From: "David J. Syrotiak" <syrotiak-AT-comcast.net> Date: Fri, 29 May 2009 16:19:38 -0400 To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] national marionettes Hi Robert, "The Frog Prince" Is a classical story. Like most other stories we do, the original is a two-three page short story found in most fairy tale books. The fun and the challenge comes when one of these stories has to be turned into a 45-50 minute show. The audiences have changed and in this world of "politically correct" awareness everything that we do as puppeteers is put under a microscope. This makes the challenge of writing a script from a four hundred year old story even more difficult. The hardest part of this business is to come up with sale-able product while still maintaining your artistic integrity. Make no mistake, this is a business and has to be treated as such. With that in mind there are many titles that were once popular that cannot be produced anymore. "Treasure Island", "The Wind in the Willows", "Tom Sawyer" and "The Thirteen Clocks" are just a few that come to mind. It's not that they are bad stories, it's that they don't jibe with today's sensibilities. A title is a very powerful thing. I can sell a show sight unseen by the title alone anywhere in the country so my criteria for choosing a show is based primarily on what is recognizable by the general public. Our most popular shows have the most recognizable titles. "Beauty and the Beast", "Pinocchio", "Sleeping Beauty", "Alice in Wonderland", "Peter and the Wolf" and "Peter Pan" have all been very popular and virtually sell themselves. Most parents in the USA recognize these titles and will pay an admission fee to see them performed in a theater. This makes "The Frog Prince" an ideal candidate for a story treatment using puppetry as the vehicle. It's limiting in some respects, but it's a living and the audiences will always enjoy the show. Sincerely, David J. Syrotiak syrotiak-AT-comcast.net On May 29, 2009, at 8:42 AM, Robert Rogers wrote: > "The Frog Prince?" That's quite a departure from your heavier, > classically oriented titles of the past. Could you be adjusting to > what is becoming a younger and younger audience, less informed > audience? > > My first production back in 1980 was an adaptation of Kenneth > Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows," a very British novel from the > early 1900's. It served me very, very well. Now-a-days, the > average presenter would ask, "The Wind in the What?" > > 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
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