andy gaukel

Andy has more than 15 years in arts education and as a puppeteer, actor, and director working in television, off-Broadway, and regional theatre. As teaching specialist in art and puppetry, highlights include working with the late Jerry Handorf at Madcap Puppets in Cincinnati, leading three consecutive summer programs for young people ages 5-12 at Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX) and serving as an Arts Integration Specialist with the Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati, where he wrote, directed and delivered new curriculum-based workshops and performances as part of their outreach and in-school residency initiatives, most significantly, initiating and leading a storytelling project, The Helicopter Project, with Cincinnati’s Head Start Program. In 2006, Gaukel founded his own puppet touring company, The Wee Giant Puppet Company, in Glasgow, Scotland, which toured to schools, community centers, and festivals until 2008. He wrote and directed several original works for this company including a piece called Sweet Life that addressed bullying and acceptance and toured Scotland for approximately 18 months. While in Scotland, Gaukel also helped devise and co-direct a piece called Fear, Love, Hate in conjunction with Puppet Animation Scotland and Fife Council. This piece combined live music, drama, puppetry, and animation and was based on stories of Scottish youth living in deprived coastal communities in Fife.

Andy has served as an adjunct faculty member at various Universities, including most recently, University of Kentucky and Bellarmine University, and as an Education and Outreach Specialist at the Kentucky Science Center where he created, maintained and facilitated curriculum-based science programs for young people.

Andy is the proud recipient of three Jim Henson Foundation grants to help further his original work. As a puppeteer, Andy’s performance credits include the world premier of Paula Vogel’s The Long Christmas Ride Home and Basil Twist’s Symphonie Fantastique (2004, 2012 and 2018). In 2013, Andy held a Creation Residency at the Institut International de la Marionnette in Charleville-Mézières, France to develop a new puppetry piece, Schweinehund, inspired by the life of Pierre Seel. Schweinehund premiered at the 2015 Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes in Charleville-Mézières, France and has since been presented at the 2016 Internationales Figurentheaterfestival Blickwechsel in Germany, among others around Europe. In March 2017, Schweinehund had its North American premiere at Casteliers in Montreal and in May 2017 was presented at Le Mouffetard - Théâtre des arts de la marionnette in Paris as part of the BIAM (Biennale internationale des arts de la marionnette). In January 2019, Schweinehund had its US premiere as part of the Chicago International Puppet Theatre Festival. He is currently developing a new piece Calm Blue Sky which is set to premiere at the 2019 Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes in Charleville-Mézières, France.

As a director, Gaukel has worked with several university theatre departments including the University of Kentucky ("The Baltimore Waltz"). Gaukel is a graduate of the University of Kentucky’s Department of Theatre and has a Master in Fine Arts (MFA) in Theatre from Trinity Repertory Conservatory in Providence, Rhode Island.