Muppeteer Fran Brill's official retirement

[cahuenga]

Hi guys, I just found on twitter about Fran Brill´s retirement. Yesterday was held a retirement celebration on Museum of the moving image to honour her career, Dave Goelz, Frank Oz, Leslie Carrara, Carmen Osbahr, Stephanie Dábruzzo among others were attending..Its sad to learn about her retirement, she´ll be missed on the street. All my best wishes to her.

 

[JLG]

Ohhhh, no.

Goodbye Prairie. I'll really miss you.
And what will happen to Zoe?

I really hate to see her go. That hurts a lot. She's one of the titans, and one of the very last of the "originals" still standing.

 

[Duke Remington]

I hope Brill had a chance to groom a successor (just as how Jerry Nelson groomed Matt Vogel) before retiring, so someone can take over Zoe, Prairie Dawn and the rest of her characters.

 

[D'Snowth]

As far as her characters go, I thought you guys said they retired Prairie Dawn years ago.

But as far as her retirement goes, while I too am disappointed to know we won't have her performing anymore, i guess I can kind of see why she would choose to do so... I mean, let's face it, she had her hey day with SST from the 70s through the 90s, and like with many of the other male performers, when newer, younger female performers came in like Stephanie and now Leslie, it was their time to shine. And let's face it, however much have any of her characters had to do in recent years?

I'll agree, I hope she at least found someone to take over her characters for her, but it won't be an easy task, hers is a very unique and distinctive voice. I mean Zoe's laugh? That won't be easy to recapture.

 

[MelissaY1]

Wow, what an end of an era. One of the first female Muppet performers (and an amazing one at that). For someone like myself who grew up with Sesame Street in the late 70s and 80s, Fran was a big part of the core of the show for me, especially as a kid who listened to the various Sesame Street records endlessly. I hope she continues to do something she enjoys.

 

[zns]

All I can say is that I wish the best for one of the finest female puppeteers Henson has ever had. All of us wish her good things and hope that she is well. I wonder if she will still continue to work for the Jim Henson legacy?

Also, is there any footage that was taken from her retirement party?

 

[fuzzygobo]

It's one thing to watch a Muppet on a TV screen. It's something else entirely watching a performer bringing a Muppet to life and you're sitting there ten feet away. It's so beautiful and graceful, it's like watching ballet.

Thank you, Fran, I've been fortunate enough to meet you three times, and you were always a class act. All the best to you, whatever the future brings.

 

[animalrescuer]

So sad to see her leave! I hope she has a great retirement and I know all her fellow Muppeteers will miss her very much just like we'll miss her a lot. Maybe another Muppeteer will take Zoe, maybe not, we'll see. I'm sure they'll find someone to take over.

I hope she'll remain in touch with everybody.

 

[Drtooth]

That kind of explains why Zoe's taken a huge back seat the last few seasons. And why Prairie is almost non-existant.

I really don't want to see Prairie or Zoe disappear from the show entirely. I find the Elmo Zoe pairing to be much stronger than the forced Abby and Elmo pairing the show desperately wants to establish. I don't think she'd mind to see her characters recast and used on a limited basis.

 

[D'Snowth]

Probably not. Or, if they do, it'll only be temporary.