Rick Lyon
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Rick Lyon is a puppeteer and actor originally from Rochester, New York, who has worked for the Jim Henson Company as one of the operators of Big Bird. He appeared on Broadway originating the roles of several characters in Avenue Q, a musical for which he designed and created the puppets. In the fall of 2005 he reprised his roles as Nicky and Trekkie Monster in the production of the show in Las Vegas for nine months, where he met and married co-star Tonya Dixon, before returning to the Broadway cast. He also worked with Nickelodeon on the Stick Stickly project. He was a lead puppeteer for the first season of Comedy Central's television program Crank Yankers.
He studied theater at Penn State University and puppetry at the Institute of Professional Puppetry Arts in Connecticut and the Institut Internationale de la Marionnette in France.
It is ironic that Lyon's actual speaking voice is somewhat monotone and deep, in contrast to the characters he voiced in Avenue Q. At the stage door, he was always very kind to his fans.
[edit] Puppeteering credits
- Sesame Street - television
- Crank Yankers - television
- Bear in the Big Blue House - television
- Avenue Q - Broadway
- MuppetVision 3D - film attraction at Walt Disney World
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 - film
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 - film
- Men in Black - film
