Guest Artist Bio

Meet Grey Seal Puppets

Founded in 1976, Grey Seal Puppets is well known nationwide. The company performs over 250 shows a year from New York to Hawaii, from Canada to Mexico. Their repertoire consists of familiar fairy tales (The Emperor’s New Clothes), classic folk tales (Tangle of Tales), and original stories (Bathtub Pirates). Grey Seal travels to theaters such as the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, the Detroit Museum of Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

In addition to live performing, Grey Seal also performs regularly on television, with clients such as The Reimler Agency (Bojangles), WTVI-Channel 42 (local PBS affiliate), the Muppets, Silver Burdett Gin, and the International Mission Board. Grey Seal Puppets also custom-designs and fabricates mascot characters for sports teams and corporations such as Blimpie Subs & Salads, Charlotte Hornets, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, and Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

The company has garnered a number of awards, including multiple Citations of Excellence for their productions, and the North Carolina Theatre Conference’s Award for Leadership in Theatre Arts. Their television work has also been honored with several awards in the industrial and broadcast categories including a prestigious Beacon Award and the ITVA Silver Reel of Excellence.

Drew Allison

Drew Allison is the founder of Grey Seal Puppets. He is involved in all phases of production. For the past thirty years, Drew has performed regularly on television and stage including such venues as The Center for Puppetry Arts, The Smithsonian Institution, The Detroit Institute of Art, The Tampa Theatre and The Philadelphia Museum of Art.

In 1994 Drew was awarded The President’s Award by The Puppeteers of America for outstanding achievement in the art of puppetry. He has received three prestigious UNIMA Citations of Excellence for Grey Seal Puppets’ productions of A Show of Virtues (2007), Bathtub Pirates (1997), and Animal Farm (1986). Drew Allison co-authored The Foam Book: An Easy Guide to Building Polyfoam Puppets and is featured in The Foam Book DVD. He was awarded a Jim Henson Foundation Grant in 2020. Also in 2020, Drew’s one-act play entitled “Good Night Mrs.Johnson” won first place in a Smithsonian Institute-sponsored Playwright Contest.