Brighton Heights artist shares puppet costumes with Pittsburgh during pandemic
Giant puppets are popping up around Pittsburgh.
One might see them standing near a front door, walking down a street or dancing to music.
The colorful characters are courtesy of Brighton Heights artist Cheryl Capezzuti.
She has hundreds of puppet costumes housed in her North Side studio. They’ve been used for various celebrations and events throughout the city.
Some of the larger-than-life puppets perform for the annual Highmark First Night Pittsburgh Parade.
She’s found a way to share the costumes during the pandemic.
“When the stay-at-home order was announced, I thought about my puppets and how they wouldn’t be going out anywhere anytime soon,” Capezzuti said. “So I had this idea to share the puppets with Pittsburghers. I thought they might brighten someone’s day during this trying time.”
Capezzuti, an art teacher at Falk Lab School in Oakland, posted an invitation to lend out the puppet costumes on Facebook.
The positive responses started coming, even from people she didn’t know.
Capezzuti has disinfected and distributed 32 and plans to take another 12 to 15 out this week.
She sanitizes each costume before leaving it on someone’s front porch.
Rebecca Maclean, of Highland Park, saw the Facebook post. She wanted a costume for her children, Duncan Rieger, 16, Emmy Thompson, 11, and Brighid Thompson, who turned 7 on Tuesday.
“It sounded fun and a little bizarre,” Maclean said. “It made me smile and now it’s making other people smile too.”
Brighid Thompson drew a picture of her sister wearing the puppet costume for a class assignment. When they were walking down the street with the puppet, people came out of their houses.
Sara Leitera wore her puppet costume around Squirrel Hill on Saturday.
She said drivers honked their horns.
She met Capezzuti at a puppet workshop.
“You can dance and have fun and no one knows who you are because they can’t see your face,” said Leitera, whose 4-year-old son Giovani Johnson is a little scared of the puppet. “When I was walking in my neighborhood it was nice and people had their windows down playing music so I danced to the songs on the radio. I had people laughing. We all need that right now.”
Puppets are bringing smiles to Shadyside, where they perform at a weekly block party. A neighbor of Carla Spagnoletti’s is a disc jockey and plays music while everyone dances. Spagnoletti’s son Wyatt Atteberry, 11, is a fifth-grader at Falk Lab School and is one of Capezzuti’s art students. He has two puppets, including a lion he created. He asked a neighbor to wear the other one.
“It has really helped keep me and my neighbors’ spirits up,” Wyatt said. “We all look forward to the dance parties every weekend. It is so much better than sitting inside watching television.”
He said Capezzuti is a nice presence to be around.
“She is very up-spirited, and she let us pick what kind of puppet we wanted to make,” Wyatt said. “She is so much fun. We had the puppets for performances and school assemblies, and they make everyone laugh.”
His mother said it’s enjoyable for everyone.
“People walk by and they do a double take because they aren’t accustomed to seeing large puppets walking around,” she said.
Capezutti is working with the Braddock Library to access more than 50 puppets. Puppets currently reside in Morningside, Highland Park, Marshal-Shadeland, Brighton Heights, Shaler, Greenfield, Squirrel Hill, Mars, Penn Hills, Fineview, Regent Square, McKees Rocks, Dormont, Point Breeze, Shadyside and Mt. Lebanon.
She plans to host a virtual workshop on how people can make puppets with items they have a home and then schedule some puppet dance parties online.
Each puppet comes with a link to Falk’s Giant Puppet Dance Club YouTube channel where puppeteers can learn dances from their porch, front yard, sidewalk or driveway.
“People can wear them during this pandemic and they can be like a giant, full body mask,” she said. “We need to find the light in the world and let it out.”
To sign up for a puppet: Email cheryl@studiocapezzuti.com or call 412-414-0006.
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a TribLive reporter covering the region's diverse culinary scene and unique homes. She writes features about interesting people. The Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist began her career as a sports reporter. She has been with the Trib for 26 years and is the author of "A Daughter's Promise." She can be reached at jharrop@triblive.com.
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