Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 09:15:33 -0800
From: Rose Sage <rosesage-AT-leland.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: PUPT: Request from Elizabeth Cunningham <taosmuse-AT-laplaza.org>


Elizabeth Cunningham <taosmuse-AT-laplaza.org>  asked that I post this for her:


Dear Puptcrit subscribers:

My name is Elizabeth Cunningham and I recently came upon Rose Sage's new
puppet resource listing.  I have found much that is helpful and
appreciate the resources, also the puppetry lounge and Ms Vania.

I am appealing to any of you that may be able to help out in a pinch.

I am in the final week (deadline January 31, 1999) of writing an essay
on the history of puppetry as it pertains to the marionettes of Santa Fe
artist, Gustave Baumann (1881-1971). (Kick off narrative for project,
and my current outline available upon request.)  This will appear in a book
geared
towards children this fall 1999.

In my conclusion, at this last revision, I decided to bring puppetry up
to the present.  What I have not been able to find with the resources I
have at hand in isolated Taos, New Mexico  (including the McPharlin-
Batchelder Puppetry Library at University of New Mexico, books from the
Muenchner Stadtmuseum--City of Munich Museum, and its puppetry
collection) and through the Internet, is information on the television
careers of Bil Baird, Burr Tillstrom and Shari Lewis.  What I need to
know is how long each of their shows ran.  I know that Tillstrom's shows
had two names:
        "The Kuklapolitans" and "Kukla, Fran and Ollie"

I also know that Shari Lewis aired on PBS until recently, possibly
closely up to the time she died.  But I don't know how long her various
shows ran and under what names.

Could anyone out there supply me with information on the TV careers of
these three?  Also very brief bio info., i.e. birth and death dates,
some short bio?

Also does anyone have information on the career of Martin Stevens after
1948?

One other bit of information I'm looking for: more on the work with
puppets that Julie Taymor and Michael Curry have done.

I saw in the Christian Science Monitor this past April that "The Lion
King" used puppets on stage (in a major Broadway play).  Last week, I
saw the listing of awards that Julie Taymor got for it on Puppetry
Lounge website news.  I also discovered the name of the puppeteer: the
master Michael Curry (his work reminds me of Remo Bufano's).

Can anyone put me in touch with master puppeteer Michael Curry, so I can
get some brief statement and possibly get photos of the puppets with his
permission for inclusion in the book, if possible.  If not, does anyone
have some information on the puppets in Lion King they could share?

I apologize for the urgency of this request, I just decided last week to
bring the essay into contemporary times so kids could relate better to
it and see how alive puppetry is today, and the legacy that continues
through time.

Finally, any of you providing me with information, would you please let
me know how you would like to be credited in the book?

Thanking you in advance for your good assistance.

Elizabeth Cunningham <taosmuse-AT-laplaza.org>
Rose Sage
rosesage-AT-leland.stanford.edu
MedIT, Stanford Medical School


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