Puppet Stuff Blog

Possibilitarian Puppet Theatre

2010-09-22T14:39:00.003-04:00

http://ingenuityfestival2010.sched.org/event/4d234858068d020773194f17117c6100

I've discovered another puppetry event in Cleveland. I'm more than slightly ticked off that blogger won't let me just cut and paste the page long posting I wrote in word....

GRRRR!

I'm feeling lazy so just click on the ingenuity fest logo.

Puss in Boots

2010-09-13T14:17:00.005-04:00

I was planning a theoretical trip to New York and was bummed to see that I would miss a puppet opera performance of Puss In Boots at the New Victory Theatre. Then I discovered it was in rehearsals in Cleveland before it hits New York.

There are performances next Saturday, September 18, 2010. You can get free preview tickets at the Playhouse Square website.

http://www.playhousesquare.org/default.asp?playhousesquare=58&objId=992

You can ONLY get them online or by physically going to the box office. They won’t let you order them over the phone. I had some initial problems with their site and had to TOTALLY disable my security for the site to work (ignore their advice on the MEDIUM security setting - - it doesn’t work). Tickets to the English Language performance are unavailable, so hurry before all of the Spanish Language performances are gone as well.

1.5 Years Later

2010-05-31T12:17:00.004-04:00

Wow. It's been awhile. I actually had some puppet performances and built a new show towards the end of last year. I'll post the details and pictures soon.

Conflicted

2009-01-09T11:01:00.004-05:00

I am so bummed that I didn’t promote Wakka Wakka Productions amazing performance of FABRIK: The Legend of M. Rabinowitz at the Mandel JCC of Cleveland last month. Truly not only an amazing pierce of puppet theatre, but one of the best pieces of theatre in general I have ever seen. Simply amazing. At the morning show I attended there were maybe only two dozen people in attendance (and more than a quarter of those were staff).

Those of you lucky enough to live near San Francisco or Princeton have an opportunity to see this work and I highly recommend it.

http://www.wakkawakka.org/

Because of work I wasn’t able to attend a workshop that was being offered with the group and to be honest I wasn’t really interested in attending. After seeing the group in action I wished I had. A local theatre company, Theatre Ninjas sponsored the workshop with the troupe.

I’ve seen some of Theatre Ninjas work at the Centrum Theatre at Coventry. I saw their production of a collection of absurdist plays the called Mad World… where I discovered that I didn’t like absurdist theatre. But I thought the performers and production was top notch…and I loved the projected penguin cartoon entitled A Video of the History of the Theatre of the Absurd that preceded the show. (click here to watch).

They have a production coming up this weekend.

Here’s their press release:

Big [BOX] 2009 opens with a double bill - puppetry and theatre combine in The Beetlebug and the Bad Worm from Theater Ninjas and artists Katherine Kurre and Danielle Hisey present their new work Kissmet! The Beetlebug and the Bad Worm is a story of about friends, cruelty and bugs. Mixing physical theater and puppetry, the show follows the duo on an epic journey that takes them to the heights of fame, the gutters of poverty, the halls of power and the kitchens of kitchens. Through all their ups and downs, they must learn to help others and get along...assuming they don't kill each other first.Taking threads from physical theater, puppetry, pop culture, clowning and improv, Theater Ninjas has crafted a series of comic misadventures reminiscent of Tom & Jerry, Laurel & Hardy and Samuel Beckett. Akin to a live action cartoon, the endearing characters find humor in the outrageous and the mundane, not to mention the sacred and the profane. It is through this child-like bug's-eye view that they encounter many of the problems and conundrums that make up daily life. Theater Ninjas was founded in 2006 and performs original works and interpretations emphasizing accessible stylistic experimentation, drawing on elements of physical theater, film, improv comedy, dance, and graphic novels. The ninjas offer a chance for up-and-coming artists to develop their craft while providing affordable experiences that entertain, provoke and excite the next generation of Clevelanders.

http://www.theaterninjas.com/.

Theater Ninjas on Facebook!

Theater Ninjas on YouTube!

Here’s where I’m conflicted.

I was actually really looking forward to this show… until I saw their You Tube promotional clip. As I suspected, the puppetry part of the “puppetry and theatre combine” seems to be a sock puppet on one of the performer’s hands. And while I’m sure it will be effectively used, I’m looking for a bit more when I seek out a puppetry performance.

I remember going to see a modern adaptation of Ubu Roi in New York… THE Puppet show of Puppet shows, and though the poster promised puppets, there wasn’t one in site anywhere - - the actor as puppet. Yeah right. I’ve used the “actor as puppet” shtick in productions of my play The Battle for Christmas (Uber-marionation!), but I also had actual puppets in the show, interacting with the cast via video monitors.

So while the clip has a fun, zany, I Love Lucy quality to it that I am sure is quite charming in the theatre (video can NEVER capture the live theatre experience), the promoted puppetry aspects were more what I was interested in so I probably won’t attend. Of course now I won’t go and the thing will end with the Beetlebug and the Bad Worm battling a twelve foot tall animatronic dung beetle.

Aladdin

2008-11-27T14:09:00.001-05:00

Years ago I saw Gene Hare’s wonderful live-action adaptation of Aladdin (that included a very inventive, flying carpet scene). He has now adapted the show for the puppet stage and I can’t wait to see what he does now that he is no longer restricted by the limitations of the human form.

Aladdin, adapted, directed and designed by Eugene Hare will be a delight for the entire family. After last year's wildly successful puppet production of The Firebird Eugene Hare will bring to life the classic epic of a poor young man who, with the help of a djinni and his own cleverness, defeats an evil sorcerer and wins the heart of Princess Badroulbadour.

It plays November 29, 30, December 6, 7, 13, 14. All performances will take place at 2pm.

Further information can be found at:

http://www.clevelandstate.edu/theater/season.html

Zoinks!

2008-11-27T14:07:00.001-05:00

So I did a Yahoo search for “Puppet Stuff” and this blog is actually found by the search engine.

Hooray! I’ve never had that happen before on a website or blog that I had created.

So now I feel obligated to update the site.

Luckily there are some puppet related things coming up in the next several weeks.

Giant Puppet Makes National Website

2008-10-23T17:42:00.003-04:00

Just discovered video footage of the giant Obama Puppet at i-report:

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-121839

Giant Puppet Alert

2008-10-23T12:17:00.001-04:00

Ripped from the pages of Cool Cleveland

(http://www.coolcleveland.com/index.php?n=Main.Current)

Clevelanders can hook up with "Big Barack" -- the 13-foot puppet-promoter of "Getting Out the Early Vote" during lunch hour Fri 10/24 from 11:30AM - 1:30PM on Public Square. Big Barack (left) is the artistic creation of Robin VanLear and Linda Butler. The thousands of Clevelanders who might be taking a walk through Public Square Friday are being encouraged to get down to the Board of Elections at 30th and Euclid to vote early in this historic election. It took VanLear more than 50 hours to sculpt Big Barack's face in clay, cover the clay bust with multiple layers of paper mache, separate the clay from the paper, paint his head, and attach the head and costume! Incredible.

PGNO Update - October 2008

2008-10-19T17:29:00.007-04:00

Seven months later...

To show how easy it would be to update a blog (even for a lazy sod like me), here is the latest information from the Nancy Sander and the Puppetry Guild of Northeastern Ohio.

HEY PIGNOSERS! We are happy to announce our PGNO Special Event #2: a field trip to the Puppet Extravangza at the Abbey Theater in Dublin, Ohio. Dublin is just north of Columbus. That means a two hour trek, but is it worth it!

On Saturday, October 25th there will be two shows: Gray Seal Puppets--so worth the trip alone--is going to perform an absolutely wonderful show, "The Bathtub Pirates" (this show got rave reviews when performed at the National), and Kevin Frisch,that fantastic puppeteer that we saw at our DWP, will be doing "The Wizard of Oz." These shows start at 10 AM . Also there is a possibility of having a puppet slam in the evening if he can get three more volunteer performers who will do a short of about five minutes in length. Can any of you help him out? Great fun...

On Sunday the Cashore Marionettes will perform. I Have no knowledge of them. They perform at 2:00 PM. Nancy Sander is riding down on Saturday and will spend the day and attend the slam if they have it. There are still two spots in the car. If you want to go and carpool call Nancy right away and we'll try to work something out. Oh yes, the cost of the shows is $10.00 per show, $7.00 for seniors or children. RSVP ASAP to Nancy if you want to go and carpool. Directions to the Abbey follow... Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

(Here is a link to the Abbey Theater site)
http://www.dublin.oh.us/recreation/theater/

February 2008 PGNO Meeting

2008-02-14T19:24:00.003-05:00

The Puppetry Guild of Northeastern Ohio’s next meeting will be this Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 2:00 PM at Jean Jackson’s house. It is called “An Afternoon At The Puppet Movies.” First off they will be viewing an authentic performance of Vietnam Water Puppets from Hanoi. Secondly, they will show the work of a famous hand puppeteer from China. Thirdly, they’ll watch “An Hour With Jim Henson” a film that documents his life, his career, his hopes, etc, filmed right before he died, and fourthly, “The American Puppet”, the PBS film on American Puppetry. After that, they will have a potluck. Anyone coming is asked to bring something to share, either to eat or drink. Bring also any puppets or puppet related items for “show-and-tell.” They will also discuss the possibility of hosting the Regional Picnic in May.

The meeting takes places at 2980 Washington Blvd. Cleveland Heights, OH 44118-2450, US. Click on the address for a link to Mapquest for personalized directions.

PGNO

2008-02-05T16:51:00.000-05:00

Got some stuff from Nancy Sander of Puppets with Pizazz! Nancy is also the Vice President of the Puppetry Guild of Northeastern Ohio. I've been a member for the past several years and needed to renew my membership. Nancy sent me a copy of the membership form which I scanned. The guild brings in puppet performers, does an occasional make-it-and-take-it and represents Northeast Ohio for the Annual Day with Puppets. Nancy also sent along a hand puppet pattern designed by Roger Dennis. Click the images below for the full size application and pattern.

Crazy guild members in Punch Attire.

Blue Boy

2008-02-03T10:17:00.000-05:00

I thought I would put a link up to a great, free hand puppet pattern. This is the Blue Boy pattern. I have used this pattern for years as the basis for any mouth puppets I’ve built. I’ll eventually post my modified pattern, but if you need to make a mouth puppet this is the perfect pattern to start with.

Click on the image below to get to the pattern on Marla’s Home Page. Also check out her fun story time puppet photos.

Snow White

2008-02-02T22:14:00.000-05:00

Coming up on Feb 16, 2008 in the Westfield Insurance Studio Theatre at the Idea Center is a performance of Snow White at 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM. Based on the popular fairy tale by the Brothers’ Grimm, Snow White uses nearly life-sized textile puppets to create a large, living, soft, touchable picture book of Snow White characters for members of the audience to interact with and embrace. A unique, creative and engaging puppeteer/actor performance from Germany unlike any you’ve seen before. Click on the dwarf below to explore the German webpage (with a link to the English version) of this creative company/performer.

Tickets are available through Playhouse Square.

Up and Running

2008-02-02T18:43:00.000-05:00

So… I didn’t get this site up in time for the Henson Legacy at the Cleveland Museum of Art or the Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia's touring production of The Very Hungry Caterpillar & Other Eric Carle Favourites or the touring production of Avenue Q at the Palace Theatre but… I'm sure I'll find SOMETHING to post.