By Jill Osterhout
Sun Staff Writer
Going from Broad Street to Broadway has been quite the journey for one Norwich High School graduate.
As a young child, Anney McKilligan says she was exposed early on to the performing arts. Living in Unadilla first and later moving to the Norwich area, she was involved in the Tri-Town Theatre in Sidney and Orpheus Theatre out of Oneonta. McKilligan says her mother was an actress and director and she too, was inspired to follow the same path. “I was always a show-off,” said McKilligan.
“Not having a lot of options in Norwich at the time, I often traveled to places close by so I could get the experience I wanted,” said McKilligan. Following graduation from Norwich High in 1993, McKilligan headed off to the Big Apple where she would begin her studies at New York University.
While at college, she studied acting and hoped to one day be a director/designer. Becoming a puppeteer, she says, was something that just sort of happened. Known in the performing world as “Anney Fresh,” her first job was being a puppet wrangler on the set of “The Lion King” on Broadway. “It was being on the bottom of something big,” said McKilligan.
Over time, Anney’s experience as well as her credentials grew. She began creating, designing and puppeteering for numerous television shows and stage performances. McKilligan’s work can be seen most recently in the show “Johnny and The Sprites” on the Disney Channel, where she works in puppet construction and as a puppeteer.
Other areas in which her work as a puppeteer and in puppet construction can be viewed include “Dingo Ate My Video” on VH-1 Wireless series, the MTV Movie Awards, “Finding Nemo (on Ice)” for Disney, “Blue’s Room” on Nickelodeon, “Crank Yankers” and “Chappelle’s Show” for Comedy Central, “Little Shop of Horrors” for Jim Henson Co., “Bear in the Big Blue House,” “Shrek,” “Jack’s Big Music Show,” “Sesame Street International,” “Rugrats” and more.
Over the years, McKilligan has been nominated for daytime Emmy awards for costume design and styling. Her nominations came from her work throughout Season Four, Jim Henson Co. as Lead Wrangler and Puppeteer in 2002 and 2003 and her work on The Book of Pooh, seasons one and two, where she worked as lead wrangler and puppeteer in 2001.
Most recently McKilligan not only was nominated but actually won a 2007 daytime Emmy for costume design/styling for her work as a puppet constructor on “Sesame Street” seasons 37 and 38 for Jim Henson Co.
Traveling has been one aspect of the job McKilligan says can’t be beat. Seeing places such as England, Berlin, Holland and others have been great, she says.  McKilligan was also featured for being a budding artist in New York City on the show ARTSTAR on Gallery HD (Voom) where artists were selected to be part of an art reality television show.
McKilligan currently resides with her boyfriend Keith Ozar, a media artist, in Brooklyn and together they have done work on the “Space Kitty” project including inflatable costumes created by McKilligan. When not constructing, designing or working as a puppeteer, McKilligan performs as a guest singer at the Loser’s Lounge, Fez and Joe’s Pub in New York. She does scenic painting, makes homemade carnival rides and says she hopes to one day direct and puppeteer her own television series on PBS. As a budding artist, she was also granted free studio space in lower Manhattan near Ground Zero by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. To find out more or to view her work visit www.anneyfresh.com.

Editor’s Note: “Chenango Stories” puts the spotlight on those people whose compelling stories you might not otherwise hear. If you know someone who is interested in telling their “Chenango Story,” contact Jill Osterhout at 337-3075 or e-mail: josterhout@evesun.com.