Finding her niche: ‘Happy accident’ inspired Wood Dale actress/puppeteer’s career

Leah Casey wasn’t hired as a puppeteer for Drury Lane Theatre’s recent “Cinderella” revival. She was hired to sing and dance. But when director/choreographer Amber Mak informed the cast she needed ensemble members to puppet the woodland animals that transform into Cinderella’s coachman and footmen, Casey volunteered.

With good reason. For five years, the Wood Dale native has balanced acting and puppetry, honing her skills with the celebrated, multidisciplinary ensemble Manual Cinema. She’s currently performing in the company’s “Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About A Terrible Monster,” featured in the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, which runs through Jan. 28. Casey plays Kerry, “the second most scaredy-cat kid in the world,” in the family-friendly play about a fearful boy and a not-so-scary monster.

Casey, whose credits include traditional plays and musicals as well as puppet-centered productions, speculates her knack for puppetry stems from extensive dance training.

“Those ballet skills are actually helping my career,” said the actor/puppeteer, who trained from a young age at her father’s ballet studio.

“I’m grateful to have had that kind of upbringing. It was a way to keep me active, a way to teach me grace and mobility,” she said.

But becoming a prima ballerina was never Casey’s intent. She decided to become an actress in high school and earned a theater degree from the University of Illinois – Chicago. Her love of puppetry she acquired by accident after auditioning for Manual Cinema a year or so after she graduated.

“The audition was like nothing I’d ever been to,” she said. “I had no idea puppetry was such a fascinating niche.”

Prior to working with Manual Cinema, Casey was most familiar with the kind of fuzzy puppets featured on “The Muppet Show.” Introduced to a variety of puppets (marionettes, Bunraku, shadow and stick puppets) through the company, Casey was impressed by the puppets’ clever design and excited by the challenge of “breathing life into an inanimate object.”

“The first thing that struck me when I joined them is how much (puppetry) reminded me of a dance, just with smaller movements,” said Casey, who intends to pursue both disciplines, balancing puppeteering and acting.

“I want to keep my hand in both,” said Casey, who will tour with “Leonardo” next month and will perform in Drury Lane’s “Guys and Dolls” in the spring.

“I’m going where life is taking me,” she said. “I went along for the ride … and I haven’t regretted it.”