From: Fred Greenspan <greenspan-AT-earthlink.net>
Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:44:08 -0500
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] A Puppeteer's Dream


Around 1982 I built a two person sit-in "portable" shadow stage for  
Sunnyside, Home of Washington Irving. It is still in use today and is  
a PERMANENT fixture in the Sunnyside theatre. Anyway, back in the  
early eighties the museum booked an "away show" at a local nursing  
home. You know where this is going... It takes about an hour to  
assemble this show. It was an early evening performance. We arrived  
and the community room was full, they were all there sitting and  
waiting an hour before the performance was to start. They all watched  
enthusiastically as I assembled the complex stage. They loved it.  
When it came time for the two puppeteers to begin the shadow  
performance the lights were turned off, the music started, and they  
all went right to sleep in their seats. But they loved watching me  
assemble that stage! Cheers!

Fred Greenspan - Traditional Puppeteer
Ossining, New York
http://www.traditionalpuppetry.com
Punch & Judy, Italian marionettes, flea circus

On Feb 24, 2009, at 12:59 PM, Monica Leo wrote:

> I used to have the dream in which you arrive, the audience is already
> there, and you haven't set up your stage.  At some point I tired of
> this dream and solved it like this:
>
> I dreamed that we got there and found the audience in place.  I
> announced:  "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to a performance by the
> Eulenspiegel Puppets!  We know you've always wondered how it is  
> that we
> set up our stage and create this magical world, so today we've decided
> to start our show by demonstrating our set-up!"  Then we proceeded to
> set up.
>
> That was 15 years ago or more.  I've never had that or any other
> performance anxiety dream again.
>
> Monica
>
>
>
> On Feb 24, 2009, at 11:21 AM, Freshwater Pearls Puppetry wrote:
>
>> Fun thread!
>>
>> Yes, I sometimes have the dream where I'm at a gig moments before  
>> show
>> time, and I suddenly realize I forgot to set up the puppet stage.
>>
>> I remember one very intense variation on this, when I dreamed that  
>> I'd
>> set up my stage before a gig, gone off to do something, and come back
>> to a room full of musicians getting ready to play in my performance
>> space. My stage was GONE! I remember clearly that in the dream I
>> shouted, "I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU PEOPLE HAVE DONE WITH MY STAGE, BUT I
>> WANT IT BACK!" Then I spotted little bits of it strewn around on the
>> floor between the evil people's chairs. I think I woke up then.
>>
>> The sad part is, that pretty much happened in real life once. I'd set
>> up the stage and gone to lunch. I came back just before show time and
>> found a brass band and a juggler performing in a semicircle all  
>> around
>> my stage, blocking my entrance and effectively cancelling my
>> performance! (Someone had messed up the entertainment schedule that
>> afternoon.)
>>
>> Then there was the time at a Dairy Queen corporate gig. In the  
>> middle,
>> the MIDDLE!, of our show, somebody dressed in a Barney the Dinosaur
>> costume walked into the tent, parked herself in front of our stage,
>> turned on a boombox and proceeded to cavort and sing "I Love You, You
>> Love Me." You know all those "2500 ways to kill Barney" animated GIFS
>> that were floating around the Internet at one time? Oh, how those
>> paraded through my mind...
>>
>> And we didn't even get free ice cream.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Diane
>>
>> http://www.freshwaterpearlspuppetry.com
>>
>> "You must remember this: a fish ain't just a fish. A fish is no dumb
>> guy! For, every fishie goes to school: they're smart small fry."
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
> Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre
> 319 N. Calhoun, POB 330
> West Liberty, IA. 52776
> http://www.puppetspuppets.com
>
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