With puppets, Tracey Conner helped children and built community | Appreciation
For more than three decades, Tracey Conner used the art of puppetry to help countless children learn about nutrition, pursue fitness, cope with traumatic experiences and prevent bullying.
The founder and executive director of MicheLee Puppets, Conner died June 4 after an extended illness.
“She was a beacon of positivity and collaboration. It will be hard to envision our community without her,” said Opera Orlando general director Gabriel Preisser. “I count myself lucky to have known her and to have been influenced by her wonderful role model of service, artistry, passion for education and youth, and passion for her community.”
Conner was just 22 in 1985 when she brought a puppet show that taught children about disabilities to Central Florida. It was the genesis of MicheLee Puppets, which was named by combining Conner’s middle name of Michelle with that of her puppetry partner at the time, Michael Lee Prazniak.
The two were theater students at Bowling Green State University when they were hired to tour the puppet-based “Kids on the Block” program to schools across northwest Ohio. “Kids on the Block” specialized in using puppetry to introduce complicated concepts — divorce, abuse, disabilities — to students.
It was an eye-opening experience for Conner — and it led to her life’s work.
“It was the first time I realized that theater and puppetry could be used to do more than entertain,” she wrote in a remembrance celebrating the 35th anniversary of MicheLee Puppets. “We were building bridges of friendship between children with and without disabilities.”
MicheLee Puppets went on to reach more than 2.3 million students across Florida through live performances and classes. The organization developed more than 80 issue-based plays and videos on topics including literacy, domestic-violence prevention and more.
The Orlando-based nonprofit’s reach extended beyond schools, though, into collaborations with other cultural organizations, including the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and the Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Garden.
MicheLee Puppets designed an Aslan lion puppet for a Central Florida Community Arts youth production of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” created large-scale human puppets representing different cultures for Orlando’s annual FusionFest, and devised the animal puppets for Opera Orlando’s world-premiere production of “The Secret River.”
Current and former Central Florida cultural leaders reacted with sadness at the news of Conner’s death.
Central Florida Community Arts founder Joshua Vickery remembered her as “an amazing human being” in social-media tributes, while Orlando Repertory Theatre artistic director Jeffrey Revels called her “a beautiful person we are all the better from knowing.”
Grant Preisser, Opera Orlando’s artistic director, worked with Conner on “The Secret River” and the upcoming production of “The Juniper Tree.”
“Tracey brought so much creative energy and passion to her work,” he said, calling it “a joy” to partner with her. “Tracey was an incredible fixture in the Orlando arts community. Her leadership and bright light will be sorely missed.”
Terry Olson, director of Orange County Arts & Cultural Affairs, recalled how she brought people together last year to build the FusionFest puppets.
“I first encountered Tracey decades ago with her puppet troupe, and she has always been a positive force for good in our community,” he said. “It would hard to imagine our community without puppets and even harder to imagine MicheLee Puppets without Tracey.”
Denise V. Lucich, who has worked with MicheLee Puppets for years, is serving as interim director of the nonprofit. Jennifer Evins, president of United Arts of Central Florida, said her organization was committed to supporting the company.
“We are working alongside Denise to do all we can to stabilize the organization and make sure that they have all they need to continue their mission and the vision of the organization,” Evins wrote.
In lieu of flowers, Conner’s family, which includes her husband Leonard, requests that donations be made to keep her legacy alive by texting the word PUPPET to 41444.
In an interview with BrianCarlsonPictures.com last November, Conner was asked for what she would like to be remembered. Her answer: “I hope people will remember me for using my talents to make a positive difference in our world.”
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