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Playboard PLAYBOARD is the Newsletter of the Puppeteers of America, Inc. President’s Message Well Hey, Everybody! The weather is getting warmer and summer is coming! I hope all of you are checking out this years’ regional festivals. The organizers are hard at work preparing a wonderful summer for you. By now all of you should have received your new Directory, thanks to the efforts of the Membership Office. One idea that the board has been kicking around is the possibility of putting the Directory on-line, password protected. This is in addition to the printed volume and the password would probably change yearly. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions on the matter, I would love to hear from you. Just email me at: anadpuppet[at]yahoo.com. Just put DIRECTORY in the subject line, or snail mail me at 39 Besen Parkway Airmont, NY 10952. The election results are in and will be announced at the annual meeting, to be held in Seattle in July. We had a smaller than usual number of votes cast, 14% of the total membership returned ballots. I don’t know what that means, but there it is. A word: Yes, these are tough times, yes, we are all feeling the pinch, but as artists, and artists of a unique breed, we need each other for support, inspiration and sometimes a kick in the rear. Please consider attending a festival this summer for your own artistic health and that of your fellow puppeteers. After a festival, without fail, I feel energized, inspired, filled with joy and glad to be part of this odd fraternity (sorority?), is there a word for both? Who knows? To be able to share this unique art form with the others of our clan is an experience worth having. If you were thinking of not going for whatever reason, please think again. We’d miss you. If you have not seen the Festival 09 DVD, check out the Puppetry Store and get one. It is awesome! Till Fall. Anna Vargas, President Regional Festivals
It is suddenly summer, but outside the window my world is covered with snow. Denver has had one of its famous snowstorms in May. It will melt by tomorrow and the air will be clear. I will be grateful that school will soon be out and Festivals filled with puppetry will be revving up. I love summer because I get a puppet transfusion and it sets me up for new ideas and offers me new shows I haven’t seen. This year I will be teaching a class in soft-bodied marionettes at Puppet Fest Mid-west in Missouri. It offers a week of concentrated time spent in learning what you want to learn. It is a pay it back time for me. I once took a class in at Scarret college at a Festival in Tenn. The class was about soft bodied marionettes and was taught by Jerry Hartnett of Lanark, Florida. In our class was a very young man named Phillip Huber of Cookeville, Tennessee. There are great advantages of meeting people at festivals. You end up with life long friendships. We have always said, it was great seeing each other every year, sharing our love of puppets together. The best thing is you never know each other well enough to know each other’s faults. Wake up friends, this summer there is Puppet Fest Midwest in Missouri, Puppet-O-Rama in Seattle, Washington and Port City Fest in Wilminington North Carolina, the Great Lakes Region – Land of Lincoln, in Springfield Illinois, the O’Neill National Puppetry Conference in Connecticut and the Sandglass Theater Festival in Putney, Vermont. Choose one! Choose All! You will never regret it. Before I begin my column I need my soapbox for a few words. As I was reading the last issue of the Puppetry Journal and while writing my column (most of the information I have comes from Newsletters) I discovered that many of the talented and inventive puppeteers that we write about are NOT members of the Puppeteers of America, I find this really disheartening. There are loyal members out there that are never mentioned in the columns or articles and I can’t quite figure it out. Why write about people who won’t read about their own activities because they won’t even join the national organization? I want then to be a part of the organization. If you recognize any of these names that do not appear in our directory, bug them to join. I received some great Punch and Judy material concerning a P&J festival in Liandudno in Wales. The family has been doing the show for generations and this year celebrated it’s 150 year. The puppets originally were carved from sticks founds on the beach, the company even survived a freak storm that washed the stage away one night and it survived, losing only a piece of the proscenium. It is true Punch lives on. Speaking of Punch – The Drama of Works in Brooklyn, NY continues to have its Puppet slams. The group is working on “Leakey’s Ladies”. James Walton recently visited the zoo in DC to study movements of gorillas and orangutans to be sure the movements were correct. Puppeteers really do their homework. The group has received a grant from the Henson Foundation and the Puffin Foundation. David Simpich is doing “Portraits” at his theatre in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is a wonderful show about people that left an impression in David’s life. Lincoln, the elephant man, David’s great grandmother and many interesting personalities. Jerry Bickel’s Bits ‘N Pieces, Puppet Theater of Tampa Bay , Florida is presenting their newest show, “The Adventures of Robin Hood! Monica Leo and Eli Portugal of Independence, Iowa stopped by the Puppet Arts Institute in Kansas City and performed two classic Mexican animal tales, “The Rabbit in the Moon” and “the Musical Ant.” They performed in both English and Spanish. They have a busy summer at the PAI. Clement- McCrae Puppet Co, Kansas City, Missouri will be performing their “Puppets on a String” and Rosalie Perryman of Marshfield Missouri will be doing “Taking a Trip Around the World.” The Minneapolis puppeteers celebrated their 36th May Day parade this year. Wonderful news and congratulations to Spencer Lott, Lawrence Kansas He not only graduated from college but produced a wonderful puppet show: “The House of Atreus.” Based on Greek tragedies, Spencer uses pop-culture to appeal to young adults. Actors are the Gods manipulating the puppets who represent the lowly pathetic humans. The show had rave reviews. Pinocchio is also making the rounds this summer. Lee Bryan, of Atlanta Georgia is doing his one man puppet show “Pinocchio” and the Pinocchio’s Marionette Theatre, Orlando Florida is doing – guess what “Pinocchio”. Who has more fun than Angela Beasley, Savannah Georgia? She started spring off this year with Mad Hatter Parties and Earth Day parties. Bob Baker in Los Angeles, California has opened a new show called “Musical World”. Creative minds are at work. Diane Raines, Hudson, Wisconsin has made a reversible faced snowman for her Hans Christian Anderson story of love between a snowman and a pot bellied stove. That’s one I have never heard before, sounds interesting. Marta Mozelle Macrostie (an O’Neill grad) has an articulated hand, that is a marionette,. Now that’s different. Debbie Costine of Southborough, Massachusetts is working on a new environmental show that includes a turtle and a beaver. Debbie, true to the professional puppet standards has been studying the life and habits of the two animals. (I find myself wishing that people understood how much time, energy and talent it takes to build a quality show like Deb’s.) The National Heritage Museum in Lexington, MA is hosting “Jim Henson’s Fantastic World.” If you have ever seen a Henson exhibit, you know what fun they can be. They offer puppets, imagination, fun and laughter. I had so much fun checking back in the 50 year old Journals that I thought I’d take another look. I discovered that “Mr. and Mrs. Jim Henson’s Muppets were featured on “Sam and Friends.” That’s exactly the way it reads. More Punch and Judy: The Ballard Institute and Museum in Storrs Connecticut has several Punch and Judy sets from the 19th and early 20th century. They are also featuring modern sets of P&J by Elaine and Jordan Miller, Al Fosso, and Rufus and Margo Rose. The general theme of the exhibit is “puppets politics and humor.” There is a new artistic director at the Puppet Showplace Theatre in Brookline Massachusetts. Roxie Myhrum will take over the duties. She has an impressive background in drama and puppetry. That’s about it for now. Hope the summer is productive for everyone and I hope you all get to a festival of some sort. DROP ME A NOTE !!!!! M’El M’EL REUM
This April the National Day of Puppetry celebrated twelve years. Just shy of those teenage years, the event hasn’t become moody and unresponsive yet. In fact the NDOP celebrations across the country are as active and exciting as ever.
Well, once again I’m out of space. Let me know what you’re guild is doing and we’ll fill the space next issue. KURT HUNTER Greetings, Summer Schleppers, Summer! How delightful! What we yearned for as we slogged through slush and snow. Festivals, summer reading clubs, parties, fairs: all ripe for the picking… But summer work isn’t easy for us puppeteers. Who hasn’t been assigned a playing time at the same time as the tractor pull? Who hasn’t been assigned a playing area right next to the heavy metal band? Self Preservation: One gig many years ago placed me in front of eastern-facing bleachers. I found myself at 2:00 PM staring directly into the blazing July sun for forty-five minutes. I could just feel my corneas frying. I was not happy. Three weeks later, I am facing east. Same sun. Same frying. But this time it was the children being fried. The wide-eyed little kids were getting their corneas fried and it was my fault. That night, I rewrote my contract, inserting the following clause: “For outdoor venues, safety against eye damage due to sun is essential. The site must not have either the puppeteer or the audience staring directly into the sun. Shade trees and park pavilions are excellent sites. If there is no such shelter, the audience must face either north or south, never east or west.” Outdoor problem: Again, who hasn’t taken a bathroom break, only to return to find little rugrats inside your booth, playing with your puppets? And the parents standing there, smiling encouragingly! Smile back. How do you know the mother isn’t your client’s sister? Melanie Zimmer, of Vernon, New York, knows exactly what I mean about stage barging. She said that she finally made a sign that says (oh, guess!), “Keep Out” which she velcros across the entrance of her fitup. You wouldn’t think that it would help, but surprisingly, it does. Who would have thought… Bribes are good: At one fair lasting eleven days, I became plagued with the children who traveled with the carnival. They had nothing to do, so attended the puppet show for every performance. After memorizing the script, the responses and the jokes, boredom set in until one of them thought of throwing a pebble at the puppets. Have you ever been stoned? I mean, with stones? Of course I, being behind the curtain, couldn’t identify the culprits. I solved the problem by letting it be known that, if the stoning stopped, each child would get a state fair baseball cap on the last day. The way I looked at it was that hats were cheaper than stitches. And it is my policy to never complain to the administration unless it is absolutely necessary. I don’t want to be remembered as a complainer. It’s time: Rick Morse, of Flushing, Michigan, called to remind me to remind me that it’s time to order your year’s supply of neoprene. It cannot be shipped in temperatures below fifty degrees. Neoprene, for those just starting, is a latex casting product that is beautifully durable, lightweight and nontoxic. Use it for heads and limbs. Don Morrison, of Columbia Station, Ohio, wanted to know which type he should get. There are three: #501: this is rigid ( It can be sanded, tapped, drilled and sawed), #521 (semi-rigid) and #613 (flexible). The marvel of neoprene is how lightweight it is. The company suggests that you let it sit in the mold overnight, but I have never let it sit for more than a few hours. Another nice thing about neoprene is that, when it comes out of the mold, it is still semi-flexible so that minor undercuts are not a problem. There is slight shrinkage, but nothing significant. You can get neoprene in one gallon jars from Spartan Adhesives and Coatings Company, 345 Terra Cotta Avenue, Crystal Lake, IL 60039. It costs about $60.00 a gallon. Back Safety: Dr. Thomas Green, my friend of Cazenovia, New York cautioned me on how I carry my stuff. He says that the nature of the job requires schlepping but you can cut the strain on your back by half. By habit, you carry all your stuff on one side. Train yourself to carry half the trips on the left and half on the right. That way, the muscles on each side are being rested half the time. Melanie Zimmer saves her back by dividing all her things into lighter containers with as many things on wheels as possible. Only the absolute essentials go to the site. All those “just in case” items are in their own case and stay in the van until needed. So long for now. Keep in touch. Stay out of the sun when possible (especially if you’re a shadow puppeteer) and send me a tip when you can. Nancy NANCY H. SANDER |
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