Meet the Artist: Elliot Nye
CMTM is thrilled to bring the classic story of THE LITTLE PRINCE to life onstage this holiday season, running in CMTM’s Maddy’s Theatre from November 28 - December 28, 2025. Recently, we spoke with Elliot Nye, the artist behind the magical puppets featured in this production. Read on to learn about their artistic process, background, and inspiration for creating the characters of THE LITTLE PRINCE!
The wooden base of the Little Prince puppet (photo courtesy of Elliot Nye)
CMTM: Elliot, could you tell us a little about yourself and the art you make?
Elliot: Sure! I’m a Portland-born and raised puppet guy who works professionally as a puppet and props designer for theater productions (Portland Stage and CMTM, predominantly), and I moonlight as a puppeteer/performance artist who makes puppet-centric shows. I’m lucky to get to work across so many different creative communities that I’ve been raised out of, and to get to make puppets/props in so many different styles and settings — but at the end of the day I am first and foremost a tabletop/bunraku-style puppeteer (small, hand-operated articulate dolls) who generally pairs domestic/quotidian scenes with surreal and genre fictive elements. I also like to play with cameras and projectors.
CMTM: What excited you about the opportunity to make puppets for THE LITTLE PRINCE at the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine?
Elliot: I have repeatedly gone on record in the past saying that my dream published work to adapt to puppetry is THE LITTLE PRINCE. If not for this production, I would inevitably have created these puppets of my own volition. It’s such a wonderful, effusive, strange story that bridges the experiences of childhood and adulthood, and I think the surreal, image heavy elements suit the magic of a puppet/theater space so perfectly. Paired with Allison’s desire for undisguised, direct-operated puppets made this one of the easiest projects to say yes to in my career.
CMTM: Can you share your creative process and any inspiration/s you had along the way?
Elliot: The puppets are created in a style that has grown out of the Bunraku Theater in Osaka, Japan, which are traditionally puppets of wooden and fabric construction that are operated by up to three puppeteers by hand (traditionally the puppeteers are gloved and in all black). The prince is a jointed doll patterned on standard direct-operated puppets. The snake is a modified pool noodle on sticks. Stylistically, I mostly used the original illustrations as inspiration, and tried to three-dimensionalize their lovely simplicity. I am also a huge fan of the 1979 stop-motion film.
The Little Prince in process (photo courtesy of Elliot Nye)
CMTM: What do you hope audiences take away from seeing this production?
Elliot: It is such a rich, meaning-laden story, but two messages that jump out to me are: to value the perspectives of children and adults equally and in conversation; we both have things to teach one another, and to cherish life and love in both their beginnings and their endings. I would also love to inspire more puppetry enthusiasm as much as possible!
CMTM: What advice or message would you share with young artists?
Elliot: Make what you want, how you want! Quality and technique are useful tools in your kit, but can be secondary to or inspired by intention and desire to create.
CMTM: How can people see more of your work?
Elliot: I make props/puppets for all of the shows at Portland Stage, I will also be puppet designing STELLALUNA at CMTM (running January 31 - February 22, 2026), and can be found performing my original puppetry at venues like Mayo Street Arts and the Apohadion Theater.
The Snake, handled by Genevieve Breitbach.