A PUBLICATION OF THE PUPPETEERS OF AMERICA

FALL 2022 VOL. 73 NO. 4

Little Amal:
The Hottest Celebrity
in Town Carries a
Message of Hope
 Contents
A PUBLICATION OF THE PUPPETEERS OF AMERICA

FALL 2022 VOL. 73 NO. 4

Editor: Steve Abrams

journal@puppeteers.org
Copy Editing: Steve Abrams
Art Director: Joe Tenerelli
Proofreader: Georgette Forgione
Principal Photographer: Richard Termine
Associate Editor: Jamie Donmoyer
Puppeteers of America Board of Directors:
President: Dustin Curtis
Vice President: Liz Joyce
Secretary: Edna Bland
Treasurer: Katrin Blucker-Ludwig

14
Board Members: Brandon Kirkham
Katy Williams
Photo: Hwayheon Oh
Chris Heady
Adam Kreutinger
Kalob Martinez FEATURES DEPARTMENTS
Membership Officer: Kat Pleviak
membership@puppeteers.org 4 Krystal Puppet Theatre of 3 From the Editor
Kenya Steve Abrams
Administrative Officer: 612-821-2382
office@puppeteers.org By Camilla Henneman 5 Eureka
Nancy Sander
Webmaster: Laura Borgendale 6 Puppetry News
www.puppeteers.org Edited by Puppetry Journal 12 Guild Connection
Kurt Hunter
Advertising: ads@puppeteers.org 7 Remembering Lotte Reiniger
By Richard Bradshaw 33 Scene Between
National Office: Puppeteers of America
Monica Leo
Sabathani Community Center 13 Celebrating the Puppetry Guild
310 East 38th Street, Suite 127 34 Milestones
Minneapolis, MN 55409
of New York at 60
By Bruce Cannon
612-821-2382
Send address changes to: PofA Membership Office
14 Korea Celebrates Puppets
By Chad Williams
c/o Kat Pleviak
820 Warrenville Road 16 Puppets Pondering
Wheaton, IL 60189 Post Pandemic
Join or renew membership: www.puppeteers.org/membership By Ellen Turner Scott
Puppetry Journal (ISSN 0033-443X) 18 Little Amal in New York
is Published Quarterly by Puppeteers of America, Inc. By Steve Abrams
Submit text and images to Steve Abrams, Puppetry Journal Edi-
tor: journal@puppeteers.org. A one page article is 22 Interviews: Joe Kovacs
800 words and photos should be 300 DPI.
A portion of the annual dues paid by members is used as a
and Madame
subscription to Puppetry Journal. By Jeff Bragg
No single copies sold on newsstands. Circulation: 1,700 25 Houston Festival: Two for One
©2019 by Puppeteers of America. All rights reserved. Compiled by Steve Abrams
Periodical postage paid at Minneapolis, Minnesota and
additional entry offices. 26 Coney Island
Postmaster – send address changes to: Puppet Homecoming
Puppeteers of America By Lois Raff Corwin
Sabathani Community Center, Suite 127
310 East 38th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55409 28 Feed Me! Inside the Little
Puppetry Journal is the official magazine of Shop of Horrors
Puppeteers of America, Inc., a national non-profit organization By Steve Abrams
devoted to the improvement of the art of puppetry.
Cover: Little Amal, a 12-foot pup-
Printing by Modern Litho, Jefferson City, MO 31 Memories of a Young Puppeteer pet, attracts crowds in Flushing
By Larry Steckling Meadows Corona Park, Queens,
site of the 1939 and 1964 World’s
32 Puppets at the Children’s Fair.
Theatre of Charlotte Photo: Richard Termine
Contributed by CTC Staff
1
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2
 FROM THE EDITOR

STEVE ABRAMS

Christmastime and Puppets

I n this issue, there are articles and interviews about puppeteers

and puppets that have truly made a difference to our art form.
The brilliant Australian shadow puppeteer Richard Bradshaw
tells a story of connections, inspiration, and friendship with three
legendary friends: Jan Bussell and Ann Hogarth from England and
in Santa. On quite a few
occasions, I would glance
over to Santa’s personal
assistant, and often I would
get a signal to stretch. Santa
the great shadow filmmaker from Germany, Lotte Reiniger. The was having trouble with his
groundbreaking musical Little Shop of Horrors is thrilling audiences costume, or his beard. So Al-
40 years after its debut, and puppeteer/actor Teddy Yudain talked bert sang “Deck the Halls,”
to us about Little Shop. Madame, the creation of Wayland Flowers, followed by “Rudolph,” and
brought a new level of adult bawdiness to clubs, films, and televi- at times of extreme delay,
sion in the 1970s and 1980s. In 2022, Joe Kovacs brings her back “Santa Claus Is Coming to
to vividly entertain again. And our cover story is about Little Amal, Town,” and then hopefully
the 12-foot orphan puppet who has won hearts in more than a Santa was ready for his “Jin-
dozen countries. There are articles about puppetry in New York, gle Bells” cue. It worked like
Houston, Austin, St. Louis, Charlotte, San Diego, Korea, a charm but with one small
and Kenya. cost. Santa’s entrance left no room for the audience to applaud the
This issue goes to print at holiday time. December can mean a end of the show. That was OK. I packed up, collected my check,
very full schedule. I want to share just a bit about how my own work and hurried on to the next gig.
evolved to meet the challenges of a busy season, and no doubt it is The weekends in December were typically filled with three shows
similar to your journey as well. a day and on some days, foolishly, four shows. Fortified with coffee
Santa closes the show. It’s fairly obvious that no “act” should at 8 AM, I would arrive at a department store for Breakfast With
follow him. He is the grand finale. Doing my very first Christmas Santa, dash off to a lunchtime show, and move on to a late after-
noon show. Parties that started late, or a Santa who was not ready,
or snow, could add extra stress to the day. At times, adults were
imbibing “Christmas good cheer.” They were politely encouraged to
The weekends in December were typically stay at the bar to drink and chatter, but sometimes they were with
filled with three shows a day and on some the kids and their tipsy conversations became yet another challenge.
Inspired by Burr Tillstrom, my show centered on my little family
days, foolishly, four shows. Fortified of puppets preparing for the holidays. They would struggle to
decorate with a garland of holly, getting hopelessly tangled up. They
with coffee at 8 AM, I would arrive at had great difficulty wrapping a gift, so the delighted audience would
a department store for Breakfast With offer helpful instructions. With different decorations and different
wrapping paper, the same show would work for Chanukah, singing
Santa, dash off to a lunchtime show, and the “Dreidel Song” at the end.
Many puppeteers have confessed that by the time December 23
move on to a late afternoon show. Parties rolled around, they had run a marathon of shows and were ex-
that started late, or a Santa who was not hausted. The road-warrior puppeteers (oops, the “ambassadors of
holiday happiness”) had not had time to buy one present or put up
ready, or snow, could add extra stress to a single decoration. Puppeteers are part of the service industry. Just
as store clerks and waiters serve the public, our job is to make the
the day. audience happy (and make it look easy). We arrive at a venue and
quickly assess the small changes that would make the show the best
gigs, a couple of clients wanted the puppet show to go after Santa. it could be, perhaps not the best ever, but the best it could be in
So with not much experience and wanting to please the client, I those particular circumstances. There are the gigs where everyone
agreed. Mistake. After Santa, the kids are done. I suggested that the knows that something magically wonderful has happened, a perfect
puppet show introduce Santa. I tried using a puppet Santa at the bond of audience and performer, and other times, not so much. I
end, but he was followed by the “real,” life-size Santa. The puppet remember a show that I thought was just little bit off, but as I was
seemed lame. Albert, my green and yellow mouth puppet loved to leaving, the host said, “You were great. We love your show. See
sing. He could end the show. He didn’t sing well (inspired by my you next year,” and best of all he said, “You are p
part of our holidayy
own not-so-great singing ability), but he was irrepressibly enthusias- tradition.”
tic. So at the end, Albert would sing “Jingle Bells.” It was arranged
with the sponsors that Albert’s song would be the cue to bring
3
 Krystal Puppet Theatre of Kenya
By Camilla Henneman

A
udiences at Great Plains communities, drawing on elements such as
Puppet Train, the Green the wooden figures of the Giriama people,
Mountain Festival, and and the bead and hide–costumed wooden
Puppets in Portland were dolls of the Turkana, Maasai, and Kamba
fortunate to see one of Kenya’s tribes. The story teaches a lesson that is
premier puppet troupes, Krystal Theatre, meant to prepare young people for life.
perform their show Tears by the River. When They were soon invited to perform in
I spent time in Kenya during the late Europe. Fedelis told me, “We translated
1980s, I fell in love with the country and its our script into Spanish to prepare for
people. I was thrilled to see this wonderful three festivals in Spain. After that, we were
show from Kenya come here. invited to perform in Ecuador, Indonesia,
Puppetry as a means of addressing health Poland, Argentina, and South Africa.”
and social issues in Kenya got its start in After COVID hit the world, there was an
1995, as a response to HIV/AIDS. Due to opportunity of doing more public service
the sensitive nature of the subject and stigma shows. They created a video show, Ask Dr.
attached to it, health organizations were Pamoja, a series of short puppet stories to
looking for a way to get information to the inform children and caregivers about the
public in a form that would engage interest benefits of hand washing, masks, social
and not upset them. Myths and taboos distancing, and vaccination. They used their
surrounding HIV were dominating the news. well-known monkey character, Bali, and
Puppetry offered a way to get the message out Masks as well as puppets from the work of created a new character, Dr. Pamoja (Pamoja
that the public could accept. Puppets could Krystal Puppet Theatre. means “together” in Swahili). In Kenya,
say things to an audience that humans could Photos courtesy of Krystal Puppet Theatre puppetry is also spreading to the streets as
not. Puppets could talk about sexual issues who mentored many Kenyan puppeteers. artists are incorporating puppets into street
and show condom demonstration without Fedelis began in school as a stage actor, a protests to voice their anger.
upsetting the audience. choir member, and a percussionist. He was It would be great to see more of Krystal
The Family Planning Private Sector inspired by his family’s Kamba heritage, and Theatre’s shows here. Bringing performers
Project, an organization in Nairobi, invited particularly by his grandmother’s traditional from Africa involves detailed planning. One
Gary Friedman, a renowned puppeteer stories and songs, which she would tell with of the most challenging aspects of bringing
from South Africa, to train some students a wooden doll dressed in a banana peel performers from overseas is procuring
in puppetry to develop live productions and and colored beads. From his family, he also the visas. Shoshana Bass and Eric Bass
videos addressing issues like HIV/AIDS, learned traditional drumming and dance. from Sandglass Theater secured the visas
gender-based violence, girl child education, Chrispin grew up listening to traditional allowing the group to travel. It is a long,
conservation, and corruption. Through oral stories narrated by his parents, expensive, and sometimes difficult process,
the Kenya Institute of Puppet Theatre, grandparents, and teachers. He would bring but it is well worth it. Some tips I got from
they created projects for community characters to life, by singing with them and Shoshanna are: Start a year in advance;
involvement, awareness, growth, and telling stories together with his six siblings. collaborate with other presenters, schools,
development. In 2002, an international puppetry and community organizations; and build
Fedelis Kyalo and Chrispin Mwashaga festival was held in Nairobi. Audiences connections. Figure unexpected costs into
met at a training session in Mombasa. were introduced to many different your fundraising. The interview on the
Together, Fedelis and Chrispin formed puppetry styles, including marionettes artist’s side matters too. They need to be
Krystal Theatre, named after Eric Krystall, and Bunraku. Fedelis and Chrispin were well prepared.
inspired to create their first On these days of tight funding and
theater performance, Tears by difficult travel, it might be tempting not
the River, which incorporated to deal with the visa process; after all,
marionettes, hand puppets, what can we really learn from a brave little
masks, drums, and silhouettes. monkey from Kenya? But as the United
The story is a folktale with States is getting more insular, I think that
animal characters that explores now we need artists from outside of our
courage and the modern-day culture more than ever. We need stories and
issue of migration. Traditional performers that bring a message of courage.
oral storytelling combined What can we learn from a brave little
with music and humor tell a monkey with a big heart? I would respond,
story about the courage of one “So much more than we can ever imagine!”
little monkey and jealousy of Krystal Theatre: kpuppettheatre@
others. The show pulls from the gmail.com; Twitter: Kpuppeteers Krystal;
Scene from Tears by the River. traditions of Kenya’s many tribal Facebook: Krystal Puppeteers
4
 EUREKA!
NANCY SANDER

Greetings, Working Puppet Folk (I hope, I hope, I hope!)

I just returned from the Great Lakes Region’s Puppet Potlatch,
and what a joy it was to hear that folks are slowly but surely
returning to work. I, too, was pleased to join the ranks of
the almost employed. Being 81 and out of work for two years, I
wondered if I would be able to return to work. I ran a trial summer,
heavy cardboard. He said to go to a music store that sells guitars.
Guitars are shipped in a box within a box, and that inside box is as
hard as wood and very light weight. Best of all, it’s free!

Hot Glue Method. Nate Brown of Shaker Heights, Ohio, has to

booking one show every two weeks and…YES! Woo! Wee! be the king of hot glue. His huge, magnificent creations are sculp-
tures of fur tufts and hot glue. He says that to get a faster setup of
large amounts of hot glue, use ice packs. Also, never do any hot glu-
ing without a bowl of cold water next to your project, and practice
putting your burning hand into the bowl, not your mouth (which
I’ve done numerous times!).

Big Slabs of Cardboard. If you are working with big props and
on a budget, Amy Trompetter of New Rochelle, New York, says that
you can get big, strong sheets of cardboard from your local bicycle
shop. These are also good for stages at the elementary school. And
again, it’s free.

Bookmarks for Advertising. There was a time when you could

post your flyer at the library. You could leave your promotional
postcard on the librarian’s desk. No more. But Peggy Pearson of
Greenwood, Indiana, says that your advertising piece, in the shape
of a bookmark, is always welcomed, and kids can pick one up to
carry home in their book. Order postcards designed to be cut in
half, and you have a bookmark.

Working With Fleece. So many people are working with fleece.

Smaller Sound Systems. I felt that it would be possible for me It stretches, but Jenny Walker of Lyndhurst, Ohio, cautions users
to lighten the load by purchasing a Bose speaker from Walmart. to watch out for its stretchability. It stretches only one way, so be
There are many small speakers available, but for my music I thought careful to double check the bias before cutting. She also says to pay
I would spring for a high-end product. It is 6 × 4 × 1½ inches and extra for the non-pill type.
will take wallpaper off the back of the gym wall. Well worth the
price ($125), because the quality of the sound is incredible. Fire! I was visiting Brad Lowe in Waterford, Michigan, when he
accidently tipped over a burning candle. I was ready to rush for the
Headset and Amplifier. Next, I purchased a Zoweetek Voice water when he just picked it up and put it back on the table. It was
Amplifier from Amazon. This little baby is 3½ × 2½ × 1½ inches a lightbulb! It was so realistic that I couldn’t believe it. Of course, I
and comes with two headsets (one to plug in and one Bluetooth). immediately thought of puppet props. He said he bought it at Hob-
It holds a charge for several days. It was developed for gym teach- by Lobby. I had seen other “candles,” but this was bigger, brighter,
ers who were losing their voices trying to yell at the kids on the and more realistic.
basketball team. I slip it into my pocket, and I am good to go. If you
Well, folks, I have some other work to do, so I have to sign off. I
are going to do some singing, you might want to upgrade, but for
love to hear from you, any way you can. Stay safe, and work toward
crowds of 100 or under, it’s a blessing. It’s just perfect for libraries. I
excellence!
bought mine for $55.00.

Folding Stool. So now I had 1 pound plus of sound equipment.

How else could I reduce the number of carry-in trips? I needed both I, too, was pleased to join the ranks of
a stool and a step stool. At www.smithpicks.com, I purchased a re-
tractable folding stool. When closed, it is the size of my purse (and the almost employed. Being 81 and out of
much lighter!) with a carrying handle. It can expand just a short
way, to make a step stool, or all the way, for chair height. It comes work for two years, I wondered if I would
with a sit-upon cushion as well. I paid $44.98—pricey, I know, but
stuff like this saves on the chiropractor bills!
be able to return to work. I ran a trial
summer, booking one show every two
Extra Strong Cardboard. Jeff Bragg of Washington, DC, whom
I met at the Coney Island Festival, told me a good source of really weeks and…YES! Woo! Wee!
5
 Puppetry News
Pinocchio Neighbour Totoro. The New York Times reported, “The show’s visual
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is a 2022 stop-motion animated invention honors the animal kingdom, and the puppeteer Basil
musical fantasy film directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gus- Twist and his hardworking team spring one enchantment after
tafson. In previews, critics praised the direction, the writing, the another on the audience. (The puppets are the glorious handiwork
animation, the score, and the voice acting. of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.)” The play is based on a sweet,
More than 10 years in the making, Pinocchio was announced by tender 1988 animated film by Hayao Miyazaki. The play, directed
del Toro in 2008 and scheduled for release in 2014, but the project by Phelim McDermott, who divides his career between theater and
ran into many obstacles. In 2018, the project was revived with the opera, is a tale of two sisters displaced to rural Japan in the 1950s.
support of Netflix. Streaming on Netflix began December 9, 2022. Financial Times called it “a tender and remarkably beautiful show.”
Del Toro is most famous for directing Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) and Life of Pi
The Shape of Water (2017), which earned Academy Awards for best Life of Pi comes to Broadway, with previews starting March 9,
director and best picture. The Pinocchio producers are listed as Net- 2023, and officially opening March 30, 2023. A young boy, Pi, and
flix Animation, The Jim Henson Company, Shadow Machine, and a Bengal tiger (a puppet) named Richard Parker share a journey in
Double Dare You Productions. It was Lisa Henson who approached a very small boat. The puppet and movement direction by Finn
ShadowMachine founders Alex Bulkley and Corey Campodonico Caldwell, and puppet design by Caldwell and Nick Barnes, are an
about having their animation studio come on board for the produc- essential and spectacular part of the show.
tion, and she introduced them to the two directors. https://www.lifeofpionstage.com/#trailer
The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi was published in Italy Life of Pi as a film in 2012 was nominated for 11 Academy
in 1883, and since then, there have been many productions, all Awards. The stage play made its debut in Sheffield, England, in
done in different styles. In 1938, the WPA Theatre produced Yasha 2019 and opened in London, December 2021. The Olivier Awards
Frank’s Pinocchio as a stage play, and by 1939, the Suzari Mario- are the London theater equivalent of Broadway’s Tony Awards. The
nettes were performing a puppet version of Frank’s show. In 1940, seven performer/puppeteers who play the tiger in Life of Pi were
the iconic Disney film made its debut. A new, live-action version collectively awarded Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the Olivier
by Disney released in September 2022 received devastating reviews, Awards for “using intricate
with a low 27% rating on puppetry to bring the animal
Rotten Tomatoes. characters to life.”
Del Toro’s Pinocchio Before coming to Broad-
received a 98% rating on way, Life of Pi will make its
Rotten Tomatoes. To see North American premiere
the brilliant puppets and at the American Repertory
del Toro’s passionate com- Theater at Harvard University
mentary, take a look at the December 4, 2022, to January
YouTube clip “Guillermo 29, 2023.
del Toro Behind the Craft.”
https://www.youtube. News of Christmas Past
com/watch?v=oUoS-CBi- Almost all of Tony Sarg’s
4iA New York City performances
were in late December: Rip
Allie Scollon Van Winkle (1920), Don
Habib Nasib Nader, Tom Larkin, and Scarlet Wilderink in Life of Pi.
John Scollon of the Photo: Johan Persson Quixote (1923), Treasure Island
Columbia Marionette (1925), Ali Baba (1926), and
Theatre, Columbia, South Carolina, proudly announced that the Alice in Wonderland (1930). New York City offers choices. In 1929,
founder of the theater—his mom, Allie Scollon—celebrated her 90th there were holiday offerings by Sue Hastings Marionettes, Remo
birthday on November 10, 2022. Allie Scollon was the recipient of Bufano, and Tony Sarg. All through the 1930s, Bufano, Sarg, and
the Puppeteers of America President’s Award in 2009. At the age Hastings presented December shows. In 1932, the Yale Puppeteers
of 18, Allie and her husband, Bill, built their first puppets. She was added to the mix, and the following December, Italy’s Teatro dei
soon performing shows at department stores. In the late 1960s, the Piccoli was on Broadway. The Salzburg Marionettes were on Broad-
Scollons rented a store as a studio and began producing full-length way in 1952, followed by December performances on many other
marionette shows that would travel the country. In 1982, the Scol- visits. Other holiday-time Broadway shows included Baird’s Ali Baba
lons moved to South Carolina and in 1988 founded their theater and the 40 Thieves (1956), Alice in Wonderland (1982), and Shari Lewis
company. In 1995, they opened their theater building under the and Lamb Chop (1994).
leadership of John Scollon and Karri Scollon. Sarg’s upside-down marionettes, the huge balloons for the Macy’s
My Neighbour Totoro Thanksgiving Day Parade, began in 1927. Nick Coppola and Macy’s
This season, the Royal Shakespeare Company presented My have created more holiday magic, each year from 1976 to 2017.
6
 Remembering
Lotte Reiniger
By Richard Bradshaw for part of a Zoom presentation
organized by the Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry, August 7, 2022.
he first time I heard the name Lotte Reiniger was in for their marionette puppet Muffin the Mule, which had been

T Sydney in 1952. I was 13, and a school-friend had

persuaded me to join a little children’s puppet theater
in the beachside suburb of Clovelly. At the time, the
Hogarth Puppets of Jan
Bussell and his wife, Ann Hogarth, from
England, were on tour with marionettes
for the Australian Children’s Theatre.
appearing on BBC TV since 1946, and is claimed to be the first-ever
TV puppet star. While I didn’t see the adult show in 1952, I did
get to see their children’s marionette show in Sydney, from the back
upstairs row of a 2,500-seat theater.
After their tour in Australia, Jan asked
Lotte to make figures for some Aboriginal
legends and years later, gave some of these
A few evening performances for adults figures to me. On the back is written,
were organized, with shadow puppets “Runnymede Framing of Egham.” The
as well as marionettes, and my school- Bussells lived in Runnymede (part of
friend had been to one of those shows Egham), and Runnymede is where King
in a suburban town hall. He had been John signed the Magna Carta in 1215.
very impressed by the main shadow story, In 1965, I visited the Bussells when the
Oscar Wilde’s The Happy Prince, with 750th anniversary of the Magna Carta was
shadow puppets made by Lotte Reiniger. being celebrated.
The story was told using three screens, a There are two more Aboriginal figures
central rectangular screen with a circular by Lotte that the Bussells gave me, and
screen on either side. The Bussells did I’ve attached them to clear plastic on the
the narration, moving from screen to window of one of our doors with the
screen so that there was no break in the quite unrelated angel Lotte made for The
25 minutes of story, even though there Happy Prince. In one hand is the heart
were 15 changes of scene. that remained after the rest of the statue
The shadow show had originally been was melted down. In the other is the dead
made for television, which in those days swallow that distributed the gold and jew-
went out live. Jan Bussell had invited els from the statue to the needy and died
Lotte to make the figures in 1950 but of cold when, in order to stay with the
was a bit alarmed on the day she came to Happy Prince statue, it missed the autumn
cut them out, because she arrived with migration to Africa.
no notes or sketches. “Don’t worry,” Lotte’s interest in making some shadow
she said. “It’s all in here!” and pointed puppets as well as silhouette films was
to her head. The Bussells had to do a sparked by a visit to Athens in 1936, when
show that day, and when they returned she saw a show by the great Karagiozis
12 hours later, there was Lotte sitting on player Mollas. She was delighted by the
the floor surrounded by all the exquisite Lotte Reiniger, 1979. enthusiastic enjoyment of the large adult
Photos courtesy of Richard Bradshaw
scenery and figures needed. Lotte didn’t audience, demonstrating that shadow
draw her figures before cutting them out theater could be popular entertainment.
but created the silhouettes directly from card with the deft use of She mentions this in her book, saying how the distributors of her
scissors, after roughly mapping out the design with the scrawl of a films insisted that they be marketed as “art,” but she preferred them
pencil. Nor did she pursue a geometric accuracy in patterns, such as to have popular appeal. Lotte was very taken by the lively action of
tiled floors, window panes, columns, and rows of bells. That wasn’t the Greek puppets, which are worked from behind with horizontal
necessary and, in fact, would have looked wrong. rods pushed into the holes of the figures, which used to be made of
The Bussells were my link to Lotte. Even before I joined the leather. At that time, German shadow puppets were usually worked
Clovelly Puppet Theatre, I had borrowed Jan’s book The Puppet from below, often with clear plastic strips. By a happy coincidence,
Theatre from a library and tried my hand at making a marionette. Jan Bussell had visited Athens in 1938 and had also been inspired
The Hogarth Puppets were already quite famous in England, mainly continued on next page
7
 continued from previous page
by Mollas’s work. He wrote about it in his book The Puppets and I
(1950) but before he had approached Lotte to make the shadow
puppets for The Happy Prince.
It is not surprising, then, to find that the puppets for The Happy
Prince were worked from behind with rods. Jan had special brass
fittings made to go onto the end of the rods, into which little flat
bolts could be screwed from the screen side of the puppets. With
so many puppets, a lot of time was spent before and after a show
attaching and then removing the rods. As an amateur, I had taken
a shadow show to England with me in 1964 but had worked the
figures from below. I then remade them to be worked by rods from
behind, but didn’t enjoy the time spent fixing and removing rods,
and trying to keep them safe during a performance. A couple of
months before I returned to Australia in early 1966, Jan suggested I
could try hinging the rods to the puppets, and that solved all those
problems. For me, it was a real breakthrough … but I later read
in Lotte’s book that she was already doing that, using rods from
umbrellas.
The Happy Prince.
Jan Bussell had first met Lotte when she was working in London
in 1938-39, before World War II. In 1937, in the very early experi-
mental days of BBC television at Alexandra Palace, Jan had become
a director of televised plays. One day, Lotte had come to the studio
to be a guest on an interview program. Already an admirer of her
films, Jan then had no idea of her new interest in shadow puppets.
Back in Sydney in 1953, one of the adult puppeteers and my
school friend, Arthur Cantrill, had been inspired to act out another
Oscar Wilde story with shadow puppets, The Nightingale and the
Rose. This was also done using three screens, but they resembled
the three panels of a church window. I helped them, and that was
my introduction to working with shadow puppets. I never imagined
then that they would take over my life, but it’s clear that this was all
Lotte and Jan’s fault!
In 1964, I left Sydney to spend two years based in London. A
couple of months after arriving, I attended a festival of USSR pup-
petry in Leningrad with Edith Murray, the director of the Clovelly
Puppet Theatre. We traveled there by ship from London. That is
where, for the first time, I met Jan and Ann Bussell. After Lenin-
grad, we went to Moscow to see more puppetry and then returned
to England by train. Jan and Ann were also on that long train
journey and invited me to work with them doing shows in London
Scissor-cut (3.5 × 3.5 inches), gift from Lotte to Jan Bussell. parks with their caravan theater that summer. I was planning to do
some teaching in England, but this was holiday time, and I gladly
accepted. The Bussells’ home was alongside the river Thames in
Egham, and I had accommodation in a bed and breakfast near
a boat shed a few doors along. While I was rehearsing with the
Bussells, they invited me to a show, and so at last, 12 years after
I had first heard about it, I got to see The Happy Prince…but from
backstage.
One Saturday afternoon…August 1, 1964 (58 years ago!)…
Lotte Reiniger came to tea from her home in North London. Jan
collected her from Egham Station. A proper English tea is quite an
event, with cakes and other nice things laid on. Lotte’s much-loved
husband, Carl Koch, had died exactly eight months earlier, and she
was still a bit sad. Before she left, she invited me to visit her studio
and drew a little map to help me to get there.
A couple of months later, once I had found some longer-term
accommodation in London, and was doing some supply teaching
in order to pay the rent, I visited Lotte at The Abbey, an artists’
community in High Barnet in the north of London, where she and
Carl had begun living in 1952. Shadow puppeteer Betty Polus (a.k.a
Elisheva Hart), from the Bay Area, visited her at The Abbey in 1979
and wrote that Lotte’s flat gave the impression of floating in trees.
Puppets by Lotte at the home of Richard Bradshaw. It is hard to say how privileged I felt, almost overwhelmed, to
8
be invited to Lotte’s home. She showed
me the trick table with a chain to the
camera up above, which was pulled to
take a single frame. I was a bit concerned
that she was now using colored figures lit
from above, feeling that the silhouettes
were dramatically stronger, and worried
that the final result might look like a
poor animated cartoon, but I’m glad to
say I was wrong. I have a DVD of her
1958 film A Night in a Harem, which used
such colored figures, and it’s a delight. In
1963, before I arrived in London, Lotte
had made a five-minute film for a Coven-
try Theatre production of a Christmas
pantomime of Cinderella. The sequence
showed the pumpkin and mice being
turned into a coach and horses. Edith
Murray had seen it and enjoyed the
coach flying over recognizable London
landmarks: Tower Bridge, St Paul’s, and
Westminster.
After Lotte had shown me her work-
place, she invited me to supper. She had
cooked a main course of veal and capers Greek puppeteer Mollas, Athens, 1936. Scratchboard by Lotte.
followed by apfelstrudel and cream, with
some red wine to drink. I was sharing
a flat with three other Australians, and we were not very house- In 1975, after a show for a school in Terang, a town about 200 km
trained, so this was a memorable luxury. Alongside the table was a (about 134 miles) west of Melbourne, a teacher asked if she could
pile of silhouettes Lotte had cut from newspapers and magazines. record me singing “Super Kangaroo.” It turns out she had been
I saw Lotte again some months later at the end of a talk she gave that other Australian Lotte had mentioned 10 years earlier.
at the V&A Museum during school holidays. At question time, a In January 1973, I was yet again staying with the Bussells. They
little girl, clearly worried about the tedium of frame-by-frame ani- had been in Australia in the first half of 1972, and it is thanks
mation, asked, “Do you enjoy doing this?” to their suggestion that I performed at a Puppeteers of America
Lotte took a deep breath and replied, “Yes!” Although Lotte’s Festival in Oakland ahead of the big UNIMA Festival in France.
command of English was excellent, when she hadn’t heard a With their help that January, I did a show at the Commonwealth
question clearly, she would ask, “Bitte?” After the talk, Lotte told Institute in London, mainly for the local puppeteers. We had invit-
me there was another Australian in the audience, but she had left. ed Lotte, but she got the date wrong and later sent a long apology,
which I didn’t expect:
Dear Mr. Bradshaw,
I have no words to try to explain to you,
There was Lotte sitting why I was not there on Monday.
It must have something to do with my
on the floor surrounded braincells which are failing me in my old
age : I have got muddled with the days
by all the exquisite of the week. Please believe me that I am
more than crestfallen - for I wanted noth-
scenery and figures ing more eagerly, than to see your show, as
needed. Lotte didn’t it is such a rare pleasure to [see] someone
else’s shadow show and I desire nothing
draw her figures before more, than to meet my colleagues. Please
forgive me.
cutting them out but Thank you so much for sending me the
ticket. I meant to come with my assistants,
created the silhouettes who also were most keen to see it and are
directly from card with now furious with me for my muddle.
Wishing you all the best and hoping
the deft use of scissors, sincerely for a next time, to amend this
mistake
after roughly mapping Yours Lotte Reiniger
This generous note was accompa-
out the design with the nied by a little scissor-cut (about 9
scrawl of a pencil. Scissor-cut of Jan Bussell and Ann Hogarth, scene from by 9 cm [about 3.5 inches]). On the
Aucassin and Nicolette. continued on next page

9
The Happy Prince, 1950. Pfarrhaus (pastor’s house) in Dettenhausen, where Lotte spent her last
months.

continued from previous page and I had been their mathematics teacher a decade earlier. While I
back is written: For Richard Bradshaw with friendly greetings from most was chatting with them, I caught sight of Lotte standing at one side
apologetic. Lotte Reiniger with a broad smile on her face, waiting to say hello. A wonderful
In 1979, I performed at a big puppet festival in London. The surprise! She was staying on after my show in order to see Albrecht
main force behind this was Penny Francis, but Jan Bussell was the Roser, who was playing there that night.
artistic director. For two weeks, I played for school audiences in At that same festival, I met Liliane Morin from France, who
the charming New Arts Theatre near Leicester Square, which was asked if I was interested in touring Europe. I said yes but told
perfect for me. But on the Sunday afternoon in the middle of the Margaret that I didn’t think anything would come of it. How wrong
season, I did a show to a large public audience in the Wigmore I was! The first tour was to begin in France in late 1981, and before
Hall. It’s a famous venue for chamber concerts and boxing matches it was finalized, I received a letter from people named Happ in
but not very good for shadow puppets. Not only is the seating on Dettenhausen, Germany, asking if I could do a workshop and show
a flat floor, but also the ceiling is of frosted glass and allows some there. Liliane was able to add it to the end of the tour in February
daylight in. It was not an easy show, but at the end, three young 1982.
men came up to speak with me. They were Australian doctors, When Margaret and I got to Dettenhausen, we discovered that
this was where Lotte was living at the end of her life. Dettenhausen
is a village of about 5,500, about 30 km (18 miles) south of Stutt-
gart. It is near Waldenbuch, where Ritter chocolates are made, and
SOME REFERENCES
Tübingen, the university town, is a bit further south. The Happs
■ Lotte Reiniger, Shadow Theatre and Shadow invited Lotte to give a workshop in Dettenhausen for German and
Films, London: B.T. Batsford, 1970 (also published Swiss puppeteers in 1978. In mid-1979, she was back in Germany for
as Shadow Puppets, Shadow Theatres and Shad- a retrospective exhibit at the puppet museum in Munich. In 1980,
ow Films, Boston, Plays Inc, 1975) her health was failing, and with the help of the Happs, she moved
■ Jan Bussell, The Puppet Theatre, London: Faber & from London to Dettenhausen, at first to a retirement home and
Faber, 1946. then, in the autumn of 1980, into their home. Alfred Happ is a Lu-
theran pastor, and at the time, he and his wife, Helga, and daughters
■ Jan Bussell, The Puppets and I, London: Faber & Judith and Kati lived in the pfarrhaus (pastor’s residence) near the
Faber, 1950. church, and Lotte made shadow plays with the family.
■ Ann Hogarth and Jan Bussell, Fanfare for Puppets, We were in Dettenhausen in February 1982, and Lotte had
Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1985. died in the previous June. Alfred Happ had conducted her funeral
service. Albrecht Roser attended and was very impressed. Nancy
■ Whitney Grace, Lotte Reiniger: Pioneer of Film Ani-
Staub from the United States was also there and says it was a great
mation, Jefferson NC: McFarland & Company, 2017.
celebration with an “oompah-pah” German band. The room we
■ Hans Christian Andersen, Die kleine Seejungfrau stayed in had been Lotte’s, and her books were still on the shelves.
(with scissor-cuts by Lotte Reiniger), Dettenhau- On a later visit, we saw that a simple tombstone had been erected
sen: Evangelische Kirchengemeinde, 1980. with the names Lotte Reiniger-Koch and Carl Koch. How was that
■ Alfred Happ (Editor), Mozart: Die grossen Opern in possible? Carl had died in 1963! The Bussells told me that Lotte
Scherenschnitten von Lotte Reiniger, Tübingen: had kept the urn with Carl’s ashes on a mantelpiece and every
Heliopolis Verlag, 1987. night lit a candle on either side. Even when she traveled to North
America, she took his ashes with her. One is reminded of that first
■ Richard Bradshaw’s Guide to Shadow Puppets, animated film on which they worked together before they were
Garden Bay BC: Charlemagne Press, 2015. married: The Ornament of the Loving Heart.
Alfred Happ persuaded the Stadtmuseum (the town museum) of
10
Tübingen to set up a permanent exhibition of Lotte’s work, and the of the sales went toward restoration of the church in Dettenhausen.
museum has an online shop where you can buy related books and It was her last work. Alfred also published a huge book of her scis-
DVDs. I strongly recommend the biography Alfred wrote, which sor-cuts illustrating operas by her favorite composer, Mozart.
sells for about 15 euros. Even if you can’t handle the German text, Lotte was not just a great artist; she was a warm, generous per-
it is richly illustrated and you can read Whitney Grace’s biography son, happy to share her art with as many people as possible. And,
for the story in English. Alfred contributed to the silhouette diary like Mozart, she was a genius.
Lotte kept when she and Carl took over Jean Renoir’s film La
Tosca in Italy in 1940. Lotte illustrated Hans Anderson’s Die Kleine Richard Bradshaw,
Seejungfrau (The Little Mermaid) with scissor-cuts, and the proceeds Bowral NSW, August 2022.

Biographical Notes From

World Encyclopedia of Puppetry Arts
Hogarth Puppets Lotte Reiniger, born in Berlin
The Hogarth Puppets was (1899-1981), earned a place in
founded in 1932 in London by cinema history and puppet history
Jan Bussell (1909-1985) and Ann with her shadow silhouette film The
Hogarth (1910-1993) and became Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926), a
Britain’s best-known company at pioneering feature-length animated
home and abroad. Ann Hogarth film. At the age of 20, she made her
was trained as a stage manager at first complete film, a “short,” The
the Royal Academy of Dramatic Ornament of the Loving Heart (1919),
Art. While Jan Bussell served in in which she met Carl Koch (1892-
the navy he collected puppets from 1963), whom she married two years
Asia. He was an actor and televi- later in 1921. Her work was actively
sion producer already involved in supported by Carl Koch, also a
puppetry when the two met. Their skilled animator, who master-mind-
most famous puppet was Muffin ed many of the technical processes
the Mule, which enjoyed a long involved in the filmmaking, leaving
television life of its own in a BBC Reiniger free to design, scissor-cut,
series from 1946 to 1954. Ann and bring to life her witty and
Hogarth operated the marionettes, charming characters and creatures.
and Annette Mills played the piano On the set of Muffin the Mule. Left to right: Annette Mills (at The war years were difficult. In
on which Muffin and his friends piano), Ann Hogarth, and Jan Bussell, puppeteers. 1949, Reiniger and Koch started a
performed. Muffin has passed into new life in London. Puppeteers Jan
television history as part of the Bussell and Ann Hogarth befriend-
national heritage. He continued to ed them. Reiniger worked on more
appear live in the Hogarth Pup- than 40 films throughout her career,
pets’ variety shows, in prestigious including 12 short traditional “fairy
theaters including London’s West tale” films made in London in
End, with Jan Bussell as narrator 1954. In the late 1970s, she visited
and musician and Ann Hogarth North America for the first time, to
as manipulator. In 1950, famed conduct workshops.
filmmaker/puppeteer Lotte Rein-
iger created shadow puppets for Richard Bradshaw, born in Sydney,
the Hogarth’s production of Oscar Australia, is best known for a solo shadow
Wilde’s The Happy Prince. The puppet show, which he has performed in
Hogarth Puppets toured interna- 25 countries, and at five PofA National
Festivals, first in 1972. He was one of six
tionally with their string puppets to
puppeteers profiled in the series Jim Henson
Australia, Africa, North America, Presents the World of Puppetry. He
and Europe. Jan Bussell, author was a guest artist at the National Puppetry
of eight puppetry books, served as Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Center in
chairman of the British Centre of 2007 and 2016.
UNIMA and president of interna- https://www.youtube.com/
tional UNIMA from 1968 to 1976. Lotte at work with scissors. watch?v=Wy63sh0TY-o&t=11s

11
 GUILD CONNECTION
FILM REVIEW
KURT HUNTER
KEITH SHUBERT

Zoom Is Here to Stay

H aving once again maxed out my “in-house” and “in-ga-
rage” storage, I spent quite a bit of time this summer
and fall deciding what to keep and what to let go. As we
slowly find our way past the pandemic, it feels like the guilds are do-
ing some of this too. My own guild, the Twin Cities Puppeteers,
The Puppetry Guild of Greater St. Louis had their October
meeting at Bob Kramer’s Marionettes, which included the opportu-
nity to see a performance of Marvin’s Halloween Party.

The Puppet Guild of South Florida met in August at the

did some physical housekeeping by thinning home of Carol Cheyne for food, friends,
out the guild library, which has been in storage sharing, and show and tell. Amy Carlson
for several years. Now the much smaller library has also arranged for the guild to use the art
will be available at guild meetings again. room at the high school where she teaches for
meetings. In November, the guild was a part
It looks like many guilds have decided that of the Day of the Dead celebration in Fort
Zoom is something to keep. Some guilds have Lauderdale.
experimented with hybrid (in-person and
online) meetings, but I’ve been surprised at The Florida Suncoast Puppet Guild
how many guilds are still having Zoom-only is not meeting in person yet, but the guild
meetings. The Greater Houston Puppetry newsletter, edited by Robert Anthony, keeps
Guild had a performance via Zoom for their members connected. The latest issue was a
October meeting by Lisa Sturz, with her de- tribute to Priscilla Lakus, a founding member
lightful tabletop version of Aesop’s Fables. Their of the guild who passed away in July.
November presentation, also via Zoom, was by
Leonardo Velasquez, “Mr. Leo,” who performs Joe Emory edits the newsletter for the West
using magic, music, storytelling, and puppets Michigan Puppetry Guild, which high-
in Spanish and English. lights members’ activities. The November-December issue included
information about the Great Lakes Region’s annual Potlatch and the
In October, the Boston Area Guild of Puppetry met via work of Jason Yancey, who uses shadow puppets to teach Spanish.
Zoom with special guest Kate Brehm, a movement director and
artist specializing in puppetry and physical acting, who is currently The newsletter of the San Francisco Bay Area Puppeteers’
directing a large production at Harvard University. Guild, edited by Michael Nelson, is always packed with informa-
tion. Recent issues have included highlights of the Left Coast
The Atlanta Puppetry Guild focused on work created at the Puppet Fest, the Children’s Fairyland Day of Puppetry, and a new
National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Cen- Jim Henson exhibit in San Francisco.
ter for their October meeting via Zoom.
The September meeting of the Puppetry Guild of Upstate
Sofia Padilla of Paradox Teatro, who spends part of her time in New York featured a performance of The Old Tyme Punch and Judy
Minneapolis, presented a virtual workshop on “Making Shadow Show, with the first use of George Blake’s 1880 Punch and Judy “fit
Puppet Joints and Mechs” in November for the National Capital up.”
Puppetry Guild.
A bit farther south, the Puppetry Guild of Greater New
The Twin Cities Puppeteers started the fall with two hybrid York met in September at the Jim Henson Carriage House for a
meetings. In September, Cecilia Schiller, an excellent woodcarver discussion about the tricks of the trade for touring puppet shows
who has developed an extraordinary talent for building automata, locally and nationally.
talked to us about her work and demonstrated her “Puppet Master”
automaton. In October, Chris Griffith and Shari Aronson of Z Pup- The Puppetry Guild of Northeastern Ohio had a very
pets Rosenschnoz shared with us about the latest puppetry videos interesting program for their November meeting, with Brad Clark
they have created focusing on the Cherokee language. showing very large, corrugated cardboard masks that he made with
a paper sculpture technique and his carved wooden Baron von
The Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry had a different kind Munchausen marionette.
of hybrid event in November when David Gordezky presented “Sub-
ject & Object,” a clown/puppetry hybrid workshop. The Connecticut Guild of Puppetry has a new T-shirt
available on their website, www.ctpuppetry.org. It’s a great way to
The members of the Detroit Puppeteers Guild were finally promote the guild and probably make a little money along the way.
able to get together for a birthday party, the guild’s 76th, in October
with a dinner and show at Kathie Henk’s studio. Rob Papineau’s Don’t forget to let me know what your guild is doing. I’d love to
Pippin Puppets performed Magic Tricks With Batty Witch. receive news about your guild at kurt@huntermarionettes.com.
12
 Awe and Possibility, Celebrating the
Puppetry Guild of New York at 60
By Bruce Cannon, Guild President
1962 was a profound year for me. I was seven years old and full and co-editor with Ann Marie Cecil (1968-1971). He was editor of
of awe and possibility. In 1962, Puppetry Guild of Greater New the newsletter titled Involvement (1973-1981). The newsletter has
York (PGOGNY) was started in Greenwich Village by dancer-pup- provided an ongoing chronicle of puppetry in New York. Steven
peteer Lea Wallace. In 1962, Kennedy was president. John Glenn Widerman was editor of Puppet Master (1995-2003) followed by
became the first American to orbit Earth. There was the Cuban editor Peter Lewis.
missile crisis. There was a fierce reaction when a Black man was first In Central Park, every June from 1996 until 2008, PGOGNY, in
admitted to University of Mississippi. In 1962, Spiderman, Marvel’s cooperation with the City of New York Parks and Recreation, held its
superhero, made his first appearance. annual event “Puppets in the Park.” There were four hours of puppet
In the guild archives, I found a great article by Elani Myers in Pup- performances by talented guild members, with a finale by the Swedish
pet Master, December 2007. She researched the archives and wrote Cottage Marionette Theatre’s touring company. Several celebrations
wonderfully about our humble beginning. One document began, of National Day of Puppetry were held at the Donnell Library in
“Organizational attempts were made, but nothing actually happened cooperation with the New York Public Library. Over the years, guild
until Lea Wallace called together a steering committee: Larry Berth- meetings moved all over Manhattan, from the Lenny Suib Playhouse
at Asphalt Green, to the Swedish Cottage
Marionette Theatre, to Westbeth, and most
recently to the Carriage House (courtesy of
the Hensons).
We had some very significant icons of
puppetry come through our guild; however,
we cannot lose sight of the fact that our
guild is also for those new to puppetry, nov-
ices, enthusiasts, and the whole spectrum
of artists with an interest in puppetry.
In 2020, our officers and board began
the process of updating our constitution
and bylaws, maintaining our traditions
and looking to the future. A committee for
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging
(EDIB) was established to seek the diverse
perspective PGOGNY needs to become
equitable and inclusive.
PGOGNY September 2022 meeting at the Carriage House.
The updated constitution and bylaws
were approved by our membership on
February 8, 2022, just in time for our 60th
elson, Ann Cohen, Bea Geller, Alice May Hall, Mary D. Hoffman, birthday. It is impossible to name them all, so I would like to first
Ted Lewis, Frank Paris, Claire Silverman, and Rod Young.” give a posthumous salute to our founders and a collective shout-
In Lea Wallace’s papers, Elani found press releases and many out and hug to all officers, board members, writers, editors, guild
letters from puppetry greats. There was an invitation from RCA to performers, workshop coordinators, meeting hosts, and anyone in
perform on color television at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. the last 60 years who gave time to our guild.
A 1964 clipping from Backstage declared, “Puppetry Guild Meets I would like to end with another quote from Elani Myers: “The
Rowlf…A canine puppet star on The Jimmy Dean Show on ABC will moral is that we are all part of a wonderful tradition. Just a glimpse
make a guest appearance at the first fall meeting of the Puppetry at the history of the guild lets us know that we can look back and
Guild of Greater New York.” Another headline proclaimed, “Dog appreciate all the great puppeteers who have graced our guild, and
Philosopher to Offer Biting Commentary.” Of course, the dog the members who continue to grace us with their greatness.”
philosopher is Rowlf, created by Jim Henson. Happy birthday, PGOGNY. We will continue to do great things
The first guild newsletter from 1963 reported, “Kukla, Burr, and in puppetry.
Ollie to Speak.” Burr Tillstrom, a television celebrity puppeteer, Bruce Cannon currently serves as director of the Swedish Cottage Mario-
was an advisor to our guild. Bil Baird was on the advisory board. In nette Theatre.
1965, Baird’s “Lonely Goatherd” sequence in the film The Sound of The guild charter lists 85 names as charter members, including Doug and
Music became famous around the world. The first guild president Gayle Anderson, Paul Ashley, Bil Baird, Larry Berthelson, Nancy Cole,
was Frank Paris, the creator of the original Howdy Doody. Rod Bob Brown, Ann Cohen and Bea Geller, Jim and Jane Henson, Marshall
Young, who like myself worked at the Swedish Cottage, was guild Izen, Alice May Hall, Milton Halpert, Jero Magon, Lillian Oppenheimer,
president in 1966, when Puppeteers of America chartered the guild. Frank Paris, Nancy Schmale and Alice Swann, Bernice Silver, Tom
Young was the editor of volume one (1963) of the guild newsletter, Tichenor, Lea Wallace, Gia Wallace, Caroly Wilcox, and Rod Young.
13
 Chuncheon Puppet Festival opening parade, led by Cocobau.
Photos: Hwayheon Oh

Korea Celebrates Puppets

By Chad Williams

I
n a medium-sized city in the mountains of Korea, near the giant puppets was already taking place to an already-seated crowd
northern border and DMZ, straddling a lake that supplies of 1,000 people. My group, which consisted of presenters at the
Seoul with all its drinking water, is one of the great puppet International Association of Puppet Friendly Cities (AVIAMA), a
capitals of the world: Chuncheon. group of leaders of puppet communities from more than 15 coun-
Every week in Chuncheon, amazing puppet and mask perfor- tries, marched proudly with giant rod fish, marionettes, and, in my
mances take place for local audiences at the Cocobau Theater. This case, a little fox hand puppet. The entire parade moved through the
is the same multi-venue site that hosts a very high-caliber annual stadium, followed by many, many performances and speeches that
international puppet festival, drawing in amazing international and went late into the night.
local puppet troupes. The last mayor spent a metric ton of cash to The week before this event, AVIAMA presenters had a VIP tour
enhance Chuncheon’s cultural identity in the world as a major pup- of major cultural institutions around Chuncheon. Mayors from
pet city on par with Charleville-Mézières in France. This included European cities, all trying to be the next Charleville, pitched to
building an ambitious theater complex with several indoor and out- UNIMA International leaders about why we should attend their
door performance spaces of varying sizes and a puppetry museum city’s premiere events next. The week of the puppet festival, we
with ever-updating exhibits (which now boasts a large collection were now audience members, watching great puppet shows in the
of Puppetry Journal). Cocobau, the brand and signature character, morning and afternoon, and at midday presenting ideas about how
is everywhere. You cannot walk anywhere on the grounds without puppetry can fulfill the United Nations’ 17 Sustainability Devel-
seeing, hearing, or feeling Cocobau. opment Goals. At night there was the Art Market. The shows we
The 34th Chuncheon Puppet Festival began with a 1,000-strong saw used many different forms and were mostly in Korean. Many
parade starting downtown and leading to an outdoor stadium. showcased Korean culture or folk traditions as an integral part of
Hundreds of police officers and staff blocked streets as all partici- the presentation.
pating companies, local groups, kids on bikes, politicians, and VIPs Theater Troupe Maruhan brought the audience onstage to play
brought the streets to life with puppets of every shape and size. A Korean children’s games and showcased extremely silly street magic
rocking drum corps led the motley, unending stream of puppeteers and feats of clowning in their take on the traditional Korean story
through a very long route with packed audiences on either side of The Sun, the Moon and the Tiger. Early in the last century, troupes of
the streets. This was a major event. At our destination, a show with entertainers traveled from town to town presenting exciting material

14
in the same way. After some adults (myself included) played jump constantly using their phone. An extremely talented dancer who did
rope, Red Light, Green Light, and laughed as the troupe members a nonstop “robot” called Recycle Man donned giant robot arms to
played hide and seek in the audience, the performers easily transi- clean an invisible glass window. Puppeteers and staffers drank and
tioned to very simple puppets accompanied by the Korean tradi- laughed into the night.
tional drum, janggu, banging out an exciting beat. The puppets were In addition to the puppet festival, members of the AVIAMA sym-
paper plate masks with streamers attached (very simple) but skillful- posium gave short presentations. Dr. Jungmin Song “Min” showed
ly manipulated to tell a story about a dangerous tiger. The drums photos from her powerful exhibit Puppetry’s Racial Reckoning, held at
and infectious energy from the performers made this performance a the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry in 2021. Nina Vogel
standout of the festival. from Brazil spoke about an exciting grassroots movement of women
In the grand theater with the cushiest seats (an extreme opposite puppeteers in her country. Maria Laura from Peru spoke about the
of the two basement blackbox theaters with hard flat benches), we history of women puppeteers in the Americas. Officers of UNIMA
watched an excellent mask and shadow performance
called Croak Croak by Bookmark Theater. The story
was about four animals that try to figure out why
drought has affected their land. The four were repre-
sented by dancers in colored costumes, each doing
an animal pantomime. The star is the last animal to
show up, the frog, who leads the audience in a K-Pop
routine that introduces how awesome and fun she
is. Frog became the main character and even left the
others behind to continue the adventure alone. The
presentation was minimalist, with small scenery be-
ing reused and a shadow screen with different types
of small projections. Mathew Cohen, a puppetry
professor from the University of Connecticut who
was also presenting at the AVIAMA symposium,
mentioned that this piece felt very recognizable as
derivative of Teatro Gioco from Italy. Since they
had recently done a workshop in Chuncheon, he
Festival stadium show with enormous audience.
surmised that perhaps Croak Croak was inspired by
their workshop.
Another standout show was The Departure by Long
& Short Company, based on a Franz Kafka short
story. The tale is about a man saddling his horse and
explaining his desire to go far, far away. The perfor-
mance began with an automaton horse and rider
appearing out of the darkness, illuminated on a black
tabletop with high-tech color-changing lights and a
smoke effect. They moved beautifully, repeating a
galloping movement over and over. As time passed,
the puppeteer added human figures in different
poses to a moving conveyor belt on the edge of the
table, creating perceived movement as the horse and
rider galloped while staying put. Snow effects, stars,
bubbles, more horses, and the horse and rider rode
on as different lights shone on them. Their shadow
projected all over the theater as they rode and rode.
It was inspiring to watch a bit of visual poetry that
captured the feeling of Kafka’s story while having
the entire piece revolve around one single prop. The
puppeteer did a very good job at creating many dif- Performances continued on into the night.
ferent scenarios while keeping our focus on the same
unchanging figures. It was mesmerizing and meaningful. International spoke about their relief efforts for Ukrainian refugees.
At the late-night Art Market, domestic troupes and puppeteers Our mini-congress was interrupted by pouring rain one day, and
from Korea pitched their shows in five-minute stints on stage and in the next day a gaggle of tanks thundered loudly on their way to the
a speed-dating style session where every five minutes a buzzer rang border. “Lot of traffic today!” the President of UNIMA Korea joked.
and they switched to different tables to speak to different perform- As my two-week adventure in Chuncheon came to a close, new
ing art center directors from various countries. Bubble Dragon friends all promised to return in 2025 for the big UNIMA Inter-
showed off all manner of bubbles, filling the entire space with national Congress and puppet festival. I look forward to seeing the
soapy projectiles. A young mime performed an anti-cellphone piece beautiful city on the lake surrounded by mountains again, where
where he very hilariously attempted to stop a life-sized puppet from great puppetry is performed.

15
 Puppets Pondering
Post Pandemic By Ellen Turner Scott

A
ustin Public Library’s Liter- embraces innovative approaches to libraries nity services, bookmobile services, and
ature Live! is a program that and the potential to meet the needs of a ArtSmart programs by Ambray Gonzales,
began its roots 45 years ago diverse and growing population. Literature which have many puppetry elements.
and has impacted countless Live! is an invaluable part of that approach, Literature Live! has created many shows
children and adults with free and the program is still going strong with through the years, and there are about 25
puppet performances. In the mid 1970s, two full-time paid puppeteers—Devo Car- in our current repertoire. Every time we
Brenda Branch, later to become the library’s penter and myself. Our tag line is “Chang- relaunch a show, we carefully assess its
director, decided to bring literature to life ing Lives, One Story at a Time,” and with content and update it as needed for the
through puppetry. I was working in the each performance or video, we invite audi- present-day climate. John Dixon, a staff
children’s room, shelving books at the time, ences to suspend their disbelief and imagine member and gifted musician, creates orig-
and the children’s librarian, Grace Schmitt what’s possible when stories come to life. inal soundtracks for some of our perfor-
and I joined forces and began building and Today, Literature Live! is part of the mances. We try to keep the shows at a size
performing puppet shows. library’s Community Services and Outreach that we can easily transport from location
The Austin Public Library community team, made up of puppet shows, commu- to location, although sometimes there are

The cast of Rumpelstiltskin. Sally Ann Thunder.

16
some large, loose props. Our ideal perfor- audiences on our website.
mance time hovers around 25 minutes— We love adding new shows to our reper-
which seems to be the average attention toire. Currently, Devo and I are working on
span for both kids and adults. We insert Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett, a
chase scenes whenever possible! tall tale about Davy Crockett’s wife. It will
We also have produced more than be a tabletop puppet show, and the puppets
150 episodes of The Van Show, a puppet are mixed media.
interview show in which Van connects with Following Sally Ann Thunder, we will be
authors from around the globe so kids can working on an original show written by Our first digital project was
meet the creators of their favorite stories. Devo titled The Hugag. It is a story about a
Devo Carpenter invented Van with a pat- fearsome cryptid creature, and I am excited a shadow puppet show
tern, some blue fur, foam, and an idea. Pup- to represent it by building my first wooden
peteer Gabriel Ransenberg brings Van to marionette. This will be our first time to titled Everyone Counts/
life with humor and curiosity, opening up share this form of puppetry with our audi-
the authors about their childhoods, writing ences, and I can’t wait. Todos Cuentan, a U.S.
process, and inspirations. Lastly, Literature Live! is currently being Census public service an-
In March 2020, the pandemic hit and celebrated at the Central Library’s gallery
we all knew our library lives were going to through an impressive exhibition titled Release nouncement (PSA) that
change. It took many months for any of us the Puppets, which recognizes 40 years of their
to find our footing, but digital programming visionary work, creative collaboration, and was bilingual, educational,
was the answer, and Devo and I welcomed ongoing legacy of bringing literature to life
learning and refining a new skill that was through the magic of puppetry. It will be on and catchy. We went on to
relevant, tangible, and extremely creative. display until January 8, 2023. Please come visit create another PSA using
Our first digital project was a shadow us, y’all, if you happen to travel to Austin.
puppet show titled Everyone Counts/Todos My puppet pals and I are trying to figure characters from our
Cuentan, a U.S. Census public service out how many public libraries hire puppe-
announcement (PSA) that was bilingual, teers on their staff. Let us know if you are a Rumpelstiltskin puppet
educational, and catchy. We went on to library staff puppeteer, or regularly use pup-
create another PSA using characters from pets in your library, to help us plan future
cast, encouraging people to
our Rumpelstiltskin puppet cast, encouraging articles in Puppetry Journal. Contact Kevin at vote on our website.
people to vote. One of the most extensive kkammeradd@kdl.org
digital projects we produced, with the Everyone Counts/Todos Cuentan
expertise of Gabriel Ransenberg, was Elves Rumpelstiltskin Votes
and the Shoemaker. He filmed and edited our Elves and the Shoemaker – vimeo - https://
full performance, and now it’s available to vimeo.com/489139681

Grandmother from Grandmother’s Story. The cast of Tiger Woman. Van from The Van Show.

17
 Little Amal
in New York
By Steve Abrams

“T
he hottest celebrity in town right now is an enchanting 12-foot-tall Syrian refugee pup-
pet. She’s drawing masses of admirers,” proclaimed a headline in the New York Times.
Little Amal, a 10-year-old refugee (puppet) was in New York City for 17 days, Septem-
ber 14 to October 2, 2022.
Her journey, The Walk, the vision of director Amir Nizar Zuabi, has been described as a “travelling
art festival, a celebration of migration and cultural diversity.” Little Amal was seen in every borough
of New York City, appearing in more than 50 locations. She was greeted at the airport by the Metro-
politan Opera Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. She drew large crowds at Times Square,
Grand Central Station, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and Central Park. On the Lower East Side, at the
Clemente Soto Vélez Center, she was surprised to meet puppet friends created by Teatro SEA. She
visited neighborhoods with large populations of immigrants, including Diversity Plaza in the Jackson
Heights section of Queens. Crossing the Brooklyn Bridge was especially spectacular as 100 pigeon
puppets created by Robin Frohardt and flown by volunteers accompanied Little Amal.
In 2021, from July to November, she traveled 5,592 miles through 12 countries with her message
of hope and solidarity for displaced people everywhere, especially children who have been separated
from their families. Her journey began in Turkey near the Syrian border and concluded in the United
Kingdom. Earlier in 2022, she traveled to Poland and Ukraine.
The puppet was designed and built by Handspring Puppet Company (Basil Jones and Adrian
Kohler), who created the puppets for the international hit play War Horse. She has become an interna-
tional symbol of compassion and of human rights.
Handspring carefully crafted Little Amal from robust but lightweight materials such as cane and
carbon fiber so that she can be operated for extended periods in varying conditions. It takes a team
of puppeteers to bring Little Amal to life: one on each arm, one supporting her back, and one inside
walking on stilts.
continued on next page

Little Amal at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens,

site of 1939 and 1964 World’s Fair.
Photos: Richard Termine

18
19
 Puppetry Journal Interviews
Little Amal Puppetry Director
Enrico Dau Yang Wey
In the New York Times, Laura Collins-Hughes wrote, “The point of
Little Amal is to use the visceral power of puppetry, and of theater
at its most disarming, to make us feel, and cajole us into consider-
ing what we owe to the most vulnerable among us.”

Puppetry Journal interviewed Little Amal puppetry director Enrico

Dau Yang Wey. Wey, a performer, puppeteer, puppetry director,
artist, and researcher from Taiwan, has been a senior member of
Handspring Puppet Company since 2005. He has performed in
productions including Tall Horse and the Tony Award–winning
Broadway play War Horse.

Puppetry Journal: Thanks for speaking about Little Amal. Are

there puppeteers in NYC who were in the 2021 Walk, or are they
all new, or a mix?
Enrico Wey: We wanted to be very conscientious about how we
approached our time in New York. A different city and country
comes with different urgencies. Finding a blend of people to
encourage exchange seemed necessary in this new context, so we
had a team of nine rotating puppeteers: five from 2021 and four
who joined this specific journey. The team is composed of three
Puppeteers rehearsing with Little Amal at St. Ann’s Warehouse. puppeteers. Occasionally, if we need extra stability against the
elements, a fourth puppeteer is added. They all rotate in differ-
ent combinations in order to create an Amal that is layered and
multifaceted.

PJ: How do you choose new puppeteers?

EW: I find that often I am looking for someone with a particular
sensitivity to the performed object. It is hard to describe in words,
but this sensitivity is perhaps a blend of listening, observation,
and clear intention. As this work is collaborative, it is often
equally about the full blend of personalities we look for in an en-
semble. The performer can be completely new to puppetry. Some
come with a stronger sensibility toward physicality, muscle
tension, breath. Some have more experience with puppetry or
acting. Amal is a living being, and she encounters each event,
each moment, as such. She is experiencing things for the first
time, without a script. Our puppeteers are asked to be a motor,
to respond and to generate thought and feeling from a place of
understanding Amal.

PJ: How long does it take to train and rehearse puppeteers?

EW: It feels like an unending process, to be honest. During the
rehearsal period, we focus on basic skills and ensemble practice,
but so much of the training exists within the event. We can only
do so much in a traditional studio setting. Before each event, we
discuss Amal’s situation, where she is coming from, where she is
headed in relationship to the offerings from the local organiza-
tion. After each event, we have an exchange about what worked,
what didn’t, and how we could use what we learned for the next
event. I want the puppeteers to feel buoyant in the moment with-
out too much directorial interference.

PJ: I find some of the most powerful photos show Little Amal
bending and looking down and touching and making contact
Under the Brooklyn Bridge. with individuals.
20
Little Amal and pigeon puppets walk on the Brooklyn Bridge.

Rehearsal with large shoes. Rehearsal with stilts. Little Amal at Flushing Meadows.

EW: The puppeteers must be aware of the power of these moments. outsider and, within that, being alone in a crowd, her vulnerability be-
The smaller the child, the harder it is to reach them! Each interac- comes more readily visible. Even the largest of souls have experienced
tion becomes so personal to each individual. this. There is a beauty in the sense that Amal is a vessel large enough
to carry the wills and thoughts of the people performing as her as well
PJ: I have read a few critical comments that her size and theatricality, as the stories of the people who witness her. A child shouldn’t have to
and the crowds attracted, might overwhelm her essential message of be smaller in order to move through this world freely, but the world
humanity. I think they miss something important. Size gets the atten- she is navigating should be bigger to give her the space to.
tion so that a large audience can see her, and then feel the vulnerabili-
ty of a child. Does that sound correct? Walk Productions was founded by David Lan and Tracey Seaward. Little Amal
EW: I would agree. We like to think that she is the exact size she Walks NYC is a co-production of Walk Productions and St. Ann’s Warehouse
needs to be. She is larger than life. It establishes her immediately as an (artistic director, Susan Feldman) in association with Handspring Puppet Company.
21
 Interview: Joe Kovacs
Interviews Conducted by Jeff Bragg
Jeff Bragg: Did you really start puppeteering at three years old? JK: I actually worked the festival in Cincinnati in 1987. Kathy
Joe Kovacs: On my third birthday, my grandfather gave me Piper put that festival together. I had been volunteering with the
two puppets, a little black mohair dog and a little brown mohair guild. Kathy said, “Do you wanna work the festival?” I said, “Yes.”
bear, and I could not put them down. My parents noticed, and And she said, “Well, I need an assistant stage manager.” I ended up
they bought me two more puppets, a dog and a raccoon. Then my working all of the shows and got to meet a lot of people and see lots
grandfather got me a lion and a tiger. So I had six puppets, and of shows.
instantly they all had distinct voices and personalities. They all
worked together in a unit, and I would do shows from behind the JB: You also built puppets and created costumes for the Center
sofa. My shows would go on and on. They were like shadow puppet for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta. Let’s talk about your work there.
shows that start at dusk and end at dawn. My family would come in JK: At the festival, I met Vince Anthony, Luis Barroso, and Paul
and out, bring a snack, sit, sleep, wake up, and just live their lives Hartis, who was working as a puppet builder at the Center for
around my shows. Puppetry Arts, and later worked for Henson. The next year, I got a
call from Luis, “I need a puppeteer for our tour of Alice in Wonder-
JB: What was school for you? land. Are you interested?” He had never seen me puppeteer. He
JK: My father was the principal of the Independence Elementary had just met me at the festival, and somehow Luis thought, “I got
School. I was kind of the Julie Taymor of school. I would get people a feeling about this kid,” and hired me to be the lead puppeteer on
in and have them dressed up in a tour of Alice. We toured for six
costumes and have puppets and months. I did the White Rabbit,
people and do these productions. I the Caterpillar, Tweedle Dumb,
also had free reign of the art room and the Dormouse. There were
and all of the art supplies. I was like six or seven characters that
just always there, making things I did with Jane Katherine Shaw.
and putting on shows. My friends Then I refurbished puppets for
from school all remember doing Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
shows with me at the elementary Next was building things for Peter
school. At least two traveling Pan. When Hartis moved to New
puppet shows would come to the York, I took over his job at the
area and do shows at the elemen- Center as a puppeteer and puppet
tary school. I would talk to the maker. A few years later, I was
puppeteers, and they would gladly going to New York City. Paul was
divulge every secret they had, you just about to go to Fire Island for
know. “Ooh, that was really cool. a week, and I was gonna stay in
How’d you do that?” “Oh, it’s just his apartment. I met him, and he
a Christmas decoration on a flash- showed me around the Muppet
light that I wave around behind studios. While I was there, Goran
the screen.” And so that loving
Sparrman was building bears for
and caring and sharing helped
Bear in the Big Blue House. He said,
feed the passion as well.
“You’re a puppeteer. Put your
JB: How was high school? hand in the head of this bear!”
JK: We left Independence and So the bear was kind of hanging
moved to Cincinnati. In the sixth over on this thing. I put my hand
grade, I started at The Cincinnati in; he goes, “Can you come back
School for the Creative and Per- tomorrow?” The next day, he
forming Arts. I was taking acting filmed me walking around and
classes and dance classes, also doing stuff in the bear. About a
music classes and voice lessons. I Left to right: Jeff Bragg, Madame, Joe Kovacs. month later, I got a call: “Hi, this
always did puppets as extra credit. Photos courtesy of Joe Kovacs and Jeff Bragg is Elizabeth Brusa from Henson
in New York. I’ve got you on my
JB: It sounds like your high school experience was quite a good fit. Bear roster. Can you go to the
JK: At that time, it was like kind of a cross between the island of New York State Fair and do four days of meet and greet as Bear?”
misfit toys and this perfect utopian world of love. I still talk to high I did Bear off and on from 1998 to 2004, including international
school friends. They’re all still very supportive. We’re a family, and tours. So, just from meeting puppeteers at that festival led to me do-
we stay in touch. ing Bear. I started doing live Bear shows for Henson. I also started
doing a big puppet Shrek for DreamWorks, built by Henson. I feel
JB: You attended your first festival in Cincinnati in 1987? like I’ve done a lot of big puppet things. I even did about eight live
22
Barney shows around the country. Yeah, Barney’s a beast. other show. Madame is her own show. I met Marlena through Ran-
dy Carfagno. I was working with David Fino on Bear in the Big Blue
JB: You’ve done a ton of other great work, but once again, you are House Live. He was also working for Randy. David told me, “I got a
working with a true show business legend. And you have known message from my boss, Randy, who is working on a project I can’t
Madame for a long time. talk about. They need a puppeteer. I recommended you. Would
JK: I started doing Madame back in 2005. When Wayland died, you like to meet my boss?” So, I meet Randy Carfagno, who said,
he left everything to Marlena Shell, who was his manager. Marlena “I’m working on some new puppets based on an old puppet who is
was devastated. And then people talked her into bringing Madame pretty famous.” I’m thinking I know it’s not the Muppets. It doesn’t
back. And she worked with Tom Fountain. He manipulated Salem seem to be a ventriloquist dummy, or marionettes; maybe it’s Topo
the cat for Sabrina the Teenage Witch. As far as I know, Tom was the Gigio? I asked Randy if I could guess the puppet. He said, “Well,
first person Marlena worked with. Then she let Jerry Halliday do I guess if you guess…” I said, “Is it Madame?” He said yes, and he
Madame in his show Famous Women (I think using a Madame that pulled her out of a drawer. He said, “It’s too small for any of us to
he made), but then she felt that Madame should not be part of an- continued on next page

Interview: Madame
Jeff Bragg: Madame, I cannot tell you what a delight it is to be here to prepare for tonight’s show.
with you today. You’re one of my all-time favorite performers. We are Madame: Oh, honey. I gotta take my pills. They gotta kick in by
all so glad to see you again. How does it feel to be back? six, honey. Right? Don’t do pills and drive! I’m driving this dress
Madame: Well, honey, I never went away! I’ve always been here, like Joan Rivers. This is actually an old Joan Rivers sleeve, I think.
lurking in the corners, lurking in the darkness. Oh, you know, You know, she’s dead. She doesn’t wear it anymore.
probably just in an old bag somewhere, maybe
in a box. JB: Good thing someone’s getting some use
out of it, right? Well, thank you so much,
JB: Well, you look absolutely, stunningly Madame. It was wonderful to speak with you
beautiful. and Joe. Madame, I think you found a forever
Madame: Cheap flattery will get you every- friend.
where, honey. I like anything cheap. Madame: I hope so, honey. You know, I don’t
like to think of all those stray hands inside of
JB: And I see you have a brand new compan- me! Yours was fine, honey. It was a quick in and
ion! Introduce us! out!
Madame: This old thing, honey? I worked
with him years ago. It’s nice to be back. It’s JB: Thank you, dear. It’ll be our secret.
great to see him. (An aside) Well, you know, I Madame, a bawdy rod puppet, a grande dame
don’t pay much attention to him. He’s a neces- with a sharp wit, was sometimes called the alter
sary evil, I say. Gotta keep him around to hold ego of Wayland Flowers.
me up in the air, keep me high and dry. I like
to be more high than dry, honey. Biography notes on Wayland Flowers: born in
Dawson, Georgia, 1939; died in Los Angeles,
JB: I’m seeing the six o’clock performance California, 1988. Flowers moved to New York
tonight. Are we going have a wonderful time? City in 1963, where he performed and built
Madame: I hope so, honey; well I hope so! puppets for Suzari Marionettes, Nicolas Coppo-
I’ll show it to you. I’ll show it to you twice if Madame in the collection of the Center for la, Bil Baird, and Aniforms. Madame’s first pro-
Puppetry Arts, Atlanta. fessional appearance in 1971 was the off-Broad-
you want. Once is never enough.
way show Kumquats, billed as “the world’s first
JB: It’s so wonderful to see you back in action. I know you have erotic puppet show.” In 1972, Madame appeared as a lounge act at
plans for a world tour, don’t you? the Madeira Room (now Pilgrim House), Provincetown, Massachu-
Madame: Oh, honey. I hope to see it all. I traveled with Maude setts, and attracted enormous crowds. Soon, Flowers was appearing
for 16 years, honey. We did it all, but I didn’t perform. Yeah. I was in New York nightclubs. In club performances, Flowers was visible,
on the DL. That’s the down low, I learned. Learning the new lingo. and not particularly concerned with being considered a ventrilo-
But we’re back. Try to, you know, wipe off the cobwebs. quist. In 1974, he and Madame appeared in the film Norman… Is
That You? For the next 10 years, Flowers and Madame were star
JB: It must feel good to be back at the Pilgrim House. attractions at American clubs and casinos, especially in Las Vegas
Madame: Wayland and I started here, honey. Oh, back in the and Atlantic City. Wayland Flowers and Madame occupied the
seventies, when he used to wear a tuxedo and no shoes on the center square on Hollywood Squares, and their clever wit and adult
beach. He’d roll up his tuxedo, and in the middle of the night, he’d humor pushed the limits of acceptable content for television. It
find boys on the beach, and he’d say, “Hey, boy, you wanna see our was not a secret that Flowers was an LGBTQ performer. Flowers
puppet show?” Little did they know, it was actually a puppet show and Madame had their own television talk show, Madame’s Place
on the beach, in the middle of the f----g night! It was true! (1982), broadcasting 150 episodes. In 1982, Flowers appeared at the
National Puppetry Festival in Atlanta. One version of Madame is in
JB: I appreciate your time today. And I know that you and Joe have the collection of the Center for Puppetry Arts, Atlanta.
23
continued from previous page with legs. He was doing some stuff on his computer and talking to
get our hand in.” I said, “Can I try?” He said, “Sure.” And so, I put somebody on the phone. So I just put Madame on, I was sitting
my hand in Madame and he said, “Oh my God, you’re Cinderella!” on the bed and just reacquainting with her. And I just occasion-
Madame fit! So I worked her a little bit there, and then he intro- ally hear him laugh; he was kind of half paying attention, and he
duced me to Marlena, who said, “Take the dolly home with you and just laughed a little bit.And then my phone rang. I had Madame
just work with her for a while.” At home, I started working on stuff on when I picked up the phone. Madame says, “What the f--k
and working on movements. I went to a vocal coach, because my are you doing? We were having a conversation! Put your phone
voice is very different from Wayland’s. I will never sound like Way- down! Oh my God, come on, Sophie, choose. It’s not that hard.
land Flowers being Madame. I had to find a voice. So, I figured, 16 You know, one or the other!” Ken had to relay this to me, because
years of drinking and drugging and running around with her best when I put Madame on, and I just go, and I don’t remember ev-
friend, Maude, all over the world; she’s Lauren Bacall now! Marlena erything that’s in that moment. Ken lost it. He turned around and
just gave me a lot of time. She gave me a lot of research. Wayland was crying and he said, “That is the funniest thing I’ve ever heard
would tape-record a lot of his shows. So she gave me cassette tapes in my life. You’re meant to be doing this.” And he just left Ma-
to listen to. I spent one whole year just working with Madame and dame with me. And he goes, “Please come to Provincetown.” So
then did my first show. It was like five minutes at Jim Caruso’s Cast my partner and our cat all moved to Provincetown. We’re here, at
Party at Birdland in New York, and then I just started doing small least for now. In the winter, we’ll be doing shows in Palm Springs,
shows, and then bigger shows, and found a piano player, and that and hopefully some tour dates. We’ll be here every summer, and
was four years. In Edinburgh, I was working for only a percentage of we’ll be out there for the winters.
the door, and being new to the festival, I didn’t know that you have
to have a picture in the big pro- JB: Do you do all the work
gram; if not, people will just go maintaining these the Madames
by. So, I was making no money. you currently have?
After a couple weeks of taking JK: Yeah. Randy Carfagno is
(Madame) out all day, barking in building all the new Madames.
the rain, trying to hold an um- They’re casting them now out of
brella, and handing out cards, something. I have two Madames;
I was sick. It was damp and wet one is a Celastic and plastic wood.
and cold. By the end, Marlena I don’t know how many Madames
and I had a disagreement, and I were made or who has them.
ended up leaving. I moved on to
various projects. My own puppet JB: How does this feel to bring
character, Miss Greta Green, Madame back to the stage?
was doing Drag Queen Pup- JK: Yeah, it’s amazing. My
pet Bingo at New York clubs. shows, being at a six o’clock time
There were a few film credits, slot…it’s not really Madame’s
including The Furchester Hotel hour. Madame’s after dark, so six
and The Happytime Murders. For o’clock is tough for an audience,
Young puppeteer Joe Kovacs (1983).
a time I did some building at but they’re all there because they
Henson. Ken Horgan and Scott want to see Madame. And that’s
Bente, the owners of Pilgrim House, met Marlena. They knew that the thing; It’s one thing just to have a room full of people who are
she’d had a stroke and she wasn’t doing well. They wanted to help enjoying what you do. It’s another thing to have a room full of peo-
her out. So now, they are 100% owners of Madame, and they have ple who saw that Madame was here and came to see her. The thing
everything. That’s why I’ve got costumes, and the joke file, all sorts that I like about Madame is she’s old Hollywood glamour mixed
of things. with a classy classless dirty broad. In my show, at times she is very
coy about names for body parts, you know, like her hoo-ha. But then
JB: How did you get back around to being Madame’s companion? at other times, she just throws out a word or wants to know why
JK: From what they have told me, they were looking for somebody she can’t say that word. So, it’s a mix of, “Ooh, I’m a demure little
to do Madame. Ken and Scott heard from various people: “Oh, too flower” and “I’ve got my tits out.”
bad Joe Kovacs isn’t there. Where did Joe Kovacs go?” And I always
said I wanted to retire just sitting next to her, making people laugh. JB: What’s in store for the future of Madame?
JK: This show was a reunion for Madame and me. We talk about
JB: Well, that’s not a retirement. That’s heaven! the old days and where she’s been. We talk about Wayland. I think
JK: Right! Ken called me in May 2022 and said, “I wanna talk Madame wants to learn. She wants to know that the apps on her
to you. Are you interested in maybe doing Madame again?” And phone aren’t appetizers. She wants to know what you are doing and
I’m like, “Yes, I don’t have to think about that.” He said, “Well, I what do you like. But she’s always going to have that classy old Hol-
would like to meet with you because you know, we own Madame lywood…you know, some boas, some glitz. She has one and a half
now, and everyone said that we should see you and talk to you costume changes in this show. My goal was to have five,
because you were the person that should be doing it.” I said, “I
can’t get away. I’ve got shows that I’m working on now.” He said, JB: Joe, thank you for the interview. Is there anything you’d like to
“Well, what if I come to Cincinnati? I’ll call you right back.” And close with?
this was on a Friday. He (calls back), “I’m flying in on Monday. I JK: I’m grateful for this opportunity just to be able to do this. I
booked a room for us on Tuesday. I fly back on Wednesday.” He want to bring joy, to take people away from the reality of their day-
came into town; I walked into his hotel room, where Madame to-day worlds. Just to make people smile, make ‘em laugh. Make ‘em
was laying on the bed with legs! The first time I’d ever seen her forget about something for an hour.
24
 Houston Festival:
Two for One
S
eptember 15-17,
2022, the Houston
Puppet Festival, the
42nd edition, orga-
nized by members of the
Greater Houston Puppetry
Guild, was combined with
the Puppeteers of America
Southwest Regional Pup-
petry Festival, a splendid
example of the puppetry
community working togeth-
er. Joanne Schroeder and
Jean Kuecher, each with
vast experience, served as
co-directors.
The festival perfor-
mance roster included
Karen Konnerth, Calliope
Puppets, New Orleans, A
Fable, a Fairytale, and the
Big, Bad Wolf; Ellen Scott
and Robbie Lueth, Hand
to Mouth Puppet Theatre,
Austin, Bumper Crop; Pix
Smith, Dallas Puppet The-
Festival co-director Joanne Schroeder and friend. Festival exhibit, Poppinjay Puppets, from Pix Smith
ater, Strings Variety Show; Photo: Karen Konnerth and Gary Busk collection. Photo: Pix Smith
and Allen Ware and Rick
Strot, Ware House Puppets, Notes on festival performers:
Waco, The Goat in the Chili Patch.
■ Ellen Turner Scott and Robbie Lueth discovered puppetry in the 1970s.
Each presenter had enthusiastic comments
about the festival and about each other’s work. They launched their own company, Hand to Mouth Puppet Theatre, in 1989.
For 10 years, they brought literature to life with puppets for the Austin
“Hats off to the Greater Houston Puppetry
Public Library. Robbie was a high school teacher. Ellen is a puppeteer with
Guild. The workshops, performances, and all Literature Live, the Austin Library Puppet Troupe. Ellen is the proud owner of
the camaraderie were all I had hoped for in an Nancy Renfro Studios, Inc., a Puppet Resource Company with 250 puppet
intimate regional. It’s hard to imagine that the character designs and 18 books on puppetry.
guild has pulled this off for 42 years.” ■ Karen Konnerth has presented thoughtfully interactive puppet theater
“It was nice seeing Greg Ruhe emcee the for 40 years for children, families, and art lovers of all ages. She is an
opening dinner’s puppet slam, and he also gave internationally known, award-winning arts integration specialist making
an excellent shadow puppet workshop. There puppetry, creative writing, and visual art part of the curriculum in
were fine slam performances from everyone. Lee elementary school classrooms.
■ Pix Smith’s offering used large-scale marionettes performing to lively and
Bryan, all the way from Atlanta, with a really,
really funny piece.” familiar music, all operated in full view of the audience. Pix has performed
since 1980. For the festival in Houston, he exhibited treasured puppets from
“Great presentation by Ellen Scott with Nancy
the Gary Busk collection.
Renfro Studios, and a good retrospective of her ■ Over the years the Houston Puppet Festival did outreach and workshops
influential work in puppetry in education.” for educators, with enticement of earning credits for the Texas Education
“Karen Konnerth did two great shows, and Agency. Both Greg Ruhe and Jean Kuecher are on the roster of Young
Ellen had a nice performance as well. Greg Audiences of Houston, an arts and education agency that books school
Ruhe’s shadow puppetry workshop was really programs. Greg Ruhe said, “Looking forward to the 43rd Annual Houston
great. I recommend it to anyone who sees it on Puppet Festival!”
the bill somewhere.”
25
 Coney Island
Puppet Homecoming
By Lois Raff Corwin
oing to Coney Island on Williams to conduct his “Hand Puppet

G October 8 was an experience

that split my mind into two
parts. At first, I found myself
transported back to child-
hood with wonder-filled eyes. All the rides
with their glittering lights seemed big, fast,
and thrilling. But secondly, there are images
Techniques” workshop. Chad introduced
workshop attendees to exercises that
demonstrated techniques for a hand puppet
to walk, to point, and to show a wide range
of emotions. I thought it was most fascinat-
ing that he showed the difference between
male and female puppet movement. Chad
everywhere of freakish people who made cited his references going back to readings
their living by shocking their audience… from ancient Chinese puppetry techniques.
a woman who swallows fire, a man who Best of all, he showed us his personal
hammers nails into his nose, a man who stretch so that we could begin to get that
has hair that covers his entire face like an wonderful Chad flexibility.
animal. Like the “sacred and profane,” the The second workshop I attended was by
two vastly different spirits live together well Amy Trompetter: “Skirt-as-Stage Revolu-
in Coney Island and added an interesting tion.” The “skirt” could also be described
atmosphere to the Homecoming program. as a sort of open-ended bag the puppeteer
It wasn’t high tourist season, so the pup- gets inside of. Once inside, this long bag
peteers had exclusive use of the Shooting can be pulled over the head and held in
Gallery Annex and the Freak Bar for the place by poles connected to a belt around
morning puppet workshops. The Shoot- the puppeteer’s waist. The puppets are Nancy Sander’s Punch and Judy puppets.
ing Gallery Annex was decorated with a inside the bag and perform above the
fabulous array of large puppets influenced top of the skirt. Punch and Judy puppets
by Peter Schumann of the Bread and were available for participants to use while and a fierce advocate for social justice.
Puppet Theater. This display was created wearing the skirt stage, and each person The afternoon was a festive collection
by Amy Trompetter (who says she owes was asked to improvise a scene. Amy herself of Punch and Judy performances, each
everything she knows about puppetry to improvises and relishes the opportunity to one different and entertaining. Versions of
Peter Schumann) and featured images of interact with the audience. She regaled us “Punch” were performed by Amy Trom-
money mongers who exploit war for their with stories of where and how she per- petter of Redwing Blackbird Theater,
own profit. This was the backdrop for Chad formed. I loved hearing about Gretchen Van Lente of Drama of Works,
how she got a permit to per- Nancy Sander (three shows by women), and
form on the Staten Island Fer- Chad Williams of WonderSpark Puppets.
ry. When her permit expired, Ayhan Hulagu performed the traditional
she simply used Wite-Out Turkish shadow theater hero Karagoz, often
on the date and put in a new compared to Punch. Punch was used for dif-
date. This was in the 1970s. ferent purposes in each show. Gretchen Van
She was able to continue the Lente cast Punch and Judy as Sid and Nan-
Staten Island Ferry shows and cy of the Sex Pistols. Throughout the show,
timed them so that they end- they fought over drugs as in the real-life saga
ed as the boat docked and she of this pair. The message blatantly con-
was able to fill her collection veyed the dangers of drug use. Ash & Solly
bucket as passengers exited. in Chad Williams’ show delivered a totally
The focus of the workshop different message. In this performance, Mr.
was to give the next genera- Punch had to deal with the Jewish King,
tion of puppeteers a way to who reminded him that on the holiday of
display their views or insights Yom Kipper, one must apologize for his/
while entertaining as street her misdeeds. Mr. Punch experienced the
The Divinity Supply Company by the Boxcutter Collective. performers. Amy Trompetter benefit of apologizing in the end.
Photos courtesy of Brendan Schweda is an inspirational puppeteer Nancy Sander did a wonderful perfor-
26
mance of the traditional Punch and
Judy, and Amy Trompetter’s show
(announced with a trumpet) was a little
more politically thought provoking.
This amassing of Punch and Judy
shows was followed by a panel discus-
sion. The panel convened in the Coney
Island Museum, where one could see
the photos of the destruction of Coney
Island by fire in 1911, original carousel
horses, bumper cars, posters, etc. The
first question was, “Why choose to per-
form Punch currently?” Nancy Sander
maintained that she “just loved pup-
pets,” and Punch was a fine example of
what a puppet can do. Others discussed
the difficulty of showing the violence in
Punch and Judy, and Chad Williams felt
he found a way for Mr. Punch to find
redemption. The comparison to Karagoz
was fascinating from a cultural and
historical perspective.
Although Great Small Works was not
allowed to have their planned spaghetti
dinner, they played three films, had a
wonderful “Famous Names in Puppetry”
bingo game with prizes, and a Chinese
puppet show to entertain us. At the
close of the day, participants were show-
ing signs of exhaustion. We ended with
a short Potpourri with a personal touch
and lots humor from Mery Cheung
(who did charming impersonations
through her puppet), Artie Poore (with
a snarky little song taught to him by
Marty Robinson), and Heather Hen-
son (with a few lively moments using a
puppet she made in the workshop with
Spica Wobbe).
At the close of the day, the resident
orange tabby cat, Sideshow, decided
to sleep on the Potpourri performance Amy Trompetter in a gallery filled with her puppetry and artwork.
area. He walked onto the stage during
other performances on Saturday and was
very comfortable being in the center of it all. ficially began. The welcome included festival Puppet Dreams and the premier showing of
I thought we should rename him Mainstage. director Brendan Schweda speaking about Jeff Bragg’s documentary film Hobey Ford:
He was a nice reminder of the genuinely Coney Island and its connection to pup- Modern Master. The Friday evening perfor-
homey feel of this Puppet Homecoming. petry. Steve Abrams offered a PowerPoint mance was The Divinity Supply Company by
presentation about puppetry in New York the Boxcutter Collective, including painted
Festival Program Notes for Thursday, City, and Heather Henson spoke about her work by Peter Schumann, Bread and Puppet
Friday, and Sunday family’s deep and ongoing connection to Theater, and a party hosted by the Puppetry
There were several pre-festival events on New York City. Guild of Greater New York, celebrating the
Thursday, October 6. Heather Henson host- On a perfect fall day on the boardwalk at guild’s 60th anniversary.
ed shows (Liz Joyce and screening of films) Coney Island, there was a pageant puppet Sunday morning there were workshops by
and a reception at the Carriage House. A parade with puppets by Amy Trompetter Ayhan Hulagu and Spica Wobbe. Sunday
festival map showed where Ronny Wasser- and Heather Henson, and celebratory afternoon shows were Go Home Tiny Monster
strom was busking in Central Park. Early marching music. by the Gottabees and Crankie Cabaret by
evening shows were scheduled for Nick Late in the afternoon, Jaime Sunwoo Lilypad Puppet Theatre.
Coppola’s Puppetworks in Brooklyn and spoke about her process for creating The All festival events were recorded and
Teatro SEA on the Lower East Side. Art of SPAM. There were screenings of offered at the Virtual Festival, October
Friday morning, October 7, the festival of- films from Heather Henson’s Handmade 13-16, 2022.
27
 Audrey II and Lena Hall as Audrey.
Photos: Emilio Madrid, courtesy of Vivacity Media Group

Inside the Little Shop of Horrors

By Steve Abrams
eed me,” says the demanding, insatiable plant, Audrey New York, October 17, 2019, at the Westside Theatre Upstairs, to
II, in Little Shop of Horrors (https://littleshopnyc. rave reviews. Five months later, March 11, 2020, COVID brought
com/). In 1982, 40 years ago, Little Shop started theater to an abrupt stop, and puppeteers Eric Wright and Teddy
off-Broadway and ran for a record-breaking five years. Yudain wondered what would happen. September 21, 2021, Little
Since then, Little Shop has played on Broadway, the West End of Shop opened again, with Wright and Yudain handling Audrey II.
London, national tours, regional theaters, and hundreds of high Episode 80 of Puppet Tears has an excellent interview with Wright
schools. Those first simple words of the plant, “Feed me,” delivered and Yudain. Recently, Wright moved on to other projects and
in a deep bass voice, are startling and both threatening and comic. Yudain was joined by Weston Chandler Long.
Actors, puppet builders, and puppeteers have been “fed” with a The puppets were created by the Monkey Boys, but with new skin
naughty sort of enjoyment (and in some cases, employment) for 40 covering painted by Nicholas Mahon. During the run of Little Shop,
years, and audiences have gobbled up the show. The engaging come- there were delays and changes of actors due to cases of COVID.
dy-horror of Little Shop would be impossible without the innovative The role of Seymour has been played by seven different actors—Jona-
puppetry, first designed by Martin P. Robinson. His major contribu- than Groff, Gideon Glick, Jeremy Jordan, Conrad Ricamora, Skylar
tion to the art form was 15 years before the mighty Lion King came Astin, Rob McClure, and in November 2022, Tony Award winner
to Broadway. Even before Little Shop ended its record-breaking run Matt Doyle. Tony-nominated actor Rob McClure (Seymour number
in 1987, regional theaters were producing the show. six) had Broadway and off-Broadway experience as an actor/puppe-
After a month of previews, Little Shop returned to off-Broadway in teer in Avenue Q.

28
 This revival of Little Shop has a direct line back to the original Peterosino and Latini are enormously knowledgeable about Little
production. The technique and wisdom and fun were passed along Shop. They were mentored by the original designer and performer
from Marty Robinson, to Marc Petrosino and Michael Latini, and of the show, Martin Robinson, and then toured the show for two
then on to Wright and Yudain. When Music Theatre International years. Latini and Petrosino were terrifically helpful. They empha-
licenses Little Shop for performances by regional theaters or high sized the importance of consistency in performance. The Monkey
schools, they provide the script, the score, and designs for building Boys alternated as the puppeteer in Pod 3, which kept them both in
the puppets. They also offer puppets to rent based on the original better shape and fresh. Wright and Yudain took the advice and also
designs of Marty Robinson. Some companies who have produced alternated their roles. Wright said that the show could be directed
the show built their own puppets or rented them. Over the years, in many ways: some are darker, some are sillier, and some are very
various puppet designers and builders took the challenge of making nuanced.
the puppets.

Teddy Yudain was with Little Shop when it opened, and for
most of the run he worked with Eric Wright. Yudain and Wright
are delightful and informative speaking about Little Shop in Puppet Those first simple words of the plant,
Tears (episode 80), and this November Yudain took some time to “Feed me,” delivered in a deep bass
be interviewed for Puppetry Journal. Both of Yudain’s parents are
actors, so he grew up with a lot of backstage time watching them voice, are startling and both threaten-
work. While in high school, he saw Jim “Nappy” Napolitano per-
form with shadow puppets and was intrigued. Yudain went to the ing and comic. Actors, puppet builders,
University of Connecticut, majoring in theater. He brings a fully
developed love of theater to his work in puppetry. He has played and puppeteers have been “fed” with a
Malvolio, Trinculo, and the second witch in Macbeth. As Jack in naughty sort of enjoyment (and in some
Into the Woods, he worked with the puppet Milky White, and Bart
Roccoberton coached him. In New York, his first real puppet gig cases, employment) for 40 years, and
was in the people-and-puppets Spanish version of Puss in Boots (El
Gato con Botas). The intensity, the physicality needed for that show audiences have gobbled up the show.
really appealed to him. He was hooked. In 2011, he was understudy
at the Metropolitan Opera, where he met Marc Petrosino, Kevin
Augustine, and Eric Wright. He worked with Eric Wright and Weston Chandler Long recently joined the cast. He and Yudain
Emily DeCola at Puppet Kitchen. Along the way, he was in two alternate puppeteer duties for Pod 3. When Long was seven years
earlier productions of Little Shop. In 2017, he attended the National old, he met Caroll Spinney (Big Bird), who became a friend and
Puppetry Conference at the O’Neill, learning about marionettes mentor to the young puppeteer. Other mentors and directors in-
from Jim Rose. During the COVID break, he wanted to learn more clude John Tartaglia, Matt Vogel, Marty Robinson, and Peter Linz.
about puppet building, so he signed up for virtual sessions with Long’s credits include ImaginOcean, The Very Hungry Caterpillar,
Puppets in Prague, Bernd Ogrodnik, and Hobey Ford. Currently, Avenue Q, and All Hallows’ Eve.
he is puppet captain at Little Shop, rehearsing new “vacation covers”
(otherwise known as understudies). He said, “After playing Audrey Eric Wright has an impressive array of performance credits,
II so many times, it becomes clearer and clearer which moments are including Compulsion (Matt Acheson), Madama Butterfly (Metropol-
high energy and where it is OK to relax just a bit” (https://www. itan Opera), Peter and Wendy (Mabou Mines), Petrushka and La Bella
teddyyudain.com/). Dormente (Basil Twist), and Disfarmer and Hiroshima Maiden (Dan
Rehearsing for Little Shop, Wright and Yudain got to hear from Hurlin). Wright, along with Emily DeCola and Michael Schupbach,
the original composer, Alan Menken. Marc Petrosino and Mi- founded the Puppet Kitchen in 2008 at a studio in New York’s East
chael Latini, the Monkey Boys, provided the rental set of puppets Village. All were gifted designers and performers eager to practice
for Little Shop, with newly painted covering by Nicholas Mahon. their skills and share them. Monitor Nights were a popular event at
the Puppet Kitchen, serving the puppetry community, offering an
opportunity to build skills, and encouraging collaboration, aspects
Four Pods of puppetry very important to Eric Wright (www.puppetkitchen.
com).
For Pod 1, Audrey II is a mere sprout in a
flowerpot. A hidden puppeteer does the ma- Marc Petrosino and Michael Latini both began work as puppe-
nipulation. For Pod 2, the actor playing Sey- teers around 2000. They met at the National Puppetry Conference
at the O’Neill Theater Center. From 2004 to 2006, they were the
mour controls the puppet using a fake arm
Audrey II puppeteers for the national tour of Little Shop. They
(the Seymour actor needs to understand at founded Monkey Boys Productions in 2008. Both have formidable
least a bit about puppetry). Pod 3 is a large skills as builders and as performers. They earned the confidence of
3 × 3–foot puppet with the puppeteer en- Marty Robinson, who gave them the original designs, authorizing
tirely hidden. The puppeteer has to wait them to build Little Shop puppets for rentals.
quietly for 10 minutes inside the very warm Michael Latini, described as a “creative problem solver,” is a de-
puppet before the action begins. Pod 4 is the signer, puppeteer, and fabricator. Around the age of 12, he started
super enormous Audrey that requires two performing in school shows and working with his carpenter father.
puppeteers. His puppetry career began as Bear in the Bear in the Big Blue House
continued on next page

29
continued from previous page
Live national tour in 2001, and he’s been lucky to work
with many shows and productions, including Little
Shop of Horrors, Avenue Q, Johnny and the Sprites, Sesame
Street, and Helpsters (Daytime Emmy nomination).
Besides the two-year national tour of Little Shop, there
were world tours with Walking With Dinosaurs LIVE and
How to Train Your Dragon LIVE. Latini and Petrosino
built props for Saturday Night Live and received national
attention for making a “weaponized” podium.

Marc Petrosino and Latini began collaborating in

New York City. Their shared optimism and sense of
humor and their complementary skills were the basis
for founding Monkey Boys Productions. Petrosino’s
credits include Sesame Street, Blue’s Room, Crank Yankers,
and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. He has puppeteered
in Little Shop of Horrors (Broadway and first national
tour), Madama Butterfly (Metropolitan Opera), Young
People’s Concerts at Carnegie Hall, Basil Twist’s Petrushka,
and The Long Christmas Ride Home. Petrosino’s other
Broadway credits include Charlie and the Chocolate Audrey II and Jeremy Jordan as Seymour
Factory, Amélie, and Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus.
He has worked as a fabricator and/or designer on many He credits Jim Henson, Jane Henson, Jon Stone, Kermit Love,
projects, including Saturday Night Live and Helpsters (https://www. Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, and Richard Hunt as mentors. In 2004,
monkeyboysproductions.com/). he worked with director Susan Stroman on the Broadway revival
of The Frogs by Stephen Sondheim. In 2008, Robinson and Sesame
Anthony Asbury was a very successful puppeteer for about 30 Street writer Annie Evans were married on the set of Sesame Street
years. After Little Shop off-Broadway, he was in the London West (https://www.martinprobinson.com/).
End production. In London, he was a puppeteer on Spitting Image Little Shop was the cover story of Puppetry Journal, September
(1984-1992). And in London, he was the puppeteer for the 1986 1983, with puppeteer Anthony Asbury and Ron Taylor (1952-
film version of Little Shop, directed by Frank Oz. Back in the USA, 2002), who provided the voice of Audrey II. The collaboration of
Asbury was a puppeteer on Allegra’s Window and The Wubbulous the puppeteers with the actor who voices Audrey II is essential.
World of Dr. Seuss. He worked When the show opened in 2019, Kingsley Leggs was the voice of
with Martin P. Robinson on Audrey II, followed by Aaron Arnell Harrington. Both Yudain and
the 2003 Broadway version of Wright can go into very nuanced observations about why each actor
Little Shop. In 2000, he was a was great, and the differences between them. Yudain was particular-
lead puppeteer in Between the ly appreciative of the low and high textures of Harrington’s voice.
Lions. In 2008, Anthony Asbury At one performance, the actor playing Seymour had a momentary
pursued a dream of being a chef problem; Harrington gave Audrey II especially long syllables to
at his own restaurant. With cover it. The puppeteers said he did exactly the right thing.
wife Louise, they opened Sweet Little Shop absolutely requires puppets. It paved the way for
Lula’s in Pitman, New Jersey. successful puppet-centric shows: Lion King (1997), Avenue Q (2003),
War Horse (2011), and Hand to God (2015). The impact of Little
Martin P. Robinson is an Shop went beyond the world of puppetry. The words and lyrics by
extraordinary puppeteer and Howard Ashman (1950-1991) and the music by Alan Menken led
puppet designer. His role in the to a chance to work for Disney. They created words and music for
creation of Audrey II is enough the Disney animated film Little Mermaid that launched the “Disney
Puppetry Journal September to assure his place in puppet Renaissance.” Next, they created a masterpiece, Beauty and the Beast.
1983. Photo: Peter Cunningham history, but there is so much Ashman and Menken brought the sound of Broadway to animated
more. He began working with films, proving a resounding success, appealing to both children and
Jim Henson on Sesame Street in adults. After the Broadway debut of Beauty and the Beast, suddenly
1980. He has been on set as Mr. Snuffleupagus, Telly Monster, and parents and grandparents were bringing kids to see live theater on
Slimy the Worm for more than 30 years. For most of that time, he Broadway.
played scenes with Caroll Spinney as Big Bird. He has been in five Over 40 years and thousands of performances, somehow Little
Muppet-related films. Robinson trains and mentors Sesame Street Shop found that oh-so-rare magic spot where producers, actors,
puppeteers. He has traveled to a dozen nations, including Mexico, and audiences are drawn to it again and again. The rock and roll,
Israel, Egypt, Russia, and Bangladesh, to lead the development of doo-wop, girl group score has the timeless appeal of classic rock.
Sesame Street–type programs. He has served on staff of the Eugene The balance of comedy and horror (heavy on the comedy) is just
O’Neill Theater Center National Puppetry Conference since it right. There are splendid acting opportunities and the puppet,
began in 1991. At the O’Neill, he did two resident artist projects, the always-surprising Audrey II. The show is durable enough that
Jackstraws in a Wind Tunnel and All Hallows’ Eve (2018). “Marty” be- inexperienced high school performers can have fun with it, and
came a full-time puppeteer in 1975. He worked with Nick Coppola there are hidden highs and lows to be found by the very best actors
(Nicolo Marionettes), Addis Williams, Bil Baird, and Liz Swados. and puppeteers.
30
 PA RT O N E

Memories of a
Young Puppeteer
By Larry Steckling

I
was born in 1947. My puppetry journey began in 1956 in St. wardrobe with looking-glass doors were just big enough to bring the
Paul, Minnesota, where both parents, Adrian and Dorothy, Alice puppet through for her dramatic entrance. My sister devised
encouraged me. Our mother Dorothy’s talents included a short, simple script. We shamelessly added a Fairy Godmother
cooking, baking, painting murals, interior decorating, and (stolen from another classic). A dancing clown marionette was add-
gardening. She was also knowledgeable about acting, stage ed. He was a rebuilt Howdy Doody puppet, a Christmas gift from
directing, costuming, set design, my parents. Mother re-costumed him
stage makeup…and puppetry. in blue and pink floral material. Alice
Before getting married, my mother was dressed in pretty blue satin taken
studied drama and dancing at MacPhail from mother’s hat-making box. The
School of Music, Dance and Dramatic Fairy Godmother inadvertently became
Art in Minneapolis. She graduated in the star of the show. She had a small
1933 and was hired by Sylvia Meredith Styrofoam head. Her hair was white and
to work for Sue Hastings Marionettes. curly. Mother seemed to magically create
She performed a show in a window of it from leftover Christmas decorations.
Chicago’s Carson Pirie Scott depart- Her body was petite, but was spectacular-
ment store during the Christmas ly festooned with a cloud of faded light
season. But her time as a puppeteer was blue tulle from an old hat.
brief. Just why she never went back to A small string of “twinkle lights”
Hastings or Meredith was never made (more Christmas décor) was embed-
clear to us. She was soon working as a ded into her costume and hair, with
real-life maid and governess for a well- more lights traveling up to the airplane
to-do Minneapolis family. Growing up, control. I’m not sure how we managed
I was not into outdoor sports, so moth- to hook the lights to plug into an outlet,
er regaled me with stories about her but the lights certainly provided a spe-
drama classes, her many college plays, cial aura. All the puppets had airplane
her chance meeting with Meredith at a controls for easy operation. My dad
local college puppet performance, and helped us build the homemade controls,
her stint with Sue Hastings Mario- and to us, they seemed very professional.
nettes. I heard how thrilling it was for Music was a necessity for the show.
her to unpack the puppets for a show, Young puppeteer Larry with Pinocchio. The family didn’t own a tape recorder,
stringing them up to the controls, mak- but we did have a sturdy record player.
ing sewing repairs to the costumes or The music was chosen from my parents’
puppet bodies, sprucing up the miniature sets with new paint and rather small record collection. We used the Nutcracker Suite, and
sparkle, and becoming familiar with the music and sound effects. I Offenbach’s can-can for the finale.
heard about the demanding schedule of several 15-minute shows in We rehearsed the show, but sadly I would not be permitted to
a day performed by a solo puppeteer and how much she loved it. perform. No children were allowed as visitors in hospital wards. No
In 1958, my older sister, Dorian, was studying for a degree in oc- one thought to use our Brownie camera to document our work, so
cupational therapy at the University of Minnesota, where she had to there was no record of the performance. This made for a very tear-
take a class in puppetry. The students were assigned to two-person ful 11-year-old boy. Once the performers returned with sore bodies,
teams. Each team had to create a puppet version of a classic chil- but wonderful performance stories, I was back in the troupe again.
dren’s story. Dorian and her partner, Marta, chose a scene loosely The girls received an A for their production. The puppets, sets, and
adapted from Alice Through the Looking Glass. props were all given to me to do shows in the neighborhood. But
They had to make all the marionettes using a simple method that I wanted to do professional shows. The Steckling Family Puppets
could be taught to young children with developmental disabilities. were born! We started with a performance at my grade school and
Mother was brought into the project. She taught all three of us how one for a church banquet. A new chapter began in 1959. As I was
to construct the puppets, paint the faces, and costume them. I was finishing seventh grade, the whole family packed up and moved to
11 and already enthused. San Diego for my mother’s health.
A simple bedroom set was formed out of cardboard and paint-
ed in a faux wallpaper floral pattern. Toy furniture and a small Part two: Larry Stecking in San Diego, will appear in the next issue.

31
 Puppets at the Children’s
Theatre of Charlotte
Contributed by CTC Staff
agda Guichard is a gifted The penguins for Mr. Popper’s Pen-
puppet designer and builder guins are especially memorable, as are

M with Children’s Theatre of

Charlotte (CTC). In 2011,
she completed her MFA in production and
costume design from Savannah College of
Guichard’s puppets for A Sick Day for
Amos McGee. She created animals from
a curiously small mouse, to a mid-sized and
elderly Amos, to large jungle-sized crea-
Art and Design. In 2013, her first season at tures. A Sick Day for Amos McGee, by Philip lip
CTC, she was assigned to create a puppet and Erin Stead and winner of the 2011
for The Reluctant Dragon. Later, there was a Caldecott Medal, was the source for a play ay
20-foot dragon for Shrek, The Musical. She commissioned by CTC. It is a story about ut
has gone on to design and build puppets for the joys of friendship, with lots of animals,
als,
about a dozen productions, added to her du- portrayed mostly by puppets. Zookeeper
ties of designing costumes for many produc- Amos visits his animal friends at the zoo,,
tions at CTC. Cindy Taylor, part of the staff running races with the tortoise, caring foror a
at CTC, said of Guichard, “She’s bold in her particularly shy penguin, and reading stories
ories
Dragon from Shrek, the Musical.
craft but humble in her nature.” to an owl. One day, Amos is too sick to Photo: John Merrick
visit his zoo friends, but
fortunately, the animals to me. Visiting my parents, who live most of
know just how to help. the year in France, I was lucky enough to see
The story fits nicely into the puppets of La Machine. Their work is
the theater’s theme, so amazing, using classic techniques on such
called “The Kindness a gigantic scale. Roger Titley from South
Project,” and the puppets Africa does work that is awesome in its
were designed with a very perceived simplicity, and I drew from that
specific goal in mind, to for a couple of pieces. I repeatedly watch
spread kindness. Adam Kreutinger’s YouTube videos for help
Other shows with on some mechanics. London-based puppet
puppets include Caroline, designer Jimmy Grimes has a new book that
My Wonderful Birthday wonderfully breaks down the process for a
Suit, and Go, Dog. Go! newbie like me, but otherwise I research
Occasionally, Guichard and test as much as I have time for and
reimagines puppets so hope for the best when I hit a deadline.”
they can fit in a trailer, Children’s Theatre of Charlotte was
enabling shows to tour founded in 1948 and established their first
Puppets from A Sick Day for Amos McGee. across North Carolina permanent home theater in 1971, and then
Photo: John Merrick and South Carolina. an even better facility in 2003. In 2008,
Even after nine years of they produced BFG (Big Friendly Giant),
building puppets, Magda collaborating with Grey Seal Puppets.
says, “I’m somewhat new Of course, there are other prominent
to the puppet world. children’s theaters that are puppet friendly.
Growing up near West Children’s Theatre Company, Minneapolis,
Palm Beach, Florida, uses puppets as part of their teaching to
I always liked drawing engage children in the delights of theater.
clothes or costumes. I Seattle Children’s Theatre is another
loved Sesame Street and company that has used many puppets. Doug
the Muppets, but at the Paasch (1959-2009) served as puppet master
time, my focus was on before his untimely passing. Since 2014, An-
costumes. In high school, nett Mateo has designed and built puppets
I’d make Halloween cos- for the Seattle company. And in Charlotte,
tumes for my friends. It Guichard will keep designing costumes
was at CTC that design- and puppets. As her creativity continues to
Puppets from Mr. Popper’s Penguins. ing and fabricating pup- grow, audiences are eager to see what she
Photo: Donna Bise pets became important will do next.
32
 SCENEBETWEEN

By Monica Leo

I
t’s been a challenging year for the St. Louis Puppetry Guild. through Springboard
Weeks before the Great Plains Puppet Train, our regional to Learning and Young
festival, two of their most active members died within days of Audiences. They meet
each other. First, they lost their president Stan Gulick, whose with each group once
obituary appears in Puppetry Journal, Summer 2022, and a week for nine weeks
then Jeanie Bryan. Jeanie was 37, a rising star, when her in classrooms, summer
sudden death robbed us of a piece of our art form’s future. camps, and after-school
Two years earlier, they lost another pivotal member, Tom Bon- settings. The kids, even
ham. Last April, Jason Kohner, a newer member, passed away. the youngest preschool-
Jason, a musician, focused on puppetry for adults, interspersing ers, make puppets and
his rock-and-roll shows with puppet vignettes. He was the victim learn to tell stories with
of a bicycle accident. them. At the end of each
These losses might be enough to break most groups, but the residency, they perform
stalwart St. Louisans grieved their losses and continued their for another class or, in
work on the festival. Dan (Digger) Romano organized the work- the case of the older kids,
shops while Michelle O’Donnell Gulick, Stan’s wife, took charge for the school.
of the festival exhibits. As always, they had the full support of Digger’s shows—folk
their guild. tales and original sto-
The St. Louis Guild stands out as an unusually tight-knit, ries—use traditional hand
supportive group. Formed in 1939 and chartered in 1963, they puppets and shadow
worked on four national festivals, 1941, 1947, 1968, and 1975. puppets. His troupe,
Marilyn Myers, Michelle’s mom, exemplified the guild’s positive Blaque Berry Puppets, includes an artistic partner, Sandra Grif-
vibe. For decades, Marilyn was our region’s “Puppet Mama.” She fin, an artist and illustrator. Sandra designs and cuts the shadow
specialized in education, creating scores of workshops and pro- puppets; Digger adds the controls.
grams for kids. She nurtured all of us as beginning puppeteers. Bob Kramer’s Marionette Studio was established in 1963 and
She invited Teri Jean and me to perform at our first festival and has operated continuously since, presenting shows in-house and
took the same chance with many of our peers. touring to other venues. Bob, the primary marionette craftsman,
Her daughters are much like her. No grass grows under the had dreamed of being a puppeteer since early childhood. He
feet of the Myers gals. When Stan was diagnosed with cancer tends to be the silent partner. His co-puppeteer, Dug Feltch, has
and subjected to a brutal round of chemo and radiation, he and a background in theater and excels at spreading good cheer and
Michelle already had a full summer of shows, workshops, and news about upcoming shows. Dug does most of the marketing
residencies booked. Older sister Maureen stepped up, learned for the studio. Young interns round out the staff.
Stan’s parts, and Most of the Kramer shows use carefully crafted, wood-carved
even wrote some marionettes, performing in cabaret style, with their characters
additional music for dancing, skating, and cavorting through musical numbers. Occa-
The St. Louis Guild stands their new show, The sionally, a rod puppet appears over a backdrop. As often as not,
Three Little Fishies it’s Marvin the Moose announcing the next act or telling a joke.
out as an unusually tight- (and the Shark). In October, the guild held their meeting after a cabaret-style
Stan was delighted, show at the Kramer Studio.
knit, supportive group. insisting, “The show Papa and Jackie Wright are longtime members performing
Formed in 1939 and must go on!” as a storytelling/puppetry/percussion duo. Papa does per-
After Stan’s death cussion and puppets; Jackie is a dynamic storyteller. Together
chartered in 1963, they in July, Maureen and they specialize in performing interactive shows for young
Michelle finished the children. Jackie and the audience interact with the puppets,
worked on four national tour. Digger stepped and Papa somehow manages to work the puppets and add
into Stan’s role as percussion!
festivals, 1941, 1947, guild president. Work And then there’s Doris Benz! Doris is in her 90s now, not very
1968, and 1975. Marilyn on the September ambulatory, so she can’t come to festivals. When she was able,
festival continued. she attended every available festival and event. She was positive,
Myers, Michelle’s mom, Digger does many wise, and insightful. I always enjoyed hearing her comments
of the same kinds about shows, workshops, and life in general. I got a note from
exemplified the guild’s of gigs that Michelle her recently. She wrote “I’m so sorry that I can’t get out and see
did with Stan. Their my friends as I can hardly walk now…It’s the pits as I’d like to do
positive vibe. For decades, shows and residen- it all over again.”
Marilyn was our region’s cies for preschool Remember to take the time to enjoy your life! Then tell me
through middle about it, so I can write about you!
“Puppet Mama.” school are booked monica@puppetspuppets.com
33
Milestones
In Memoriam Tributes in the next issue:
• Bob McGrath 1932-2022
• Jody Wren 1938-2022

Martin “Marty” school in Newton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Emerson

Dow Richmond College with a degree in radio and theater.
Using his design and tech skills, and his management skills, he
April 23, 1945 to November 21, 2022 worked on fascinating and diverse kinds of projects. He did the
lighting and tech for 30 episodes re-filming Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.

S
teven Overton, Marty’s partner and husband for more than He created floats for the Grand Floral Rose Parade and the Starlight
45 years, wrote, “My lifelong incredible partner in life, fami- Parade, Portland, Oregon. He served as assistant manager/actor for
ly, kids, Renaissance Fairs, safety and health, and entertain- St. Wolfgang’s Bavarian Guild, doing 21 years of Renaissance fairs in
ment has passed on. Martin D. Richmond was an extraor- California, Oregon, and Washington.
dinary man with a passion for life. May folks fondly remember his He worked with the travel coordinator for rock stars including
amazing contributions to the world of puppetry, arts, and music.” Donna Summers and Rod Stewart on Electra Records’ European
Marty and Steven founded the Olde World Puppet Theatre tour. He managed a facility favored by executives of the recording
(OWPT) in San Francisco in 1982. They settled in Portland, industry and another facility where rock stars recorded their first
Oregon, in 1992 and founded the Olde World Puppet Museum in albums. He also served as manager for Blue Max Restaurant in
2012 (www.puppetmuseum.com). Lahaina, Hawaii, and worked with Ananda Air in Hawaii. He even
Olde World Puppet Theatre Studios created innovative puppets, toured with a Canadian race car team.
stages, sets, and lighting, as well as video and computer magic. OWPT worked on Wee Sing: Under the Sea (1994), building the
Marty was the cinematographer and video editor. He worked on 19 three most complex puppets and performing many of the most
puppet sound tracks. Marty was the voice of Ping Pong the Panda. difficult segments. In November 1996, Marty and Steven created
He was cameraman and editor for Witch Key, A Prince’s Adventure “The Incredible, Fascinating, Wonderful World of Puppets” for
(Amazon Prime) and editor and photographer for The Enchanted the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, featuring over 1,000
Ring, A Princess’s Adventure. puppets, and featuring live puppet performances by famous West
Born in Washington, DC, Marty’s love of theater started in high Coast puppet troupes.

Maury Laws, wrote the lyrics for many of the films he co- directed
Charles “Charlie” Holden with Rankin. Frosty the Snowman (1969) was another Rankin-Bass
1953 to 2022 classic. Bass wrote the lyrics for The Hobbit (1977), which earned a
Peabody Award.
C harlie Holden of We’re Holden Puppets recently passed away
of leukemia. Holden studied with Margo Lovelace and Joann
Spencer Siegrist. We’re Holden Puppets was founded in 1980. With
Gabrielle Boisson
December 19, 1920 to August 19, 2022
Laura Opshinsky, wife and puppet partner, there were perfor-
mances at Carnegie Museum, Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh’s
First Night, Three Rivers Arts Festival, and hundreds of elementary “G abrielle was a very special lady. She told me many stories of
how she and her husband survived in war-torn Paris during
and after WW II. She learned to make paper flowers and sell them
schools and private homes. For several years, Holden was “house”
puppeteer at the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum. They created on the streets.” (From Charles Taylor) She sang at Paris nightclubs
educational and entertaining shows for full-stage school assemblies. in 1951. Gaby came to the US in 1956. Her skill at making paper
They made giant strolling puppets, and taught puppet making and flowers got her a job at a company that supplied Tiki House at Dis-
performance workshops. Holden retired from puppetry around neyland. Near Hollywood, she founded French Doll House Nursery
2001. School in 1962. From a profile in Puppetry Journal, September 1980,
Contributed by Joann Spencer Siegrist she said she discovered puppetry in 1968. Mentors included Harry
Burnett, Bob Bromley, and Betsy Brown. After 1970, Gaby special-
Jules Bass ized in doing shadow puppets. She served as president of the Los
Angeles guild from 1982 to 1983. In 2007, she moved into Kingsley
September 16, 1935 to October 25, 2022 Manor and would occasionally do puppet shows. “She graciously

J ules Bass, famous in the world of stop-action animation, began

working with Arthur Rankin Jr. (1924-2014) in 1955. They
released their first syndicated television series in 1960 and formed
allowed the LA Guild of Puppetry to use her nursery school for
meetings and workshops for many years. A lovely, generous woman
with a charming French accent and a twinkle in her eyes, she was a
Rankin/Bass Productions. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964, great asset to puppetry.” (Contributed by Beth Fernandez). A eulogy
NBC) has been telecast every year since 1964, making it the longest by her daughter, Danielle Schmit, and her husband, Michael, said
continuously running Christmas TV special. Bass, working with Gabrielle was a free spirit who could light up a room.
34
 Happy Holidays
to Everyone From
Puppetry Journal
and Pof A

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T he Puppetry Journal appears
four times a year. Each issue
contains full-color photographs
and articles covering all aspects of
puppet theater. Entertaining and
newsworthy articles about puppe-
teers, puppet theatres, exhibitions,
touring companies, technical tips,
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ship informed. Other membership 2023 APPLICATION WINDOW:
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at a nominal annual cost. Scholarships & Endowment
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Contact the Puppeteers of America for more information.

Contact
Puppeteers of America
310 E 38th St, Ste 127
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Tel: 612-821-2382
www.puppeteers.org
Shoshana Bass at the 2022
National Puppetry Conference
Photo by Emi-Lei Styers Zysk

35
36
THE PUPPETRY JOURNAL
(ISSN 0033-443X)
THE PUPPETEERS OF AMERICA, INC.
SABATHANI COMMUNITY CENTER
310 EAST 38TH STREET, SUITE 127
MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55409
FALL 2022 VOL. 73 NO 4

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