Date: Sat, 09 Feb 2008 00:00:55 -0500 From: Mary Horsley <mphorsley-AT-earthlink.net> To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org> Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] puppeteers for school assemblies and other markets Like I said, do more plays at museums and theatres so I can take the kids on a field trip....... Mary On 2/8/08 12:10 PM, "Alan Cook" <alangregorycook-AT-msn.com> wrote: > Robert Rogers hit a nail on the head, suggesting that (at least some) > puppeteers/performers for school audiences had been vaudeville performers who > had to find new markets for their talents as vaudeville disappeared. But there > are other nails to pound too.There were other places for vaudevillians to > perform as well. The best money for some was in radio, movies and ultimately > TV. Puppet-wise, Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy were hugely popular on radio. > (Since the radio audience could not see him, who cared if you saw Bergen's > lips moving?) > > But Tony Sarg's company appeared in school auditoriums and civic auditoriums > (including The Pasadena Civic Auditorium in California) a decade or 2 BEFORE > vaudeville died. > > School assemblies were part of my growing up-experence and we did our own > puppet shows, and school plays and we watched ex-vaudevillians concert artists > and speakers do monologues, sing or play musical instruments, deliver > lectures, etc. because in those days educators actually recognized the > educational value of such things. The current crop of educators has too many > phonies in charge. > > Vaudeville was not the only big market for puppets . Churches offered cultural > events to the community. Small and large company picnics or holiday parties > might feature puppeteers and other entertainers. And puppet shows were used by > companies as a means of advertising. Department stores had auditoriums which > offered a variety of programs including puppet shows, to attract shoppers into > their buildings. When I was a kid, ALL the major Los Angeles Department Stores > had at least one puppet show a year: Bullocks Store had Nickanellie Puppets > EVERY Saturday, Robinsons Store used puppets periodically (Snow White was a > tie-in with the first release of Disney's version with Wayne Barlow > marionettes, and the pattern repeated when Disney's "Dumbo" first opened. > There was a wandering guy dressed as a sailor at Robinsons, followed about by > a live penguin and every so often he would go to a puppet booth and perform > Punch & Judy, and sell swazzles after the performance for 10 cents---I could > never get mine to work right. > > May Company's performance space also presented a Chimpanzee show, Bob Baker > did a puppet circus at the 5th Street Store which stopped traffic in Los > Angeles just as Tatterman's marionette Jantzen's Swim Suit fashion show > stopped traffic in a window show in New York City. > > There are so many examples of puppetry being used in deparment stores, and the > tradition did not stop all at once. I did a puppet exhibit for the Broadway > Store in downtown Los Angeles in the 1960s, Nancy Henk performed at Hudsons in > Detroit in later years too. > > The age of the great department stores in the USA has pretty much passed with > a few exceptions. Macy's mother store still has Nick Copolla's Christmas show > I guess (correct me on this one if I am misinformed) (I saw it quite a while > ago) and I bought a rare Punch & Judy book at that store's book department. > But most department stores are now a ghost of what they used to be or they are > completely dead. > > Amusement Parks have offered new venues, but Punch & Judy have long found > audiences at fairs, and amusement parks in the distant past also. > > My junior high school's head janitor had been a vaudevillian, and for a school > talent show trod the boards one more time with his (non-puppet) act, giving us > a taste of the past (which in my opnion is automatically EDUCATIONAL). > > The Chataqua Movement, which brought "edifying presentations" to communities > coexisted with the vaudeville age. Puppets were presented as well as musical > programs and lectures. Ditto for community concerts (Daniel Llords' > marionettes performed for them, as well as the once numerous Women's Clubs.) > > And many librairies continue to support puppets in spite of budget cuts. > > So the markets change continually, yet in some ways stay the same. Museums > have also provided venues for puppet shows. > > One recurring problem: when one generation of program bookers dies off there > is usually a lack of continuity, and the old wheels have to be reinvented over > time by the new people in charge. That is true of museum exhibit bookers too. > More than once I'd been asked "What? A PUPPET EXHIBIT in our museum?" and I > could point out that such things were very popular in the 1930s (in one case > at the same museum ! ! ! ). > > There used to be more puppets at State and County Fairs, but Nancy Mitchell > keeps busy on this circuit, Lynn Sliski helped maintain the tradition. > > While things change for puppetry, not always for the better, good stuff does > not all stop at once. And we get stuck with having to educate those in charge > of the current markets in order to keep the good stuff. > > ALAN COOK > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: robertrogers-AT-robertrogerspuppets.com > Sent: Friday, February 8, 2008 5:26 AM > To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org > Subject: [Puptcrit] frustration > > Well, I think that over the past few days, the discussion has gone from > concern over the shrinking school market to frustration with American > politics. We've all made valid points, but what I get from all of it is > that puppeteers are a very dedicated bunch of people, and that puppetry, > being more than a job, is something we all take to heart. > > I've always felt (just a hunch) that the school market came about as the > world of vaudeville faced its demise. Just think of all those performers > who had no place to show their skills. Many took jobs in other fields, > some found that they could market themselves as providers of cultural > enrichment. Now, that avenue of employment is disappearing. > > If we get a Democrat in the White House in 2009, I'm not so sure that the > pendulum will swing back for arts in education - at least any time soon. > America is too deep in debt. And when will people come to their senses > and realize that political correctness has gone to far? That issue > affects puppeteers as well. > > We've got to adapt and find new markets and new audiences. Perhaps find > new material, and even change the style in which we express ourselves. > > Oh well, I'd better get off the soapbox and get back to work. > > Take care all, > > Robert Rogers > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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
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