Puppetfest Midwest!

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I spent the last week with about 50 other puppet aficionados, making puppets, talking puppets, laughing, and watching shows! Puppetfest Midwest is an intensive workshop oriented festival in Trenton, Missouri. Under the direction of Peter Allen and Debbie Lutzky Allen, puppeteers and potential puppeteers of all experience levels gather to teach and learn. Participants choose one 20 hour workshop to attend (each day from 8:30 till 3:30 with plenty of generous refreshment breaks!). Each evening a different puppeteer, usually one who is also teaching a workshop, performs, and each afternoon finds folks attending a different special event. Small as it is, you get to know and converse with everyone; the atmosphere is supportive enough that even the newest puppeteers feel free to perform at the light-hearted late night events at “Pam’s Place”, a traveling (to whichever storefront in downtown Trenton happens to be empty in any given year) bistro hosted by caterer extraordinaire Pam Infranca. I taught the Bohemian-style marionette workshop to three hardworking puppeteers. It was a bit nerve-wracking for me this year because I also premiered my new miniature marionette show (with pop-up sets), The Snow Queen. As I expected, everyone was warm and supportive and any feedback was 100% helpful! Next year is Puppetfest Midwest’s 10th anniversary; spaces are limited, and it’s not too early to sign up!

This hilarious duck was made in my workshop by Steve Mark

Traveling with Coyote!

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Patti Smithsonian was here (from Manitou Springs, Colorado) last week with Coyote’s Eyeball and Other Stories of the Constellations. A merging of hand puppets, shadow puppets on the overhead projector, and lots of rowdy fun! We traveled to Columbus Junction and Mason City in addition to the four shows at The New Strand Theatre in West Liberty. After nine performances, I knew the show by heart! Thanks again to Patti for making the long drive from Colorado!

On the Road With Pam and Ron

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During March, the puppets did two very different residencies. March 9-11, Pam and I spent in Elkader, Iowa, rehearsing and performing THE FLEA with a class of fabulous fourth graders. We were supposed to spend half of Days 1 and 2 rehearsing with one class and half making puppets with the other fourth grade. The first day was a snow day-our third this winter!-so we headed north to Monona to tour the thrift shops and the mother of all fabric shops (a huge warehouse with bolts new and old, dating back to the 1970′s). We spent ALL of Day 2 rehearsing with the performing class, and the performances on Day 3, in the beautifully renovated 1904 Elkader Opera House, went amazingly well. The kids performed for 2 full houses (total 900) from Elkader, Monona, Luana, Farmersburg, Marquette, MacGregor, and Guttenberg. Live music by Ron Hillis (and his 4th grade sound effects crew) added hugely! I made it up to the other fourth grade by coming back the following Monday to make puppets with them. March 16-18, I worked with a group of 21 homeschoolers, aged 6-16, in Davenport. We wrote, built, rehearsed, and performed (again with Ron’s live music) a shadow puppet show called WHY ANTS ARE STRONG, an extremely clever little story that we wrote the first morning. Homeschoolers present different challenges than those presented by the typical classroom. They work independently and relate well to people of all ages. Working as a group is a different story (even lining up is a foreign concept…). As different as they were, both residencies were successful and satisfying!

Puppet and Pastries-for the 13th time!

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We had a wonderful event last weekend: our 13th annual Puppets and Pastries, Dessert Theatre for Adults. We started this event in the fall of 1998, when we had the opportunity to present Shona Reppe, an extremely inventive puppeteer from Scotland. We’d asked her to perform at the West Liberty Children’s Festival when she told us she was bringing a show for adults along as well. Teri Jean’s husband, Chef Mickey Motyko, and I had been talking about how much fun a dessert theatre would be. Shona’s show was the impetus that got us started. I will never forget her haunting rendition of a Scottish (and actually, international…) folktale, Milk White Doo. We’ve done dessert theatre every year since then, and it’s expanded to include our favorite musicians, storytellers, and playwrights. To find out more about last weekend’s event, read Joe Jennison on the Iowa Theatre Blog: http://iowatheatre.blogspot.com/2011/02/puppets-is-important-part-of-cultural.html

Immigrant Stew at the Chat ‘n’ Chew

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We had a wonderful community show Jan. 22!  Our 3rd-5th grade puppeteers collaborated with several area adults to perform Immigrant Stew at the Chat ‘n’ Chew, by Mary Swander, a light-hearted look at the history of immigration to the Midwest.  Ron Hillis and Dave Moore played live music for the show, and 12 of Nicole Rock’s dancers, aged 6-12, danced the final scene to the Immigrant Stew Polka in costumes designed by Sue Gilbert and stitched by local volunteers.  Over 20 people on stage at the New Strand and almost-full houses for both shows!  It’s a lot of work to organize these community wide performances, but so much fun we forget all about the work.  Thanks to Nicole, all of the performers, and The Community Foundation of the Great River Bend and The Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine!