Thursday, July 2, 2009

Summer Puppet Fun

Greetings to all!

My wife and I just got back from a fun tour of New England. Along the way we were able to see some fun puppet spots! Does anyone recognize this familiar scene?



It's my wife Joyce and me on a life-size re-creation of the Sesame Street set at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY. If you are ever in that area, you have to go see this museum. This section of the museum was designed with the help of the Sesame Street people. If you are a SS fan, you will enjoy this tribute to all things Sesame Street.



Even a spot to play with the puppets!



Below is a photo of me with my new puppet friend Captain No-Eye!



He is one of the stars of the show "Everybody Loves Pirates" as performed by the Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers. My daughter and I had first seen this outstanding trio of puppeteers at the National PoA Conference a couple years ago. This time they were performing at the library in Boothbay Harbor, Maine for Windjammer Fest. Talk about working in cramped conditions! Originally the program was slated to be outside, but weather didn't cooperate. The show was awesome and afterwards I got to go back stage and experiment with the puppets.

We also were able to see a marionette performance entitled "The Dragon King" performed by the Tanglewood Marionettes in Falmouth, MA.



This 10-foot long dragon puppet comes out at the grand finale. Beautiful puppets that they craft themselves.



Their show featured marionettes, rod puppets, blacklight puppetry, and much more. Only two puppeteers, but did they put on an amazing show!

Hope your travels include wonderful puppetry like we enjoyed!

Dave Payne
Fox Folk Marionette Troupe
Hands 2 Puppet Productions