Rainbow Puppet Productions presents over 300 shows a year in schools, libraries, and theaters in America and Africa.  As part of our educational program, every single child who attends receives a custom book related to the program..

Our shows highlight famous inventors like the Wright Brothers and Thomas Edison, heroes like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, legends like Booker T. Washington and Pocahontas.

While others have created programs that ask parents to encourage children to read at home, we have flipped that model.  Our research showed that many children can from homes that did not value reading and may not have appropriate books.  We present our programs, which feature characters that appear in our books.  So, children are able to go home with the books, point to pictures and explain the story, even if they are unable to read.  They then encourage reading to learn more.

To date, we have distributed over a quarter of a million books at no cost to schools or students.  Educational specialists and civic leaders will tell you that it is critical for students to read at grade level by the third grade.  Conquest Graphics has partnered with us to ensure we help as many students achieve success in school and in life. We are grateful for their help.

Since the beginning, we've produced puppet shows for children that entertain, enlighten, and educate.  In 1977, David Messick and a group of family and friends were asked to produce a puppet production for the Charles Taylor Library System in Hampton, Virginia.  "Jack and the Beanstalk" became our first show.  

Our first puppets were marionettes or string puppets.  We soon converted these to rod puppets to create better site lines at the libraries where we played. A trip to Tampa, Florida exposed David to amazing life-sized marine puppets crafted by master puppeteer Frank Lakus.   

A partnership with the Virginia Aquarium and Young Audience of Virginia helped us create our most successful tour or all...  "The Amazing Adventures of Chessie the Manatee."  We found our place... creating shows that entertain, educate and enlighten... through puppets, music, and dance.

In "Chessie the Manatee," one of the characters sings of putting on a musical show "like Mickey Rooney."  A chance meeting with Mr. Rooney in Canada eventually lead to Mickey recording 9 shows for Rainbow Puppets. 

Other celebrity voices included Carol Channing as an Octopus.  We saw her on the Tony Awards with L.L. Cool J. and she did a dance move that resembled an octopus and that was that.  We flew to meet her... told her the idea and she was sold!  

Tony Award winner Geoffrey Holder narrates "Amazon Adventures."  His rich voice was perfect for the Waxy Monkey Tree Frog... the loudest frog in the Amazon.  He won Tonys for his work on "Timbuktu!" and "The Wiz" and was noted for his work in the James Bond film "Live and Let Die."  He was Punjab in the movie "Annie" and most recently narrated "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." 

Local Grammy Award winning artist Bruce Hornsby helps narrate our history program... jumping in when our actors start sharing the myth of Pocahontas instead of telling what is really known of her adventures.

Over the years, we have been lucky to perform in fabulous locations.  The biggest being the Smithsonian Hazy Center near Washington DC.  It's the size of several airplane hangars and we've performed underneath the Space Shuttle for one of the largest Halloween parties in the world.

In New York, we've performed at the American Museum of Natural History where our friend Mickey Rooney made "Night at a Museum."

We've performed at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Center and the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in DC.  Plus, the beautiful outdoor theater at Wolftrap... the national park for the arts. Most of all, we've brought professional theater to young audiences in schools, libraries, and parks across the East Coast.