A Muppet Christmas Carol –
Film Screening with Live Musical Performance
Production Team (in alphabetical order)
Ellen Beltramo – Stage Manager
Beth Bolling-Joos - Costume Designer
Charles Dickens - Writer
Brian Henson - Film Director
Brian Hoffman – Music Director, Pianist
Jerry Juhl - Writer
Dylan Shelton - Director
Joshua Steele – Producer
Cast (in alphabetical order)
Elizabeth Beiting-Lipps – Ensemble
Wesley Carman – Marley, Robin, Ensemble
Eileeen Earnest – Miss Piggie, Ensemble
Mike Fielder – Marley, Ensemble
Sean P. Mette – Kermit, Ghost of Christmas Present, Ensemble
Wayne Wright – Scrooge
Bethany Xan Kerr – Belle, Ensemble
Artist and Production Team Biographies
Elizabeth Beiting-Lipps – Ensemble
Elizabeth Beiting-Lipps (ensemble) is thrilled to make her Memorial Hall debut with River City Puppets bringing this holiday classic to life! Recent / Favorite credits include Betty Haynes (White Christmas), Charlotte Branson (Superhero), Christine Colegate (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), and Miss Shingle (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder). She is also a vocalist with the Sound Body Jazz Orchestra. Love and thanks to her family and friends for their support!
Wesley Carman – Marley, Robin, Ensemble
Wesley grew up on The Muppet Christmas Carol, so needless to say he is beyond thrilled to be lending his voice to such iconic characters and songs. Wesley has been seen at many Cincinnati theatres including The Carnegie, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, Know theatre, and most recently at Cincinnati Ballet's production of The Great Gatsby where he played Nick Carraway. Special thank you to Josh Steele, Dylan Shelton, and the entire production team for making this whole thing possible.
Eileeen Earnest – Miss Piggie, Ensemble
Eileen Earnest is a founding member of ComedySportz Cincinnati, a Red Nose Doc for Healthy Humor Inc at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, one half of Two Sketchy Dames, and a Company Member of Cincinnati LAB Theatre. She coaches workshops on acting technique, improvisation, and applied improvisation for communication skills, meditation, and mindfulness. Training: BFA-Ohio Northern University, Associate of Applied Science-Interpreter Training/Sign Language Technology from Cincinnati State, Second City Training Conservatory, Chicago Graduate. She thanks you for supporting live theatre in your local area. Website: eileen-earnest.com
This much and more to her husband, Scott, and her turtles Ren and Kohl.
Mike Fielder – Marley, Ensemble
As a long-time member of Puppeteers of America, Mike is excited to be performing with a puppet again. Having previously been seen with Cincinnati Music Theatre’s production of The Prom as well as several studio shows, Mike is usually seen in the house as a director/choreographer for several community and high school productions. His next project is directing Witchcraft, an original Cy Coleman revue, in January. Happiest of Holidays.
Sean P. Mette – Kermit, Ghost of Christmas Present, Ensemble
For over twenty years, Sean P. Mette has been a professional puppeteer, actor and playwright. Born and raised in Cincinnati, Sean began his professional career as a touring puppeteer for Madcap Puppets and since then, has performed with organizations such as the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Know Theatre of Cincinnati, the Carnegie (Covington, KY), and CET Public Television. Find out more about Sean P. Mette and his company, Mette Puppets, on his website at seanpmette.com.
Wayne Wright – Scrooge
What better way to kick in the holidays with two of Wayne’s favorite things-Christmas and the Muppets!! Wayne has performed with many theater groups in the Cincinnati area and is honored to be among this cast of talented performers, and hope this classic brightens everyone’s spirits!!
Bethany Xan Kerr (she | her) – Belle, Ensemble
Bethany has appeared in National & International Tours, at Lincoln Center, Off-Broadway, in Regional Houses near and far…but they’ve all brought her here… to the MUPPETS at Memorial Hall!! Currently, Bethany is on faculty at NKU in the theater department and is also the Director of Theater Arts at CCM Prep. She has a Master’s in Musical Theater from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, a BFA Musical Theater and BFA Acting from Pace University NYC, and is an alum of Interlochen Arts Academy.
Ellen Beltramo – Stage Manager
Ellen Beltramo holds an MFA in stage management from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music and is a proud member of AEA. Most recently, she was stage manager with the REP at the University of Delaware. Previously, Ellen spent four years with PCPA-Pacific Conservatory Theatre where she taught stage management and served as Production Stage Manager. Favorite projects include Murder on the Orient Express, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Lend Me a Tenor (the Musical). Local stage management credits include productions at The Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center (Chicago, Parade, Xanadu) and Cincinnati Shakespeare Company (The Crucible).
Beth Bolling-Joos - Costume Designer
Beth is excited to be part of the production team for “The Muppet Christmas Carol” at Memorial Hall. After a career in education, she earned a degree in Theatre Arts at NKU. She has designed and built costumes for Cincinnati Landmark Productions, Footlighters, The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati, The Carnegie, Falcon Theatre, McAuley High School, Moeller High School, The Merit Theatre Company, Mariemont Players and Northern Kentucky University. She enjoys designing for a variety of genres and styles. Beth loves the magic of building new costumes and turning ordinary items of clothing into something spectacular.
Charles Dickens - Writer
Charles Dickens was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime and, by the 20th century, critics and scholars had recognized him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories are widely read today.
Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school at age 12 to work in a boot-blacking factory when his father John was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. After three years, he returned to school before beginning his literary career as a journalist. Dickens edited a weekly journal for 20 years; wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and nonfiction articles; lectured and performed readings extensively; was a tireless letter writer; and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education and other social reforms.
Brian Henson - Film Director
Brian, the son of Jim Henson, grew up with his parents who had created The Muppets, Playing with puppets alongside his brother and 3 sisters was natural to him. By the time he was 17 he had enough skill as a puppeteer to perform with his father in The Great Muppet Caper but he didn't think the muppet life was for him and wanted to do something different. He decided to go to college and either become an engineer or go into the aerospace industry. After a few months at the University of Colorado he found the pull of puppeteering stronger than he thought so he decided to take a year out and return to New York to re consider things. During that time he picked up one puppeteering credit after another including supervising the performers manipulating Audrey II, the man eating plant in Little Shop of Horrors and being chief puppeteer on The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles followed by directing Jim Henson's Mother Goose Stories which were aired on the Disney Channel. He started directing under his father who had him directing background performers while he directed the foreground. He advanced further becoming co executive producer for the television series Dinosaurs and becoming president of Jim Henson Productions.
Brian Hoffman – Music Director, Pianist
Dr. Brian Hoffman holds a Ph.D. in music theory from Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) and a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan. Over the last 20 years, Brian has music directed for several regional theaters and universities in Orlando, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Oklahoma as well as internationally for Norwegian Cruise Lines and Princess Cruise Lines. He has also served on the music faculty at Butler University and the University of Central Florida. Big thanks to his daughters, Kira and Violet, for helping him practice every night by singing along.
Jerry Juhl - Writer
Jerry Juhl became the first full-time employee of Jim Henson Co. in 1961 after meeting Henson at a puppeteer's convention. The company coined the term "Muppet," a combination of the words marionette and puppet, and created a series of short skits parodying television news people. Juhl worked on Jim Henson's first television show, Sam and Friends (1955) as a puppeteer and later spent six years writing for Sesame Street (1969) after its 1969 premiere. He created scripts for the Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird, Elmo, Bert, Ernie and The Count. He also created Super Grover, a superhero version of Grover, and received two Emmy Awards for his work. Juhl served as head writer for The Muppet Show (1976) from 1977-1981. He also was the writer and creative producer of Fraggle Rock (1983), which featured his wife as a writer and script editor. The show was met with critical acclaim when it appeared on HBO in 1983 and lasted four years.
Dylan Shelton - Director
Dylan Shelton is the founder of River City Puppets, a touring theatre that blends the arts of puppetry and storytelling to captivate children and family audiences. Dylan began his career at Madcap Puppets in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2002 where he wrote and directed more than 30 shows with the company as their Artistic Director. Recently, Dylan created and directed a puppet performance of Pulcinella for the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and directed a puppet version of the opera Amahl and the Night Visitors, also with the CCO. In 2022, Dylan performed a solo puppetry piece, Animist, conceived by Andy Gaukel. Animist was awarded a Henson Foundation grant and was performed for Puppetopia at Here Arts Center in New York City. Dylan is one of the lead puppeteers for $martpath, an Emmy Award winning web series for children. Dylan graduated from Wilmington College of Ohio with a BA in Theatre and received an MFA in Acting from Ohio University.
Joshua Steele – Producer
Joshua Steele is the director of historic Memorial Hall, where he hosts 300 performances and events annually. He has been included as one of “10 Who Are Advancing The Arts” and named “Cincinnati theatre’s most impressive multitasker” by the Cincinnati Enquirer, and has been called “the definition of a contemporary impresario” by Cincinnati Citybeat. Joshua previously served as Managing Director of Theatre at The Carnegie, where his productions of PARADE and CHICAGO were named “Best Musical of the Year” by the League of Cincinnati Theatres. His recent productions include sold-out runs of HOT DAMN! IT’S THE LOVELAND FROG at the Loveland Stage Company and UTOPIA at the Carnegie Center of Columbia Tusculum, as well as productions of RING OF FIRE and TOMMY at Memorial Hall. He holds graduate degrees in arts administration and business administration from the University of Cincinnati. Joshua lives in Kennedy Heights with his wife (and actress) Brooke Steele and their clever daughters.