File puptcrit/puptcrit.0711, message 119


Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 16:22:46 -0800 (PST)
From: John Hay <jphay-AT-sbcglobal.net>
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] The Puppet People videos


I checked out the Christmas Carol video.  Looks like a terrific show.  And I like your format of making the video more of a short documentary or "first look" ( like the shorts on upcoming movie releases on HBO) rather than showing a long segment.  Video makes puppetry seem flat and a bit lifeless...I am referring to ANYONE's puppet video.
   
  I did have an idea for your puppet of Christmas Past:  If you go to this link and watch the quick video of the parrot puppet you'll see the idea.  Basically building an extension that looks like the continuation of the arm and hand.  It makes the puppet look independent.  Just thought you might consider it.      John Hay

Puppet People <puppetpeople-AT-nycap.rr.com> wrote:
  Hi all;
My name is Mark and I am the co-founder of The Puppet People, a touring 
company in upstate New York. I am wondering if I could get your advice on 
something. This past summer I started creating short videos of our shows 
and placing them on our website. I am wondering if you could look at them 
and tell me if they are helpful showcasing what we do or not. The videos are 
structured like short documentaries of our shows.
Our website is thepuppetpeople.org, just click on "Our Shows" and look 
for the "view video" under show discription. At this point I only have 2 of 
the videos up, one for The Firebird and the other is A Christmas Carol.
Thank you for your time

Mark Carrigan
The Puppet People
thepuppetpeople.org
518-393-2268
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mathieu René" 
To: 

Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 2:45 AM
Subject: [Puptcrit] My first Puppet Tour


> Hi all.
>
> I am back in Montreal, after nearly two months away (in the USA), on my 
> first tour as a puppeteer.
> It also happens to be my first foray out of Canada, so it was doubly 
> exciting.
>
> I'd leave for another tour tomorrow if I had the opportunity.
> Need a motivated puppeteer who can also repair/make puppets/give 
> workshops?
>
> Some details:
> First, I have to say how grateful I am to Ann Legunn, Director of The 
> PuppeTree, who invited me to perform, taking a big risk considering I had 
> very little stage experience as a puppeteer (two two-week intensive 
> puppeteering workshops). She and her husband Joel welcomed us in their 
> Vermont home and were generous with their time and resources.
>
> I enjoyed this touring thing a lot. I did not know wether or not I would, 
> but I was very willing to try my best at it.
> It was surprisingly easy to get used to the "sleeping away" aspect of 
> touring. The motel rooms were comfortable. Now I want a bed like they have 
> in every room (Red Roof Inn).
>
> We were touring by car, hauling a closed trailer containing the show. The 
> riding part was very interesting. Sometimes a bit long, but more often 
> then not, the changing scenery was fascinating to me, and the music or 
> conversations kept us mostly sane.
> The many vibrant colors of the fall season in Vermont, New Hampshire, 
> Connecticut, New-Jersey, Massacusets and New-York will stay with me 
> forever. I did not imagine any part of the USA to be so green for such 
> wide expanses of land. I'm sure there is more variety of climates, but for 
> now, I've only seen New England States, impressed already. It must be 
> glorious in the summer!
>
>
> Us three performers each have strong emotional personalities, and are 
> quite different in tastes and experiences. We got along immediately on the 
> first day, but of course, as we spent every minute of every touring day 
> together, frictions occured a few times, but we solved them quickly by 
> liberal applications of "leave-it-be-for-now", "can we talk about this" 
> and "Sorry. How about some *insert snack name here*".
>
> Learning a first show in a week was a challenge for me, but I finally got 
> it on time. We messed up a few times during performance, but thanks to the 
> magic of collaboration, it rarely showed as a mistake for the public. 
> After a particularly hard show, I learned a valuable lesson: if you do a 
> BIG mistake, don't beat yourself up over it and melt into appology mode, 
> it will break the beat of the show. Just go on. Chances are, the public 
> won't even have noticed. And if you do panic, it WILL show. Lesson 
> learned.
>
> Giving it your ALL isn't always easy, especially when you are performing 
> in front of just a few people, instead of a crowd.
> By some strange booking-timing thing, on Halloween day, we ended up 
> performing for about 7 people in a library , which became 5 with only one 
> child present when we came to take a bow. It was a good performance I 
> think, but the heart was not completely into it, as the public's reaction 
> was not as thrilling as usual. What kind of an idea is it to book a show 
> at the very moment when kids have to leave to go trick or treat?. The show 
> went on, no matter what, and I'm proud we did it right under the 
> curcumstances.
>
> The show was The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, done in shadow puppets, using 
> the press-screen approach with some instances of overhead projector, using 
> transparencies. I had never manipulated such types of puppets before, but 
> with a lot of trying, and watching and taking advice from Fred, the 
> experienced puppeteer of our group, I quickly learned to have fun with it. 
> That is quite a change from years ago, when I thought shadow puppets could 
> not be my kind of thing. Now, I love it, and would love to make my own 
> shadow show someday.
>
> I love every step of the touring lifetyle (including setup and striking, 
> strangely enough), but of course, my favorite is the performance itself, 
> followed in close second by the interaction with the public, during 
> question period, or when we gave workshops.
> I'm told an on-and-off two month tour is not really the real test (try 9 
> months full-time, said Fred), but it's one of those things I already know 
> I like. Same feeling I had when I first started painting, same I had with 
> my first finished puppet.
>
> I liked meeting people of all backgrounds and experiences. My collegues 
> and I were certainly different from each other. It was a blast to learn 
> and perform with these two: Fred the puppeteer and Chelsea the dancer.
>
> Some audience members had never seen a puppet show before, as we 
> performed often in small towns in rural areas.
> It was rewarding to see the sparks of interest and curiosity in their eyes 
> after the show, when they came to see how it was done, and how perhaps 
> they could make their own.
>
> I enjoyed meeting collegues from Puptcrit as well. First I met Steven 
> Hollow when we performed at the Baird. I wished we had had more time to 
> talk! Should you ever need to eat in his town, ask Steven, he'll give you 
> a verbal menu of the best venues.
> There was another Puptcritter there that night, but sorry, I forgot your 
> name! I only remember names of people I had two conversations with, and we 
> only had one brief one. Then later, Brad Shur came to take a papermache 
> workshop with us at the PuppeTree headquarters, which was also an 
> opportunity to design puppets for an upcoming show. People, mister Shur 
> is a fun fella with great skills, I would not hesitate to contact him for 
> building your shows if I were you. I'd certainly like to work with him 
> again.
>
> I said it before, but I'll repeat it: I love touring. So much to see, to 
> learn, to meet, to exchange, to live, to grow.
>
>
> Tonight my cold appartment in Montreal is a hard return to another kind of 
> reality.
> A reality where job/contract searching is already in motion, bureaucracy 
> has to be dealt with, and big studio changes are mandatory. Somewhow my 
> visions and priorities have been changed by the trip, and this means a 
> drastic re-organisation of space. That first solo show I've been meaning 
> to build is itching to come out, although I have no idea what topic to 
> tackle yet. All I know is that once I really start the motion, it will be 
> quite a ride. A ride to more roads.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit
> Archives: http://www.driftline.org
> 

_______________________________________________
List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit
Archives: http://www.driftline.org

_______________________________________________
List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit
Archives: http://www.driftline.org

   

Driftline Main Page

 

Display software: ArchTracker © Malgosia Askanas, 2000-2005