Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2009 18:06:00 -0500 From: Hobey Ford <hobeyone-AT-gmail.com> To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] [bagop] banjo playing puppeteer Very cool story. I am excited for David Stephens. This is aperfect job for him. Thanks Liz On Sun, Feb 1, 2009 at 8:35 AM, <sarahm45-AT-aol.com> wrote: > Wonderful, Liz! Thank you! Sarah > > > Sarah Lamstein > www.sarahlamstein.com > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Elizabeth Freeman <lindentree85-AT-comcast.net> > To: BAGOP <bagop-AT-yahoogroups.com>; Puptcrit <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org> > Sent: Sun, 1 Feb 2009 7:59 am > Subject: [bagop] banjo playing puppeteer > > > > From CSMonitor, I was linked to it from www.angiesbanjo.com > eb. 2009 issue of Silver Strings ( a magazine for banjo players) liz > The cramped and creative world of the puppeteer > Anney McKilligan is one four people who operate 22 puppets =96 > ncluding squirrels, woodchucks, and possums =96 at a stage production > n Connecticut. > y Jennifer Miller | Correspondent / January 2, 2009 edition > > uppeteer Anney McKilligan buttons the coat of Yancy Woodchuck, a > uppet she created that takes three people to operate. > Anney McKilligan lies in a coffin-like box beneath a fabricated car > hat's rumbling across the stage of the Goodspeed Opera House here. > he manipulates a paddle between her thighs, a lever next to her leg, > nd three sets of rods with her hands. Part mechanic, part artist, > he uses the tools to animate the "actors" in the car above =96 five > aucous and uncannily lifelike puppets. > The audience seems to appreciate her work even though they don't know > ho she is or what she's doing: It laughs loudly at the sniggering > easel and water-spitting catfish. But Ms. McKilligan is growing > ncreasingly uncomfortable. Her tiny compartmen > t is dark and cramped. > orse, white smoke, meant to depict exhaust, has begun filling her > idden lair. > "With puppeteers, there's a whole other story going on behind the > cenes," says McKilligan. "Nobody knows what you're going through." > Welcome to the creative but invisible world of the puppeteer. This is > ot your parents' puppet show: It's not a matter of putting your hand > n a sock or dangling a toy soldier from a string. > Like acting, puppeteering is a stylized, demanding, and > rofessionally competitive art form. One puppeteer in this stage > roduction has a masters degree in his craft. Hundreds of people > uditioned for just a handful of slots. The few fortunate enough to > et hired sit on their knees for hours during a production, creating > haracters out of inanimate objects. > In the process, they are contributing to an artistic tradition that > as helped redefine our notions of comedy, often evokes memories of > hildhood, and, more than anything, fuels our imagination. "There's a > art of you that knows the puppet isn't real, but there's a part of > our heart that wants to believe that it is," says Tyler Bunch, the > uppet captain of the Goodspeed production. "All the puppet does is > pen and close its mouth, but you could swear you saw it smile." > =95=95=95 > At 33, McKilligan never thought she'd be wearing a Cookie Monster > carf. She is one=2 > 0of four professional puppeteers working in the > tage production of Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, a musical > riginally written for television by the late puppet pioneer and > uppet icon Jim Henson. McKilligan never intended to be a puppeteer. > hen again, neither did Henson. He came to puppeteering accidentally, > n 1956, as a way to break into television. > McKilligan wanted to be an actress and studied acting and design at > ew York University. After college, she grew discouraged trying to > reak into theater. Puppetry helped her get work. McKilligan excelled > s a character actor, but she was too young to get cast in roles that > nspired her. "When you're a puppeteer, you can be an old lady when > ou're 30 and nobody knows the difference," she says. > McKilligan worked first as a puppet wrangler (a puppet caretaker) for > tage productions. She then became a freelance builder and puppeteer > or the Henson Company. Her office was in the Henson Workshop in > anhattan, which houses many of the characters used on Sesame Street. > he loved the materials available to her in the shop =96 yards of > uppet fur, a drawer filled with eyeballs, spools of brightly colored > abrics. > Her first job for Emmet Otter was building Yancy Woodchuck, a 44- > nch, full-body puppet. Bringing Yancy to life was a particularly > hallenging assignment: He had to appear to be free standing, and he > ad to play the banjo. "Being a performer was impo > rtant when I was > uilding Yancy," says McKilligan, "because I had to understand how I > as going to operate him. A lot of puppets have practical hands =96 > uppeteers wearing gloves with moving fingers =96 but playing a banjo > s really specific." > Yancy's scene requires three puppeteers to manipulate his arms, legs, > nd head. McKilligan's design lets puppeteer and musician David > tephens slip his arms through holes in Yancy's wrists and into > pecial gloves that are fur on top, spandex underneath, and have > anjo picks sewn into the fingers. > Mr. Stephens has Yancy play an old-time song called "Barbeque" on the > anjo strapped across the puppet's chest. A black backdrop and > pecial lighting makes the black-clad puppeteers nearly invisible. > Puppets get away with ridiculous things," says McKilligan of her > anjo playing woodchuck. "But we've created a whole world, so > verybody buys into it." > Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas is the first Henson production ever > o be adapted for the stage. Originally a children's book, it tells > he story of a single mother and her son who find emotional and > piritual wealth in the midst of poverty. In 1977, Henson turned > mmet into an all-puppet TV musical. The current production, which > pened Dec. 7 and runs through Jan. 4, 2009, includes a cast of 16 > uman actors dressed in elaborate animal costumes, as well as the > our20puppeteers who operate 22 puppets. > Competition for the four slots was intense. Those selected not only > ad to puppeteer, but act and sing. Many of the actors and the > irector came from Broadway. Grammy-winner Paul Williams wrote the > usic and lyrics. Brian Henson, Jim Henson's son and co-executive > irector of the Henson Company, produced the show. > =95=95=95 > The Goodspeed theater is not designed for puppet-heavy productions. > he puppeteers are hidden in the orchestra pit and dress in black. > The orchestra sits backstage.) Still, many patrons in the balcony > an see them work. > The puppeteers hold the figures over their heads while sitting high > n their knees (they all wear knee pads). Because they operate so > any different characters, they scramble back and forth =96 at times > ooking like they're playing Twister. > "I'm a squirrel, then a rabbit, then a squirrel, then a possum," says > cKilligan. "The actors' journey through the play makes sense. > hereas my role is doing 20 different things that don't." > One benefit to being hidden is that McKilligan was able to keep a > cheat sheet" of her character lineup handy for the first few shows. > he downside is that she has bruises from bumping into metal beams > upporting the stage =96 black-and-blue proof of an old puppeteer > dage: If it doesn't hurt, you're not doing it right. > In some scenes, when McKilligan operates the catfi > sh through a > rapdoor in the stage, she has no visibility. "In rehearsal we use a > irror," she says. "But you really should be able to do it with your > yes closed =96 with muscle memory." > Eye focus and jaw movement are vital to making a puppet come alive. > ts mouth must move in sync with the dialogue =96 a difficult skill > one by manipulating the lower jaw while the upper jaw remains > tationary. McKilligan tries to achieve the illusion by thinking > bout the puppet as herself. Though hidden in the pit, she displays > he same elation, sadness, and silliness on her face that the > reatures are experiencing. > Being hidden makes it easier for her to be dramatic. One of her > haracters, Penelope Possum, sounds like Granny Clampett from the > Beverly Hillbillies." Her squeaky voice and comic one-liners have > he audience rollicking. "Having the puppet on your hand frees you," > cKilligan says. "It's not Anney making these crazy choices, but the > nimals. I feel less foolish because the puppets have to be larger > han life." > It's this exaggeration that makes us laugh at puppets, especially > nes with well-known mannerisms. "Everybody knows the Muppet nod and > he Muppet walk," says Mr. Bunch. > uppets are making a modest come back. FAO Schwartz recently opened a > esign-your-own Muppet workshop in New York, and NBC aired a new > uppet Christmas special. > But that doesn't20necessarily mean more work for puppeteers, most of > hom are freelancers. To expand, McKilligan and two colleagues are > ow designing puppets for TV commercials. "Puppetry is an all > ncompassing art form =96 writing, directing, performing, building," > ays McKilligan. "And you can carry it all around in one suitcase." > ( More backstory articles ) > . Deborah Tonkin | 01.02.09 > Thank you for this article! It brought me right back to my childhood > nd my love of puppets and marionettes (some of which were bought at > AO Schwartz and some handmade). I remember going to some puppet > lasses or clinics in grade school. I felt a little out of place as > he lone Christian at the local Jewish Community Center, but the > uppets drew me in. > Sesame Street came out when I was a child but I was really too old > or it (I thought) but I loved watching it for the muppets. Then of > ourse I was so excited when The Muppet Show came out and it > egitimized my interest. I loved the television specials and listened > o records and tapes of them over and over so that my sister and I > ould recite the entire show on long car trips we sometimes took as a > amily. One favorite was the Frog Prince which I can still remember > ertain parts quite well like the song, "I'm Nineteen" sung in > ackbirds (I mean backwards). What was a joy to me must have driven > y mother crazy at times! > . Wendy Makins | 01.02.09 > Great > story=96I wish I could see the show! Was it video taped? I'm > urprised there are only four puppeteers for so many puppets > . Claire Helene Bevan | 01.04.09 > Thank you for teaching me about this fascinating world and talent I > new nothing about!! You captured Anney McKilligan's passion and > xcitement so perfectly. I was hooked! > > ----------------------------------- > Yahoo! Groups Links > <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bagop/ > <*> Your email settings: > Individual Email | Traditional > <*> To change settings online go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bagop/join > (Yahoo! ID required) > <*> To change settings via email: > mailto:bagop-digest-AT-yahoogroups.com > mailto:bagop-fullfeatured-AT-yahoogroups.com > <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > bagop-unsubscribe-AT-yahoogroups.com > <*> Your use of Yahoo! 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