Megan Piphus Peace becomes first Black woman puppeteer on ‘Sesame Street’

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Megan Piphus Peace has become the first Black woman puppeteer in Sesame Street history.

Peace landed the role in September 2021 and plays the 6-year-old Black Muppet, Gabrielle, revealed a report by her Alma mater Vanderbilt University

How Megan Piphus Peace landed the role

The Vanderbilt alumna submitted an audition tape for the show in 2017 and 2018, before connecting with Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, known for playing Abby Cadabby. Then, in March 2020, Peace received an email from Matt Vogel, Sesame Street‘s puppet captain. Vogel asked if Megan would be interested in “muppet-style puppetry,” to which the woman agreed and then later completed.

Sesame Street was working on The Power of We, a racial justice workshop that featured the Gabrielle character. Vogel expressed that Peace “was their choice from the beginning.”

Making history

Peace was unaware she was making history as the first Black woman to become a Sesame Street puppeteer.

“I would have cried like a baby on the 123 steps if they had told me beforehand,” Peace expressed to Vanderbilt University’s MyVU News. “The sets of Sesame Street are like walking into a fantasy. To be there is really something.”

Check out Megan Piphus Peace as she talks about her love for puppeteering.