Design, MC Co-Artistic Director) is a composer, producer, sound designer, and Managing Artistic Director of Manual Cinema. As a composer of concert music he’s been commissioned by such groups as The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s MusicNOW series, The Pacific Northwest Ballet, and TIGUE. His music and sound design for theater and film has been performed worldwide and commissioned by the New York Times, NPR’s Invisibilia, Topic (First Look Media), the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, StoryCorps, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Poetry Foundation, Hubbard Street Dance, the O, Miami Poetry Festival, and others. His past Composer/ Sound Designer credits with Manual Cinema include Lula Del Ray, Ada/ Ava, FJORDS, Mementos Mori, The End of TV and various other performance and video projects. He has been an artist in residence at High Concept Laboratories, and co-founded Chicago’s only contemporary classical music cassette label Parlour Tapes+.
MO WILLEMS (Author) Mo Willems is an author, illustrator, animator, playwright, and the inaugural Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence, where he collaborates in creating fun new stuff involving classical music, opera, comedy concerts, dance, painting, and digital works with the National Symphony Orchestra, Ben Folds, Yo-Yo Ma, and others.
Willems is best known for his #1 New York Times bestselling picture books, which have been awarded three Caldecott Honors (Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Knuffle Bunny, Knuffle Bunny Too), two Theodor Geisel Medals, and five Geisel Honors (the Elephant & Piggie series).
Mo’s art has been exhibited around the world, including major solo retrospectives at the High Museum (Atlanta) and the New-York Historical Society (NYC). Over the last decade, Willems has become the most produced playwright of Theater for Young Audiences in America, having written or co-written four musicals based on his books.
He began his career as a writer and animator on PBS’ “Sesame Street,” where he garnered six Emmy Awards (writing). Other television work includes two series on Cartoon Network, “Sheep in the Big City” (creator + head writer) and “Codename: Kids Next Door” (head writer). Mo is creating new TV projects for HBOMax, where his live action-comedy special Don’t Let the Pigeon Do Storytime! currently streams.
His papers reside at Yale University’s Beinecke Library.
MIEKA VAN DER PLOEG (Wig and Costume Design) Theatre credits include designs with Steppenwolf, Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Soho Playhouse, Great Lakes Theater, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, American Players Theatre, Court Theater, People’s Light, Writers Theatre, Lyric Opera Unlimited, Lookingglass Theatre, Paramount Theatre, Marriott Theatre, Florentine Opera, Remy Bumppo, Second City, Chicago Children’s Theater, Redmoon, The Hypocrites, Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, About Face Theatre, Steep Theatre, Theater Wit, Theatre Squared, Albany Park Theater Project, Manual Cinema, and the Under the Radar Festival at The Public Theatre. She won a Joseph Jefferson award in 2020 for First Love is the Revolution, at Steep Theatre. She is a proud union member of both USA829 and IATSE Local 764.
Representation
Elsie Management
Laura Colby, President
Anna Amadei, Vice President
www.elsieman.org
TEL: 718 797 4577
THE CAST
LEAH CASEY (Kerry, Puppeteer, OCT 1–OCT 8) is a Chicago-based actress, dancer, and writer. When not on stage, she can be found lending her voice to all manner of audiobooks, or with the cast of Project STELLAR, a science fiction podcast about a group of crazy kids who have close encounters of the awesome kind. Chicago credits: Murder on the Orient Express, Grease, Cinderella (Drury Lane), A Christmas Carol (Writers Theatre/Manual Cinema), Leonardo and Sam (Chicago Children’s Theater/Manual Cinema), Frankenstein (Court Theatre/Manual Cinema), For Colored Girls… (Court Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Teatro Vista), STORM (Walkabout/Moonfool).
LILY EMERSON (Narrator, Character Voices, Vocals, Co-Deviser) is a multifaceted performer, producer, collaborator, and all-around creative weirdo. Lily is the co-creator of Adventure Sandwich, a Chicago-based group that produces family-friendly video, music, live performances and events. She served as the Artistic Director of Opera-Matic, an interdisciplinary arts organization that produces participatory art experiences in the parks, from 2018-2020. She is also the founder of Lucid Street Theatre, a performance collective that created original works from 2007-2011. Lily has performed throughout the US, Belarus, the Czech Republic, and France, and has been recognized with various awards and residencies, including the Lisa Dershin LinkUP Residency, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum’s Artist in Residence, and the Chicago Digital Media Production Fund. More information about Lily can be found at creative-weirdo.com.
JULIA MILLER (Sam, Puppeteer, OCT 1–OCT 4, Co-Deviser, MC Co-Artistic Director) is a director, puppeteer, and puppet designer. With Manual Cinema she has directed Mementos Mori and The End of TV as well as created original roles in The 4th Witch (Lead Witch), Frankenstein (The Creature/Elizabeth), Ada/Ava (Ada), Lula del Ray (Lula’s Mother), The Magic City (Helen), and Hansel und Gretel (Hansel). In Chicago, she has worked as a performer and puppeteer with Redmoon Theatre and Blair Thomas and Co. She spent several years training in devised theatre, clown and mask with Double Edge Theatre, Carlos García Estevez and at the Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy.
HANNAH RHODE (Sam, Puppeteer, OCT 6–NOV 1) she/they – is thrilled to be working with this incredible team! Recent credits: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth (Lakeside Shakespeare); Eelpout (Shattered Globe Theatre); Top Girls (Raven Theatre); and Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus (Redtwist Theatre). Hannah is a recent graduate of Roosevelt University and is represented by Stewart Talent.
SHARAINA LATRICE TURNAGE (Kerry, Puppeteer, OCT 9–NOV 1) is an actor, puppeteer, director, and clown from the Southwest Side of Chicago. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Theater Performance from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Sharaina’s work has taken her from Suriname, South America—where she was among the first North Americans to study and perform Afro-Surinamese “Du” Theatre—to Scotland’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Singapore’s Singapore International Festival of Arts. Her recent credits include Manual Cinema’s Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster, Free Street Theater’s Rupture/Repair, Chicago Children’s Theater’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Young People’s Theater’s The Hula Hoopin’ Queen (u/s), Second Site’s Beauty Project 2026, and Kerfuffle’s The Dinosaur of Lake Michigan. She also served as a shadow puppeteer for the 2021 film Candyman. Sharaina was part of the inaugural Chicago cohort of the Chicago International Puppet Lab and served as a panelist for Chicago’s first Black Puppeteer Symposium.
KEVIN MICHAEL WESSON (Leonardo Voice and Puppeteer) he/they – is a proudly unrepresented puppeteer/playwright based in Chicago; originally from Tampa, FL, he received a B.A. in theatre arts from the University of South Florida. Recent credits include: “Where we go together” or The Flashlight Play (Theatre Nobody), Dog or Cats; Augmented Body (Steppenwolf LOOKOUT), House of the Exquisite Corpse I-III (Rough House Theater), All is Blue & Yellow (Collective Summ), CHRISTMAS PAGEANT (Hot Kitchen Collective), Elements of Style (The Neo-Futurists), & The Dr. Seuss Experience (Kilburn Live). Currently, he’s an ensemble member with Stop Motion Plant, Theatre Nobody, & Theater Unspeakable.
Seattle Children’s Theatre is a member of TYA/USA, the national center of the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People.
SCT is a constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national service organization for the nonprofit professional theatre.
SCT is a proud member of International Performing Arts for Youth (IPAY).
ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION, founded in 1913, represents more than 45,000 actors and stage managers in the U.S. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Equity seeks to foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. www.actorsequity.org.
Lighting, sound, staging, property, scenery, scenic art, and costume work at Seattle Children’s Theatre is performed by employees represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists, and Allied Crafts of the US and Canada, AFL-CIO, CLC.
Seattle Children’s Theatre works with the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
The designers at this theatre are represented by United Scenic Artists (Local USA 829) of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
* Indicates members of the Actors’ Equity Association
The History & Process
behind Leonardo!
IMAGES BY MANUAL CINEMA, CHARACTER © MO WILLEMS
Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster is inspired by two books by author Mo Willems: Leonardo, the Terrible Monster and Sam, the Most Scaredy-Cat Kid in the Whole World. The production was created by Manual Cinema, a Chicago-based performance collective specializing in cinematic shadow puppetry and original music. Leonardo! was originally commissioned by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts through the Education Artist-in-Residency of Mo Willems.
Originally slated to open in early 2021, the world premiere production was canceled due to the pandemic; instead, Manual Cinema and the Kennedy Center pivoted to create Leo & Sam, an online paper-puppet movie inspired by Mo’s books, which was streamed on demand to families and schools through the Kennedy Center’s Digital Stage. Thanks to the support of author Mo Willems and the original Kennedy Center team, the live production received its long-awaited debut in 2022 at the Chicago Children’s Theater before moving to the New Victory Theater for its New York premiere.
Behind The Design
Puppetry This play uses many kinds of puppetry to bring the story to life.
As you watch, look for:
- 2D puppets, flat cut-out characters that move across the screen like
- pictures in motion.
- 3D puppets, hand-held characters brought to life by the puppeteers’ arms and hands.
- Shadow puppetry, where light, bodies, and objects create shapes, characters, and surprises with shadows.
Music In this play, music and sound help bring the story to life. As you watch,
listen for:
- Musical instruments, which create sounds, rhythms, and melodies throughout the show.
- Sound effects, the real or silly sounds actors use to help us imagine what is happening.
- Story music, music that helps the play feel like a certain place, time, or emotion.
Costume Design The actors wear different stuff to make them
look like the characters in the story. When you watch the play, look at:
- Clothes, fun clothes and items actors wear to help show what character they are.
- Hair, the wigs and hairstyles the actors put on their heads to look like a character.
Print Edition
More About Seattle Children’s Theatre
Seattle Children’s Theatre
SCT's Equity and Community Agreements
Land Acknowledgement
SCT's Board of Trustees
SCT's Staff
