File puptcrit/puptcrit.1001, message 411


Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:54:09 -0500
From: Steve Abrams <sapuppets-AT-gmail.com>
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Marion Myers


Hi Fred
John Bell is looking for information about Frank and Elizabeth Haines who
did work in the Phila area in the 30s and 40s, so getting first hand
information about that era is challenging.

According to McPharlin in 1939 the Phila Art Museum had a puppetry exhibit.
So far this is the earliest exhibit of puppetry in a major art museum that
we can find. The Haines puppets, which are lovely, were included in that
exhibit.

I first met Hal when  his shop when it was on Sansom St. I had just built my
first Punch, and I wanted to get his advice.
As we said in those hippy days- Hal was a trip.
His theatre wasnt at the waterworks, it was much deeper inside Fairmont Park
up near the old Playhouse in the Park.
His partner Kathy tried to continue without him. I think that lasted for a
year or 2.
Security in that space was not so good,I think many of the puppets that Hal
collected and made were stolen or damaged, which is one of many reasons that
Kathy gave  up on the project.
Steve



On Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 3:07 PM, Fred Greenspan <greenspan-AT-earthlink.net>wrote:

> Hi Steve,
>
> For a history of Philly puppetry don't forget Hal Taylor who was
> totally into Harlequin marionettes but spent much time performing his
> Punch & Judy show in the late 1970's. Previous to that he had worked
> as puppeteer on the Diver Dan television series. During the late
> 1970's I assisted Hal on his P&J gigs as his driver and heavy lifter
> on many occasions and even have some black & white photos from then.
> Later Hal got a permanent gig at the Waterworks(?) in Fairmont Park
> and ran a puppetry theatre there with his female Partner until his
> death.
>
> Fred Greenspan - Traditional Puppeteer
> Ossining, New York
> http://www.traditionalpuppetry.com
> Punch & Judy, Italian marionettes, flea circus
>
> On Jan 22, 2010, at 2:49 PM, Steve Abrams wrote:
>
> > Hi All
> >
> > I am trying to help John Bell with a history research question about
> > puppetry in the Philadelphia area. I just spoke to Marion Myers (see
> > bio
> > below- born Nov 27, 1913) and thought I would share the interview
> >
> > Marion told  me today she is getting old! Her Fred Astaire puppet
> > hangs in
> > her room, and she gets him down and has  him dance for guests. She
> > built
> > several celebrity marionettes. I asked her if they were made of
> > plastic
> > wood. She said she used to build them that way. For a time she
> > worked for
> > DuPont in Wilmington. They suggested that she try building with a new
> > material-celastic- this was around 1948.
> >
> > Marion said, It is so good to talk with someone about puppets.
> >
> > *Marion Myers* 1913
> >
> > Puppet Theatre in America says that Marion Myers performed her first
> > professional show in 1934. She performed at Sears in Wilmington every
> > Christmas from1934-1948. She did floor shows in PA and DE. She joined
> > Puppeteers of America in 1938, the year after it was founded and was a
> > founding member of the puppet guild in Philadelphia.  Marion served
> > as the
> > first official president of the Quaker Village Puppeteers.   The
> > guild was
> > founded in 1938, but it seems the first few years there was no
> > president.
> > Marion=92s friend and co-founder of the guild, Emma Louise Warfield
> > became
> > president in 1944. During World War II Marion entertained at Coast
> > Guard and
> > Naval Air stations. In 1948 Marion wrote an article introducing
> > puppeteers
> > to a new material called celastic. She performed her variety
> > marionettes at
> > national festivals in 1949 and 1951.In Puppetry Journal Vol I #1
> > July 1949,
> > Joe Owens wrote about Marion=92s performance at the national festival in
> > Detroit: =93One never tires of Marion Myers=92 tap dancing Fred Astaire,
> > and she
> > always has a surprise for us- a rocking chair grandma who finishes her
> > number with a hot jazz dance.=94 In 1976 Philadelphia area puppeteers
> > Marion
> > Myers and sisters Catherine =93Westfield=94 Evans and Ann =93Sharon=94
> > Bomberger
> > performed at the National Festival in Connecticut for Nostalgia
> > Night and
> > received a huge ovation. (the west coast performer that night was
> > Virginia
> > Austin Curtiss -with Clippo)
> >
> > In the late 1990's Marion moved from the Philadelphia area to live
> > with a
> > niece in rural Virginia
> >
> > Puppetry Yearbook 1944-45 Photo of Marion with marionettes of Fred
> > Astaire &
> > Rudy Vallee; Puppetry Yearbook 1946-47 Photo of Marion showing
> > puppets at
> > festival in 46.
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