Greg Ruhe. Puppeteer
Greg Ruhe is the creator of the unique entertainment company Puppet Pizzazz. This 48 year old puppeteer has happily nested in Houston since coming to Houston to become an actor in the Alley Theatre’s Young Company for the 1984 - 1985 season. Since then he has been performing in Houston and around the world while sharing his unique style of puppetry.
Greg developed his puppetry skills while earning his bachelor of fine arts degree from West Virginia University and continued his study of puppetry while participating in eight seasons at the National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O'Neil Theatre Center.
The making and performing with puppets allows for great diversity in Greg's day. "Mr. Greg" is often the first person to arrive at any particular school or library, ready to perform his unique and very energetic puppetry demonstration or conduct an educational puppetry workshop. In the afternoon, while preparing for the next performance or making a new puppet, he is most likely the person to answer your phone call. During most evenings he is performing with his larger than life puppet creations at lavish special events.
As well as creating extraordinary entertainment at Gala parties, Greg has a strong commitment to education. He cofounded the Children’s Theatre of Houston, a non profit educational Children's Theatre Company, twice awarded number one in arts in education by the Cultural Arts Counsel of Houston. Greg also worked for the Texas Institute for Arts in Education, as a teaching artist and performer, for ten years. Other educational clients are The Children’s Museum of Houston, The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Harris County Board of Education Project GRAD, The Merry Go Round School of Drama, Houston Grand Opera, The Bayou Bend Museum, Harris County Department of Education, University of Texas Medical Branch, and the River Performing and Visual Arts Center for special needs children, and Texas Public Libraries. Puppet Pizzazz was one of the top booked performances for the Houston summer reading program of 2008, 2009 and 2010.
Greg was sanctioned by Very Special Arts India to share his artistry with educators in Hong Kong, India, and Thailand, who teach special- needs students. Traveling and teaching abroad has been Greg's most fulfilling work thus far.
One of Greg's most rewarding accomplishment has been to open a sister special event entertainment company in Paris France. The new company is called Les Marionettes en Follies and is directed by French puppeteer Charles Rabhi. Sharing puppetry between France and the United States makes for great diversity and endless creative satisfaction.
Both Greg and Charles were guest artists for the Khartoum International and Community school in 2009. The staff at this extraordinary IB World class School introduced Greg to the International Society of Theatre Associations for which Greg recently served as a performer and instructor for ISTA's 2010 Texas TAPS master class seminar.
Greg is a proud member of UNIMA, the world puppetry organization, Puppeteers of America and the Greater Houston Puppetry Guild, and the International Society of event professionals. Greg is also on staff for the National Puppetry Festival.