Larry Reed (puppeteer)

Reed was born in Los Angeles, California, on June 21, 1944. He later returned to San Francisco and joined the American Association for Eastern Arts, now known as the Center for World Music. ==Career==

Reed founded ShadowLight Productions in 1972. He began expanding his works by integrating traditional shadow theatre techniques with a modern theatre style. In the 1990s, Reed developed a method of casting shadows that integrated techniques from cinema, modern theatre, and dance. Reed's shows used three-dimensional shadow masks and handheld puppets projected by point-source lighting onto a 30-foot screen, a method ShadowLight Productions describes as 'live animation'. ShadowLight Productions had a crew of actors and featured live music played by musicians. == Personal life ==

Reed met Jane Levy while they were students at the San Francisco Art Institute. They married in 1977 and had two sons. ==Death==

Reed died from a heart attack at his home in San Francisco, California, on January 30, 2026, at the age of 81. ==Major works==

Shadow Master (1979) Shadow Master is a documentary directed by Reed that has been shown on both PBS and the Discovery Channel. It is about a family of performers in Bali, showing an inside view of Balinese life, as well as the cultural context of the island's theatre, music, and dance. The film takes place over two years, with Reed living and studying with a dalang, I Wayan Wija, and his extended family. In Xanadu (1993–1997) In Xanadu is a Mongolian fantasy written by Zara Houshmand and Reed. The fantasy follows Kublai Khan and his wife, Chabui. The film includes Tibetan, Chinese, and Indonesian theatre techniques. In Xanadu was featured at the 1997 Henson International Festival of Puppetry in New York City and the Spoleto/USA Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. The film was awarded a UNIMA-USA Citation for Excellence. ==Filmography==