ABOUT BIG JOE
New York Museum
Education
1972
to 1989
Joe
Fitzpatrick, creator of "Big Joe Productions",
worked
in Manhattan for 17 years as an educator and
entertainer.
Relocating
to San Diego in 1990 was a cultural rejuvenation
that was much appreciated.
Joe
Fitzpatrick began his professional career
in
museum education at the American Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Mr.
Fitzpatrick had the distinction of being appointed the Coordinator of Classroom Projects.
This
demanding position required
dealing
with the needs of the young students in the New York City School District.
Joe
also appeared as a public relations representative
for the A.S.P.C.A.
including
appearances on the Children's Show
Romper
Room and CNN interviews
as
an animal rights speaker.
Joe
left the A.S.P.C.A. to work as an
Education
Ranger in Central Park and eventually settled
as Assistant Manager/Educator
at Belvedere Castle, natural history museum
in
Central Park.
San Diego
Museum Educator
1990 to 1998
In 1990,
Joe headed to San Diego to become an educator on the San Diego
Museum of Arts'"Art Rig",
a mobile
museum that toured San Diego City Schools.
Joe's
San Diego museum experience includes:
The Museum
of Art, The Balboa Educator's Council,
Junior
Theater and The San Diego Model Railroad Museum.
Puppets
Joe began performing puppets with The Museum of Art's
"Art Rig". From 1992 to 1995, Big Joe toured San Diego schools with
an art exhibit titled:
Extended Personae: The Art
of Puppetry.
Through
his work with this exhibit,
Big Joe
has now performed puppets
throughout
the San Diego area including:
The Marie
Hitchcock Puppet Theater,
The North
Coast Repertory Theater,
The San
Diego Children's Museum,
The San
Diego Model Railroad Museum,
The San
Diego Nighttime Zoo, The Old Globe
and many
schools, libraries,
parades,
and special events
such
as "KidzArtz" in Balboa Park.
Theater
In New York, Big Joe was a member of Actor's Equity
where
he performed in dinner theater,
national
tours and Off - Broadway productions.
Joe has
worked with such New York Personalities as: Randy Graff, Judy
Kaye, Jack Everly, Broadway's
The Van
Treuren Twins and Cynthia Sophia.
In San Diego, Joe has appeared at the North Coast Repertory Theater, The Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater,
Diversionary Theater at the Fritz,
Starlight
Civic Light Opera, Spreckels Theater, Twiggs Coffee House and
Horton Grand Hotel,
San Diego
City College, Lamplighters, Coronado Playhouse and
The Ocean Beach Playhouse.
Joe is
a bass/baritone who loves to tap dance.
He is
most proud to have been co-producer of
Outcast Productions
which produced
"Sunday
in the Park with Sondheim"
and
"Totally
Tony's"
in San
Diego for 1 1/2 years.
Young Audiences
Big Joe
has offered puppet workshops and puppet assemblies
for schools through Young Audiences
since
1998.
