How it all began... 

When I was ten or eleven years old, my parents took me into a large gift shop at the New Jersey shore while we were on vacation. This is where I first saw a marionette in person. It was hanging from the ceiling — a pirate, colorfully dressed. I remember looking at this marionette for a long time, imagining the possibilities. It was hanging high out of my reach. I was naturally shy, and my family had moved on to somewhere else in the store, so I had to work up all my courage to ask the saleswoman if I could try moving the marionette. She turned me down.

The rest is history...

Joseph Cashore has been designing and performing his remarkable marionettes for over 30 years.

The Cashore Marionettes were featured in the Spring/Summer 2010 issue of Puppetry International.