The self-proclaimed queen of cheese, Wisconsin native and UW alumna Emily Tucker is bringing big-city lessons about friendship back to Madison in her role in John Tartaglia’s black light puppet show, ImaginOcean.
Tucker hails from Platteville, where she first began acting in middle and high school through the Heartland Festival.
“I knew right away that I wanted to major in theater,” said Tucker. “And I always had my eye on Madison because, you know, it’s Madison.”
Tucker came to UW-Madison to study theater and graduated in December 2007. Two weeks later, she moved to New York City to pursue her dream. In NYC, Tucker has worked on quite a few off-off Broadway productions and ventured into stand-up comedy. Some of her favorite credits include: The Taffetas, Laundry and Bourbon, and Urinetown, The Musical. Tucker has also performed stand-up at the famous Caroline’s on Broadway.
Tucker’s first experience with puppetry began a couple of years ago when her boyfriend bought her a puppet for Christmas. Named Deb, she was a hot-pink muppet-style monster with big green, furry eyebrows. As Tucker mastered the art of puppetry, her boyfriend (also a UW alum and performing artist) suggested she audition for a new puppet show at the New World Stages. She auditioned, was selected, and soon began rehearsals on ImaginOcean.
This fall, ImaginOcean hits the road (or, maybe, jumps into the current) on its first national tour. “The people are the best, [and it’s] an incredible company to work with,” says Tucker. “I’m so lucky to have these six months to throw myself into this wonderful project and completely immerse myself and do my best…I’m getting paid to do what I love, and I’m so glad that I’m able to work as a performer and use all the skills I learned [at UW], I really do rely on them every day.”
In the show, Tucker’s main character is Baby Jellyfish, who gets one of its tentacles stuck under a rock. Main character Dorsel and friends help free Baby Jellyfish from the rock (complete with singing and dancing, of course). For their kindness, Baby Jellyfish helps Dorsel and friends on their own journey.
“I love kids and education, I feel really strongly about it,” Tucker says, a certain passion coming through.. “Even the message of the show comes together when we’re performing it. It is tightly choreographed so no one gets hurt [on stage], there are a lot of elements [to the show].”
In addition to ImaginOcean, Tucker also works in education and outreach with On The Square Productions (founded by fellow Badgers) and Left Hip Productions, both NYC-based production companies.
Though she’ll have only a few days in Madison, Tucker is excited to show her cast mates the city of Madison and to introduce them to real Wisconsin cheese curds. “I really have a lot of Wisconsin pride, even more than when I lived there,” said Tucker. “It’s probably my favorite city in the whole US, I love it so much.”








Capitol Theater when it was a movie house,” says Herb. “I brought some great concerts to its stage through the ’60s and ’70s. It’s great to be working in the building again, bringing music to Madison, and maybe breathing some of that rock’n'roll life back into the Capitol.” Frank Productions will team up with True Endeavors to program the room, marking the first time that the two companies have directly partnered on concerts together. This new initiative will bring artists and performers from all genres, through series and stand alone concerts, to the venue.
“Our goal is to introduce this amazing venue and its incredible acoustics to music fans who may not even know it exists, and reintroduce it to the generations of Madisonians who have fond memories of attending events there,” says Herb. “We won’t get in the way of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, CTM and their great tradition of A Christmas Carol, or the other resident arts groups who perform at the Capitol. But we know it’s a very versatile space, and we hope this new and additional programming will enhance and build a reputation for the venue as the place to see and hear live music.”



The excitement for Disney’s The Lion King is getting almost palpable. Here are a few samples from what the local press has to say …