File spoon-archives/puptcrit.archive/puptcrit_1999/puptcrit.9908, message 135


From: LaughingEgg-AT-webtv.net (Stephen Weber)
Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 13:13:20 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: PUPT: Puppetry x ? = $$$


Dear Jay and all,

       There have always been puppets on television...far more back in
the fifties and early sixties than even nowadays. Added to which, there
was a greater variety to choose from. The American public has NEVER
considered puppetry to be anything other than a novelty...never. And
it's unlikely that will ever change.

As far back as the 1920's, the only really lucrative venues for
puppeteers were commercial ones.....trade shows, industials and night
clubs to be exact. These helped pay for the "ballets" on the side. Some
of the more notably successful puppeteers like Tony Sarg, Frank Paris,
Sue Hastings, Rufus and Margo Rose, Bil and Cora Baird and Walton and
O'Rourke (for example) enjoyed tremendous commercial and artistic
success in their day.
Television of course provided an unprecedented venue for puppetry and
astounding opportunity for many puppeteers. But back then, as today it
is predominantly a vast dumping ground for crap....and puppetry is no
exception.

It is largely the crap that has unduly influenced the general public's
mindset toward puppetry over these many years.  The pedestrian viewpoint
is generally a narrow one when it comes to art and entertainment anyway.


                         Peace,
                    Steve Weber
        The Laughing Egg Studio

      



  --- Personal replies to: LaughingEgg-AT-webtv.net (Stephen Weber)
  --- List replies to:     puptcrit-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu
  --- Admin commands to:   majordomo-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu

   

Driftline Main Page

 

Display software: ArchTracker © Malgosia Askanas, 2000-2005