A Conversation with Teddy Yudain
By Lynne Colatrella
When you talk with Teddy Yudain, the first thing that crosses your mind is the joy he brings from his energy and his smile.
Teddy grew up in Stamford CT, attending local schools and making classmates laugh. He doesn’t remember a time he wasn’t on stage, as his parents Gail and Ted are Fairfield County acting royalty.
His first role as Lumiere in Beauty and The Beast was when he was a whopping 10 years old. When he was 11, he got his first crack at Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors. Later in his life, that role would play a huge part in his Broadway career.
Teddy always knew he was funny. At first, he thought the path would be standup comedy, but then Curtain Call happened. Teddy was introduced to improvisational comedy through its summer stock program.
As a Stamford High School student, he worked with an improv troupe, Slow Children At Play. He realized he had a talent for improv and comedy could be his way in.
When I asked him who his biggest influences were in his life, he didn’t hesitate. “My parents. They loved the stage so much and encouraged me but not in a stage-mother type way” Next, he said Dan Levy. Dan was also a Curtain Call kid who was a little older than Teddy. “I looked up to him because he was a kid just like me already making a name for himself on the comedy stage and television.” The third were two women, Laurie [Guzda] and Lynne [Colatrella], co-founders of Curtain Call, and teachers of Improvisational Comedy there. (I am trying to be humble as I write this but bursting with pride).
Teddy left Stamford to attend UCONN and it was there he began his lifelong love of puppetry. Through a classmate Teddy got an opportunity to work on El Gato Con Botas with the Gotham Chamber Opera. It was at that gig, that he met Mark Down who would bring him to the Metropolitan Opera House for his second job as a puppeteer. While working at the Met, Teddy had the good fortune to understudy Marc Petrosino. Marc went on to the be lead puppet builder for Little Shop of Horrors in NYC. Marc got Teddy an audition.
That was seven years ago, and Teddy had been the lead puppeteer for this incredible fun off-Broadway show, puppeteering the character Audrey 2 and occasionally stepping out of the puppet to perform the roles of the Dentist, Mushnik, and Seymour. I asked him if he was able to take anything from that 11-year-old Seymour and put it to work today, and he laughed and said “I learned what not to do!”
Spring 2027 will see Teddy on Broadway in The Apple Boys. The show began as a barbershop quartet, written by his friends Jonothon Lyons and Ben Bonnema in 2016. Teddy described it as a show that would fit easily in a suitcase to travel from NYC subway platform to lobbies of buildings.
When fate stepped in and the AC broke in one of those lobbies, The Apple Boys was moved to the actual theatre space in the building. It was there that Jonothon and Ben decided that this piece was something more than a suitcase show.
Teddy has been part of the creative process with his friends. He plays the role of Nathan, a Polish immigrant chef who is, as Teddy puts it, “ambitious and a man of passion.”
After years of work-shopping the production, The Apple Boys will open in 2027 in NYC on February 25 at the Duke on 42nd. (Previews begin February 16.)
Teddy says of The Apple Boys, I’m just doing a show with friends. It’s been like a roller coaster, once you get on there’s no getting off!”
On coming back to his home town to help make a difference for PROJECT MUSIC, Teddy says, “Arts education for children is how we ensure there are artists for tomorrow. I’m proud to support PROJECT MUSIC in their mission to make the world of music more accessible to foster the future generation of artists!”
Teddy and the cast of The Apple Boys will be performing highlights from the show on Monday, November 9 at the PROJECT MUSIC Gala. For tickets: projectmusic.org/gala2026
