Puppet Design Highlights
Puppet Designer
Various • 2019 • International
A curated collection of puppet designs by Sean Cawelti, created for opera, arena tours, themed entertainment, and theatrical productions.
CANDIDE
Long Beach Opera • 2017 • Long Beach, CA
“Simple but charming shadow puppetry… a minimalist, whimsical touch that supports the production’s narrative agility.”
“Wonderful puppetry… animals appear as props, and shadow puppets evolve across the performance.”
“Indonesian shadow puppets by scenic/puppet/mask designer Sean Cawelti bring surprising layers of artistry to the staging.”
This collection showcases Sean Cawelti’s work as a puppet designer and fabricator, specializing in large-scale puppetry, masks and props for themed entertainment, opera, and arena-scale productions. Whether it’s a massive elephant puppet, a wearable creature, or a finely sculpted rod puppet, each piece is engineered with storytelling, performance, and illusion at its core.
Sean’s work emphasizes expressive movement and visual impact, blending traditional techniques with inventive problem-solving to bring creatures to life on stage and in immersive spaces. Puppets are fabricated at his fully equipped workshop, located in a repurposed barn that supports everything from sculpting and carving to soft sculpture, mechanical design, and paint finishes.
These puppets are built to perform — not just to be seen, but to feel alive.