Fraggle Rock Comes to Life at the Garde With Puppets, Music and a Search for the Celebration Stone
Fraggle Rock Comes to Life at the Garde With Puppets, Music and a Search for the Celebration Stone Sunday, Oct. 11, when Jim Henson’s colorful underground world takes over New London’s historic theater for the first live touring musical in the franchise’s history.
For parents who grew up singing “dance your cares away,” this one carries a considerable dose of nostalgia.
But Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock LIVE isn’t simply a stage recreation of the 1980s television series. It’s a new theatrical production built around the Emmy-winning revival Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, combining classic characters and songs with newer music, elaborate puppetry and a new story created specifically for the stage.
And the Fraggles aren’t arriving alone.
The Garde is turning the afternoon into a larger family event, with free pre-show activities beginning at 2 p.m., an hour before the curtain rises.
The Search for the Celebration Stone
The live show’s story is called The Search for the Celebration Stone.
Gobo, Red, Mokey, Wembley and Boober learn of a legendary artifact known as the Celebration Stone, which promises to make possible the greatest party in Fraggle history.
Naturally, finding it isn’t quite that simple.
Their journey becomes a story about cooperation, friendship and community, ideas that have been embedded in Fraggle Rock since Jim Henson introduced the world to the characters more than four decades ago.
The production brings together familiar residents of the Fraggle universe including the Doozers, Marjory the Trash Heap, Junior Gorg, Philo and Gunge, Sprocket and Uncle Traveling Matt.
This Isn’t Actors Wearing Fraggle Costumes
One of the most interesting parts of the production is how seriously the Henson organization has approached bringing Fraggle Rock to the stage.
The puppets and costumes were created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, the workshop descended from the team responsible for generations of Henson characters and creature effects.
The production also uses puppeteers, scenic design, projections, lighting and theatrical effects to expand Fraggle Rock beyond the dimensions of a television screen.
Several voices will be particularly familiar to longtime fans.
Dave Goelz, whose association with Jim Henson stretches back more than 50 years, voices Boober Fraggle and Uncle Traveling Matt. Karen Prell returns as Red Fraggle. Donna Kimball voices Mokey, Jordan Lockhart voices Wembley, and John Tartaglia performs Gobo as well as several additional characters.
That provides an unusual bridge between generations of Fraggle Rock.
Kids can encounter the characters through the newer television series while adults in the audience are hearing performers connected directly to the original Henson era.
John Tartaglia Has Spent Much of His Life in Henson’s World
The man overseeing the production has a particularly interesting connection to puppetry.
John Tartaglia wrote, choreographed and directed the live show, in addition to performing Gobo, Architect Doozer, Sprocket and Gunge. He’s also Vice President of Development and Production for The Jim Henson Company and serves as creative supervisor of the Fraggle Rock franchise.
His career extends well beyond puppetry.
Tartaglia was an original cast member of Broadway’s Avenue Q, earning a Tony Award nomination, and originated Pinocchio in Shrek the Musical. He also created and starred in Disney Channel’s Johnny and the Sprites.
For Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, Tartaglia has served as executive producer, writer, puppet captain and performer.
In other words, the person responsible for translating Fraggle Rock from television to a touring theatrical production isn’t approaching the characters as borrowed intellectual property.
He’s one of the people responsible for their current lives.
The Music Connects Two Eras of Fraggle Rock
The show’s score does something similar.
There are 20 musical numbers across two acts, including songs familiar from the original series alongside music from the newer Back to the Rock era.
The original show’s unmistakable “Fraggle Rock Theme” opens the production.
The program also includes “Wemblin’ Fool,” “Doozer Marching Song,” “Pass It On,” “Follow Me,” “The Rock Goes On” and other songs drawing from the franchise’s musical history.
Newer material includes songs written by Harvey Mason Jr., Andrew Hey and Sam Ramirez, while the classic material comes from Philip Balsam and Dennis Lee.
There is one brief intermission.
A Broadway-Level Creative Team Builds Fraggle Rock
The production also has some substantial theatrical talent behind the puppets.
Scenic designer Anna Louizos was a three-time Tony Award nominee whose Broadway credits included In the Heights. Rob Denton designed the lighting, Katherine Freer created the video design and Josh Liebert handled sound.
The production is presented by Heather Henson and The Jim Henson Company, with puppets and costumes created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.
The 2026 tour launched Sept. 18 in Wisconsin and is scheduled for more than 40 stops around the country. New London lands in the middle of that national run, following performances in New Hampshire and before the production heads to Pennsylvania.
Come an Hour Early
The Garde is making considerably more out of the afternoon than simply opening the doors.
Beginning at 2 p.m., families can explore free activities throughout the theater’s historic lobbies.
The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at UConn will introduce children to puppetry. The Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra will host an instrument petting zoo, giving kids a chance to explore musical instruments.
The Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center will bring a live-animal petting zoo.
There will also be Connecticut storytellers, a book exchange and giveaway hosted by Rotary Club and Connecticut College’s Rotaract Club, and coloring activities from Thames River Heritage Park and DATTCO Transportation.
Then, at 3 p.m., the doors to Fraggle Rock open for real.
Forty-Plus Years Later, Fraggle Rock Still Has Something to Say
Jim Henson’s original Fraggle Rock arrived in 1983 disguised as a wonderfully strange children’s program about colorful creatures living underground.
Underneath the silliness was something considerably more ambitious.
Fraggles, Doozers, Gorgs and humans occupied different parts of the same interconnected world. They didn’t always understand one another, and their actions frequently had consequences for groups they barely knew existed.
Henson used that world to explore cooperation, prejudice, conflict, environmental interdependence and the idea that seemingly different communities ultimately depend upon one another.
More than four decades later, the new stage story sends the Fraggles looking for something called the Celebration Stone.
They ultimately have to figure out how to find it together.
Some things about Fraggle Rock haven’t changed very much.
More information is available at the Event Website link below. To purchase tickets, click the Event Ticketing link below.
Details
Event: Jim Henson’s Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock LIVE
Date: Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026
Show Time: 3 p.m.
Pre-Show Activities: Begin at 2 p.m.
Venue: Garde Arts Center
Location: New London, Connecticut
Tickets: $29–$75 plus fees
Production: The first live touring musical in the Fraggle Rock franchise
Story: The Search for the Celebration Stone
Characters: Gobo, Red, Mokey, Wembley, Boober and other characters from the Fraggle Rock universe
Music: 20 numbers across two acts, combining classic Fraggle Rock songs with music from Back to the Rock
Intermission: One brief intermission
Puppets and Costumes: Jim Henson’s Creature Shop
Writer/Director/Choreographer: John Tartaglia
Pre-Show: Storytelling, book exchange and giveaway, live-animal petting zoo, instrument petting zoo, puppetry activities and coloring activities
VIP: An Ultimate Fraggle Rock Experience VIP package with a character meet-and-greet is available
Featured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people, location, or activities shown.