The Lady Bug Who Was Not Afraid

Original puppet show musical performance written, produced, and performed by ArtJoy’s founders Toni Mikulka-Chang and Joey Chang, CelloJoe

The Lady Bug Who Was Not Afraid is an interactive, joyful, and slightly suspenseful puppet adventure that celebrates courage, friendship, and the magic of working together.

The story follows a brave little ladybug who wanders away from her friends and family to explore a great big world full of beautiful gardens and new discoveries. Her adventure leads her to a mysterious—and very impressive—talking compost pile (a larger-than-life puppet created by Toni Mikulka). Curious and unafraid, the ladybug gets a little too close… and in a dramatic moment, she is gobbled up by the compost pile!

When the ladybug doesn’t return, her friends go searching for her. First, a butterfly comes to investigate and hears the ladybug mumbling from inside the compost pile—but before she can help, the butterfly is gobbled up too! Next, a grasshopper bravely goes looking and meets the same surprising fate. One by one, the insect friends disappear into the magical compost pile.

Just when things seem most dire, a giant magical phoenix bird flies overhead and drops a shimmering feather.

Toni, the puppeteer, picks it up and asks the audience, “What on earth should we do with this magical feather? How can we use it to rescue our insect friends?” The children are invited to guess and imagine solutions together—until everyone realizes the perfect idea: make the compost pile sneeze!

One (or sometimes several) children are invited to help tickle the compost pile’s nose with the magical feather(s), and at last—ACHOO!—all the puppets come sneezing, tumbling, and flying back out, popping into the audience to great delight.

With big laughs, gentle suspense, and lots of audience participation, The Lady Bug Who Was Not Afraid is a playful and memorable story about bravery, curiosity, problem-solving, and the power of helping each other.