TRISH LEEPER
ACTRA/UDA/AE
doubletake@sympatico.ca
(613)752-1739
cell: (416)729-2138
Theatre/Television/Film:
With a background in mime, movement, mask and theatre, Trish began her career as a puppeteer in l982 playing Ma Gorg in the TV series Fraggle Rock. Since then, she has worked estensively with Jim Henson's Muppets: the Jim Henson Hour, numerous Muppet Specials and ongoing characters for CBC' Sesame Street/Sesame Park. She has played principal roles in other TV series including Mustard Pancakes, Prairie Berry Pie, Groundling Marsh, Brats of the Lost Nebula, Bookmice, Chicken Minute/Cocotte Minute, Picoli et Lirabo, Hello Mrs. Cherrywinkle and The Magic Library.
Film work involving puppetry and animatronics includes Johnny Five in Short
Circuit II, Mommy Dodo on CTW's Follow That Bird, as well as work on Tommy Boy, The Santa Clause, Trilogy of Terror II and The Pooch and the Pauper.
Trish has toured internationally with Theatre Beyond Words (performing mask in "The Potato People" 1986-87) and with Theatre Les Deux Mondes' award-winning Tale of Teeka (L'Histoire de L'Oie) which she helped develop both as a performer and puppet builder (1992-2007).
Teaching:
As well as acting as puppet coach for numerous productions involving puppetry and mask, she has taught classes and given workshops in technique and performance in many schools and, most recently, for the Greater Vancouver Theatre Allicance and the Puppets Up festival in Almonte, Ontario.
Choreography: Choreographer for 2 seasons on Treehouse TV's "Wee Three"
Puppet&Mask Design/Construction:
Trish is also an accomplished designer and builder of masks and puppets and has built for numerous professional theatre productions such as Theatre Les Deux Monde's Tale of Teeka, LKTYP's Pinnochio, The Short Tree and the Bird Who Would Not Sing, UBC's Song of This Place and Kid's Entertainment's touring production of Stellaluna. As well, she has created basic commedia, character and larval masks for use in theatre schools and drama departments.
For television she has created puppets for Groundling Marsh, Le Grenier de Bizou, Picoli et Lirabo, Bookmice, Treehouse TV (interstitials), Four Square, Crazy Quilt, Prairie Berry Pie, TSN Hockey and Mustard Pancakes.
Training:
BA University of Toronto
Physical Theatre including mime, mask, commedia dell'arte - (LeCoq technique) -
Mime School Unlimited
Mime Corporel (Decroux technique) - L'Ecole de Mime Corporel de Quat'Sous
Theatre - Phillipe Gaulier
Clown - Richard Pochinko
Puppetry - Richard Hunt (Muppets)
Movement - Til Thiele, Centre of Movement, Toronto
Monica Pagneux, Paris
Voice - David Smuckler
Piano - Royal Conservatory
Mask-making/sculpting - Donato Sartori, Italy
