Faizaan Peerzada, COO of Rafi Peer Theater Workshop in Lehore, the local puppet group that developed the show with Sesame Workshop, denied the corruption allegations.

FORBES: Killing 'Sesame Street' In Pakistan

Go to the Thang Long Water Puppet Show in Hanoi!

BBC: How to explore Vietnam with kids

Three to five masters manipulate the ropes controlling a single puppet as musicians provide accompaniment to the elaborate show.

UNESCO: Intangible Cultural Heritage

The Smithsonian already had a Kermit puppet from the "Sesame Street" and "The Muppet Show" era.

WSJ: Muppets creator Henson's items head to NYC museum

Chia Steiner(ph), who came to the mall with her two young children to see a puppet show, agreed.

NPR: Most Israeli Citizens Object to Cease-Fire

The Sooty puppet used by Matthew Corbett in his last stage show is to be sold for charity in Dorset.

BBC: Sooty from Matthew Corbett's last stage show auctioned

They have created, for example, an educational puppet show, illustrating, among other horrors, the dangers of distilling alcohol when there are elephants about: they are boozers as well as gourmands.

ECONOMIST: The battle to conserve India's elephants

"We all live in Mr Punch's shadow and what a strange shadow it is, " laughs Mervyn Millar, UK director of Handspring - the puppet company behind War Horse, which is soon to unveil a new show Crow based on the poems of Ted Hughes.

BBC: Mr Punch celebrates 350 years of puppet anarchy

Last year, the highly popular "Wicked" was bested by "Avenue Q, " a plucky little puppet show that moved from off-Broadway.

NPR: Broadway Limo Drivers Rate the Tony Nominees