A first-timer at Puppet Festival (r)Evolution August 2013

Monday morning, August 5th, the voice of Ms. Piggy singing "Cuanto le Gusta" was echoing in my head as I packed my car for my trip to the Puppeteers of America National Festival in Swarthmore, PA.

We're on our way
Pack up your pack
And if we stay
We won't come back
How can we go, we haven't got a dime?
But we're going and we're gonna have a happy time

Before I get into the day to day schedule of events, I want to mention how important this week was to me as an artist and human being. As puppeteers, we often work in a bubble. As an artist, I crave outside stimulation and a sense of community to keep me afloat and keep the inspiration flowing. I was completely unprepared for how incredibly transformative this week would be. I recommend it for any puppeteer out there. There were puppeteers from as far away as Australia …hello Murray and Heather! Each dining experience presented an opportunity to meet a new friend from all over the map. I was charged and inspired by the stories and experiences of fellow puppeteers and excitedly exchanging business cards. I was touched by those who would take time to make friends with complete strangers and engaging with young performers who just buzzed with excitement for their craft. It was a special group of very loving people. I made fast friends with Terrence, Jenny, Charlie, Ceris, Linda and Anatar, to name a few and, these are people I suspect will be in my life for a long time to come. With over 500 puppeteers in attendance, I barely scratched the surface of the wonderful people I had the potential of meeting. I was so touched by the special parent or guardian who would chaperone their under-age puppeteer for an entire week so they could find their purpose and develop their art. I was beside myself with the magic and synchronicity that unfolded effortlessly around every corner.

Happy faces of puppeteers greeted me as I met friends from Facebook for the first time. At the Monday evening convocation David Stephens and Tyler Bunch wowed the audience with a performance of Yancy Woodchuck from "Emmet Otter the Musical", complete with live banjo. The tone of this high-caliber week of puppetry is set. David's talents and even his looks are the near embodiment of a young Jim Henson.

The structure of our weekdays ahead was basically breakfast and then our morning workshop from 9 to Noon followed by lunch and an afternoon speaker series or performance at 1:30. Free time was from 3 til dinner or you could choose one of the meet-ups. After dinner was an evening performance with a late night event following.

Tuesday began with a great, thoughtful primer on Directing for Puppetry with Colette Searls, MFA, Directing from UMBC. Colette's focus was having a well-defined vision for your piece and creating moments. The talk was stimulating and thought provoking on ways our shows could either be totally riveting or having audiences looking for the exit. It certainly helped me view some of the presentations during the week a bit differently but, overall, the quality of the work presented was inspiring. I took in the afternoon speaker series with Joe Therrien of Occupy Wall Street. Joe was an engaging speaker. I wished I made more one on one time with Joe during the week. He touched on some of the Occupy stories but focused on the parade puppets that were made. It was all very fascinating. In the evening, we had a double header of shadow puppetry with the riveting ADA/AVA by Manual Cinema. The late night Potpourri added the very engaging panel of "judges" Marty Robinson with Telly, Pam Arciero with Grundgetta and Tyler Bunch with a 'very disgusted' Republican puppet. The hodgepodge of acts ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous with the highlight being 99 year old queen of potpourri Bernice Silver.

My Wednesday workshop was a wonderful talk by Roxie Myhrum on being a puppet coach for theatrical productions. Roxie is the Artistic Director of Puppet Showplace Theatre in Brookline, MA and is one of those speakers with infectious excitement. She invites everyone to enrich the conversation and her knowledge and probing for answers is thoroughly engaging. Jumping ahead to our evening performance which was the Wayne White documentary "Beauty Is Embarrassing". For those of us who already saw the film, this presentation included extended behind-the-scenes antics at Pee Wee's Playhouse and a wonderful Q&A with Wayne following the feature. As in the film, Wayne's message was to be who you are and not to listen to the people who would deny you being an artist. There were cheers throughout the film at this message and Wayne received a well-deserved standing ovation when he appeared for his Q&A. Wednesday evening was also the highly anticipated National Puppetry Slam. Favorites included a shadow puppet improv by The Shadow Puppet Conspiracy, the funny and charming "The Bread Death", a black-light puppet show by Gavin Cummins with pre-recorded narration by 5 year old Gavin, "The Adventures of Wonder Toast", an insanely creative and entertaining piece by Amy Rush and my favorite character of the festival, Margarine, as performed by Honey Goodenough.

Thursday's workshop was a vacuum-forming tutorial with my online friend Gordon Smuder. It was fun to learn from a pro like Gordon who has worked in prop and puppet design for years. I can't say enough about my afternoon show of "Lunatic Cunning" by James Godwin. It's a solo show built from his personal experiences. From the program guide: "Godwin leads his audience ever further on a voyage of synchronicity, silly magic and mythological awakening. Humorous and haunting." Indeed. The show verged on Twilight Zone one moment and hysterical the next. If you get off on an "experience" for entertainment, James provides it. I have to note, his stand-up comedian plant puppet had us all laughing hysterically as well. Standing ovation for Mr. Godwin. If you ever get a chance to see it - GO! During Thursday's reconnect time, I headed to the puppet exhibit with my friend Terrence and saw some fantastic puppets by some of the amazing festival artists.

 Flexitoon Puppets

Yamasong by Sam Koji Hale

Thursday's late-night fringe performances included about a dozen acts spread around campus for an hour which would repeat on Saturday for other pieces you may like to see. Some were half hour so you could see two in one night while others were the full hour. I chose the toy theatre pieces which included Charlie Kanev's "The Curious Adventures of Morbid Melvin." As a "young performer" Charlie already embodies the pedigree of an established artist. Morbid Melvin had clarity, vision and artistry on par with the other acts. I'm already looking forward to Charlie's puppet adaptation of "The Little Mermaid."

Friday morning, Michael Schupbach and his Puppet Kitchen cohorts lead a Foam Head Patterning workshop. It's great to add new patterns and skills to your puppet building arsenal and the PK gang was engaging and entertaining throughout. Thank you Michael, Emily and Eric! In the afternoon, I attended the talk with Avenue Q puppet builder and performer Rick Lyon. Rick spoke of his puppet past from college all the way through Avenue Q. It's great to hear the story from struggling artist through success and the common struggles that he still experiences from time to time. Rick brought along a video tour of his massive 5000 square foot workshop in New Jersey. When the talk was done, the screen raised to reveal a table of Avenue Q characters which elicited gasps of excitement from the audience. Rick also treated us to a peek at his original Trekkie Monster puppet which looked more Cookie-Monster-esque with Spock-like ears and Trek shirt. Rick was just wonderful and delightful. During the reconnect time on Friday, Charlie, Jenny, Terrence and myself happened upon the Puppeteers Tea. It ran for a few days during the reconnect time and I had more interest in a nap the first couple of days since my late nights were leaving me sleep deprived. I was delighted to experience this talk moderated by the esteemed veterans of our profession. The talk would bounce around the room with input from the participants. A sense of continuity was created that made us 'younger' performers feel like we were part of a 'blood-line' of traditional folk artists/ storytellers and we will carry the torch to the next generation of artists and audiences. I felt my emotions welling up in my throat a few times through this talk. Such love and admiration for all involved. Friday evening, Seth Shaffer presented Dick Myers' Cinderella with Myers' original sets and rod puppets. The shows were originally presented in the 60s but the wit and humor were still fun and captivating. The fact that the show was performed by just one puppeteer was a testament to the virtuosity and magic that Seth conveys as an artist.

Shows on Saturday were mostly held in the town of Swarthmore at various spaces and businesses. My first show of the day was David Stephens' Reluctant Dragon. It was another virtuoso performance with beautiful mouth/rod puppets evoking the Muppet-style. David was the one performer for a cast of half-a-dozen characters, providing voices LIVE for the entire one-hour show. I don't know how the man does it! I'm exhausted with a 2nd performer helping me for an hour in a pre-recorded show! David's script was highly entertaining and hysterical for the kids and adults in attendance. Performing live, he was able to include a couple inside jokes from the week at the festival. Another well-deserved standing ovation. See an All Hands Productions show if you get the chance. David is based out of Atlanta but, travels as well. My second show on Saturday was "The Joshua Show." Think Mr. Rogers meets Pee Wee's Playhouse and let your heart sing for an hour at a pitch-perfect production executed simply, creatively which was absolutely delightful. The perfectly charming host Joshua Holden with his musical sidekick Alex Knapp playing his ukelele, sang and interacted with Joshua's cast of puppet characters including the grumpy sock puppet Mr. Nicholas, the Snail Male and the wonderfully inventive book puppet, all performed by Joshua as well. I bolted to my feet for a well-deserved standing ovation and didn't want the show to end. It was such a gift. Connect with Joshua on Facebook and see his show when it will, no doubt, tour. Make a CD Joshua! We want merch to remember this show forever! "Oh, oh my goshua!"

The Joshua Show

Lunch and then the puppet parade in town led us all back on campus for an outdoor arena presentation of Heather Henson's "Celebration of Flight." Some audience members were provided with paper puppet versions of the catfish, crane, sea turtle and earth (rattle) to interact along with the show which added to the experience. The show was a "story of harmony and hope" which focused on the message of living in harmony with the earth and our fellow creatures. The kite-styled puppetry and beautiful 'world-music' kept my spirits soaring through the presentation. I was in the moment with hundreds of puppeteers and new family in a celebration of love. This is another show that should not be missed if you get a chance to experience it.

Celebration of Flight

Jenny and I helped Charlie set up for his Saturday fringe performance. I checked out some of the other performers and we all met for dinner before the Festival awards and films on the main lawn. Jenny provided her Muppet blanket for comfort with Terrence, Charlie and myself settling in for our last evening together. A late-night dance and get together was held at the hall where we had gathered for the slam and potpourri. We tried to hang on to those last moments as long as we could, not wanting to leave our new families behind. I was happy to run in to a couple other people to chat with in the final hours. Honey Goodenough entertained us, granting our request to hear Margarine one last time. We walked across campus, some heading to dorms, myself, leaving for my room in town. Big hugs ensued with lumps in throats, love emanating and friendships solidified. I'm addicted, looking forward to the regional fest to see my local puppet family in 2014 and back to the National in 2015. In the mean time, I will certainly see some of my local friends at puppet events in NYC.

If you plan on attending a future Festival, here are some pointers I'd like to mention and to remind myself. Have those business cards or postcards ready from day one. Register as early as possible to be sure to get the workshops and talks you want. I registered in January for this August event. READ all those descriptions before you sign up as well. Some workshops end up appealing to you more after the workshop deadline closes in June. Camera phones are fine but, nothing beats a real camera for spontaneous photos. The lag time on my iPhone caused me to miss a few shots. Don't be shy to ask for pics and ask others to take your group shots with you and all your new, amazing friends. If you have a smart phone, there really is no need to bring a computer unless it's essential to a performance piece. I checked my computer the first day but, left it in my room the rest of the week. There are too many people to talk to and things to do. We regularly lingered in the dining hall for close to two hours just talking.  Additionally, if you're a heavy smart-phone user, bring your charger or charging wands to plug in as the phones were straining for signals at times and draining battery. If you buy books at the puppetry store, don't bother packing them in your day bag the rest of the week. They only add extra weight and, again, you have much more to do in the present than read a book, I promise. Push yourself to have conversations with people you wish you could talk to. Chances are, there's some magic or purpose to you meeting that person. It certainly seemed that way to me the entire week. Special mentions to Brittany's Aunt Sally (what a gem) and Julian, an absolute delight of a young artist and all-around, wonderful human being.

As I posted on Facebook my final day of the Festival "Leaving the Puppeteers of America festival, I have been awed and inspired by the amazing artistry I've seen and on the verge of happy tears at the love and new friendships I've been fortunate enough to experience. Complete strangers have become fast friends and the 'magic' and synchronicity has touched us all to the depths of our creative souls. I leave here changed and humbled, filled with love."

Puppet family - Terrence, Charlie, Jenny and Me

Andrew Agee a puppeteer's puppeteer

I was saddened to learn today of the untimely passing of puppeteer Andrew Agee. I knew Andrew only through online puppeteer communities and a brief exchange of emails. I feel the least I could do is mention what the energy of Andrew meant to someone who only knew him through his online presence. I became aware of Andrew before I began my own puppet company. He was a regular contributor on Muppet Central and Puppetsmith. I was impressed with Andrew's artistry and the fact that he had produced and performed his own shows where he lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In my early quest to learn puppet building, I proposed to Andrew that I could fly to his location and negotiate a fee to learn from him. He readily agreed but, the time and money never materialized. Andrew's excitement and passion for puppet building and performing truly made him a puppeteer's puppeteer.

In my search for the places Andrew left his mark online, I found this priceless video of Andrew instructing the scissor grip for puppet manipulation. It's a gem of a video for anyone learning puppetry and for anyone interested in knowing who this creative person was. Thank you Andrew.

New Logo Unveiled

Helping Drew continues with bookings in the NY metro area and my local school districts. We've had a lot of fun with some great audiences.

This past Monday, I was in the recording studio with some of my talented friends to record Up In Arms' next offering Welcome Park. When it finally happens, it all happens so quick. I'll head back to the studio Sunday and master the track and then pick out a 15 minute exerpt myself for a showcase for libraries on Feb., 22.

My good friend Pasha over at Project Puppet is helping with Up In Arms website re-design and he sent this fantastic logo for the new look. T-shirts are on offer through the end of February, 2013. Help us raise funds and purchase a t-shirt today as we continue to produce our shows. We're hoping for 100 pre-sales with shirts scheduled to ship on March 15, 2013. 100% cotton, American Apparel. Adult shirts in eggplant and kids in purple. AA runs a little small in Women's so, increasing your size choice might be wise if you don't know the AA brand. Women's in S, M, L , XL, 2XL, Mens or Unisex in XS, S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL, Kids in 2yr, 4yr, 6yr, 8yr, 10yr, 12yr. All shirts $20, shipping/handling begins at $5 for one shirt. Combined shipping available. Email info@upinarms.biz with your specifications and an invoice will be sent to reserve your order. Thanks to Pasha for the wonderful, new logo. Faded design intentional. Design and colors may be slightly modified from image. Invoices should be paid when received. Payments due in before February 28 for this initial order. Click image below for larger version.

January 2013 Puppet Wrap-Up

Over the past month, I've had the opportunity to create some new puppets for others and continued with bookings for Helping Drew while launching my next show Welcome Park.

The winner of the raffle that I donated chose a female puppet in fuchsia. This is her above in her pretty little bow. In attempts to thin out some of the excess material storage I had, I created another little friendly monster guy below. He is up for adoption over at etsy. 

Helping Drew started back up January 10 here in New York with local performances in the Hudson Valley and up to Clifton Park [near Albany]. The audiences have been fantastic and the students have been so responsive and excited to ask questions at the end during the Q&A. While the frigid weather has dropped into the teens and 20s, it's the best kind of warmth you can ask for. Next up are more local bookings and traveling to Brooklyn and Long Island with Helping Drew.

I had the pleasure of traveling to Puppet Showplace Theatre in Brookline, MA on the 21st to sit in on a puppet making master class led by Jonathan Little. Jonathan is a wonderful builder and performer and this video on his talents is one of my favorites. You can tell, he's a great guy to learn from.

I'm working on getting my next show Welcome Park produced for summer bookings in the local libraries and other possible summer children's programs. I will have a 15-minute preview of the show to perform for the local library system showcase on February 22. Production gears are in overdrive.

Winter's Children

Photo above is from my latest project which bowed yesterday. I was asked by my friends at Just Off Broadway, Inc. to include a short puppet piece for their Dinner with Santa event. My good friend and fellow puppeteer Rich Hotaling suggested using the Winter's Children poem for a performance by the puppets. My friendly monster Russell, in the foreground, played the part of Wind. With a faux branch of brown leaves, he swayed the branch back and forth as he delivered his poetry with command and character. Drew and Sheila, the humanoid puppets, stepped into the roles of Jack Frost and Ice respectively. Both are from my show Helping Drew. Costumes were made by my very talented friend Hannah Butler. I fashioned pointy ears for Drew made to slip on his original ears. Ice crown and snow crown were made by myself. The friendly white monster Snow was specially built by myself for this production.

We had four days to record and rehearse but, all told, only about a ten minute piece. New dialogue was written in between the verses of the poem for banter between the characters. The 'Old Man Winter' part of the poem was replaced by Mother Nature who was played by a live human actor, Cat Capolupo. Cat is one of those actors who understands immediately the direction given to her and flawlessly creates magic with her performance. Her interaction with the puppets was reminiscent of The Magic Garden and early Sesame Street. She inspires me to want to create more puppet/human interactive pieces.

At the conclusion of Winter's Children, Mother Nature sang a beautiful rendition of Winter Wonderland, naturally, joined by the puppets as they swayed and broke out in various ad-libs. As the evening wound up, puppeteers came out front to join the elves and our young guests in a Christmas carol sing-along. Naturally, we stuck around for pictures with our guests and a couple kids had hugs for the puppets as well. It's safe to say, the puppets were the hit of the evening. I'm already looking forward to creating a yearly tradition with our friends at Just Off Broadway, Inc. and thinking up new, creative ideas for each show.

Puppeteers David Manley as Jack Frost, John Marro as Wind and Rich Hotaling as Snow

Pondering Master Puppeteer and Puppet Performance

I have some puppet build and latest project news I thought would be my next post but, I don't have all the images just yet. Instead, my mind was wrapped around what it means to be a master puppeteer and the idea of realistic hand/rod puppet performance.

My promotional video for Helping Drew was shot at the end of a long day and just after a showcase which was just filmed. I knew the producer would need my interview and I can still see how bleary-eyed I was in that clip. I was asked about my goals and blurted out what I thought was the ultimate goal as a child. I had always heard the term "Jim Henson, Master Puppeteer" and that's what I aspired to. What I didn't realize when I was 10 was "Master Puppeteer" is a term that you don't just achieve, it is a title that is bestowed upon you by others, not something you can easily 'claim' unless you are Jim Henson, Bill Baird or even Basil Twist. A college journalism major interviewed me for a paper she was doing on someone following their passion. She had prepared by looking over my website and watched the promotional video for Helping Drew. She asked me to expand on the idea of being a master puppeteer and I laughed. I mentioned how I could not claim that title and was certainly no master but it's still something I attempt to strive for. I offered her that a master is obviously someone who has mastered the craft and can also indicate teacher. What the O'Neill Puppetry Conference stresses are the three disciplines that comprise puppetry: creating a narrative; building the puppet and training the performer. Those are, certainly, all things that Jim Henson encompassed as a master puppeteer. Creating a narrative can be something as simple as the puppet's character. It creates a relatable back-story that enables the audience to relate to the character. It goes hand in hand with bringing that inanimate object to life... not just flopping a puppet around but, really breathing life into it as only a true puppeteer - an artist - can.

I use hand/rod puppets in the 'Henson' style. Whether I'm working with students at the theatrical academy or working with a new puppeteer for Helping Drew, I want them to get the subtlety of the mouth movement and how to create the reality of bringing that inanimate object to life. These thoughts kept me up last night as I jotted the following into my notebook.

When you make the mouth of a puppet move, you are not just simulating the syllables of its speech escaping its mouth. You are simulating SUBTLE jaw movement to give the appearance of life-like speech. This is more subtle than trying to get the mouth open on every syllable. A good puppeteer will not have to open the puppet mouth on every syllable but still give a very realistic appearance that the puppet is actually talking. Getting syllables out does not equate believability. Gesture and nuance and being subtle makes the performance believable.

For example, if a puppet says "Hi, I'm Dave, how are you?" You do not need to open the puppet mouth 6 times. The words "how are" flow together and require only one movement. The words "how are you" require only 2 pulses of the hand. In the Helping Drew script, Lee sings "Jokes make people laugh". Although 5 syllables, they require only 3 pulses. Gentle pushes and turn of the hand will color the performance to make it look as if the puppet is speaking every syllable. Also, when we learn the basics of theatre, emphasis is put on the actor being IN the scene. Just as you would act and react to what is happening around you, so must a puppet in whatever scene they are in.

There was a great piece, I think, in the book "Of Muppets and Men" where the discussion regarded the proper lip-sync being central to the performance. That needed to come naturally before the rest of the performance for the puppeteer to be on their game. One of my favorite videos on puppet speech is a short clip of Frank Oz in this compilation [below]. His explanation of puppet lip-sync starts around the 4:03 mark.

The power in DOING

I had come home the day prior from the gig in the Bronx presenting Helping Drew to about 500 pre-K through 4th grade students. I was mounting some of the puppets on stands to be sure they properly aired out. After two shows back to back, they get plenty of hand sweat inside. Drew had a loose arm rod that had originally been hot-glued into place and it was time to epoxy the rod into the dowel properly. I took him into my room where I have my make-shift workshop table set up, made a slit in the duct-taped dowel to remove the rod, cleaned it off and snipped the bend at the end in preparation of inserting it into the top of the dowel after I got it drilled. Drew looked back at me with his puppet grin and I couldn't help but smile.

In March of 2010, I created a couple of random puppet characters inspired by a friend's suggestion. One, King Victor, resembled my late grandfather, the other, Prince Skip, was an alternative thinker who preferred wearing a pink polo with a bejeweled fleur de lis. Prince Skip would later become Drew. Today, I was struck by this journey. One of Drew's fellow students, Victoria, started her life as Geraldine Allison Flamowitz and was originally created in January of 2009. When Prince Skip was originally created, I was working the last few months of my graphic design job in advertising. We were already informed that our jobs had been cut as part of corporate down-sizing and we were patiently waiting our exit date as to be eligible for a severance package and unemployment benefits. I had a couple of ideas in the back of my head as this chapter would end. I had worked several years with a local non-profit theatre group and they were just purchasing their own building. There was much work to be done in graphic design and production that would keep me plenty busy with the thought that it might, one day, be a full-time paying job. I had previously recorded a CD in 2005 that had decent reviews but, ultimately, did not satisfy my creative yearnings, as well as a brief stint in photography and digital art that only satisfied for a brief time as well. A puppet company was definitely a thought in the back of my head but, how?

I spent time learning my craft at puppet school with Michael Earl and learning from fellow puppeteers and builders in the business like Pasha at Project Puppet, Matt Ficner of Creepy Puppet Project and Tom Stewart at Puppeteers Unite. I combed through puppet blogs extracting all the information I could. I remember reading all the content that Swazzle wrote in their early blogs and interviews with people like James Wojtal. The internet can be such a valuable classroom. In January 2009, I had taken a puppet foam carving class at Lone Wolf Tribe in Brooklyn and saw this wonderful Goethe quote that Kevin had posted in the workshop and it quickly became my mantra. “Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.” I dared to dream again, as I had as a child, that I could be a puppeteer and, in 2006, the way I began was to start to build puppets. The act of creation and the creativity of others, all that online research, continues to stoke the fires of my creative process. So desperate to find a way to perform, I sent an email off to the guys at Swazzle to see if any of their shows could be done on a royalty basis. They were very nice in turning me down and it was an important lesson to learn. If you want to be a legitimate puppet company, you should express who YOU are through scripts that you find or that you write or adapt. A signature show becomes the 'soul' of that puppet company. Later, I did find a local performer, Alex Ishkanian, who was doing a live, one-man show on bullying. He would embody all the characters with song and monologues to express how the characters felt. I saw the opportunity for puppets where dialogue needed to be created in between the characters and Alex liked the idea and got on board with my project. As mentioned earlier, Prince Skip and Geraldine would fall into the lead rolls of Drew and Victoria respectively. While new puppets were made specifically for Principal Tector and Lee, other earlier puppet creations filled out the background, student body.

When you're doing what your 'soul' knows deep-down you should not be doing, you ultimately will not be satisfied. As Helping Drew was being developed, I became less and less satisfied with the negative politics at the non-profit theatre group and realized how much of my own time I was not dedicating to my own project. I resigned and, in between the job search, I was able to spend more time developing the puppet company. As previously documented on this blog, we opened Helping Drew to a showcase of friends and family earlier this year and began booking in area schools. I signed on with Theatreworks USA as a National booking agent and they had me flying out to an arts in education showcase last week in Ohio. Prior to my trip, I was reading Grey Seal Puppets Drew Allison's blog. He wrote in one of his entries "Sometimes the places those little hunks of polyfoam take me are just too cool." Back to my workshop table at the beginning of this entry, that's exactly how I was feeling. Not only had my puppets taken me to Ohio and a school in the Bronx that I would never imagine going to, this entire journey from 2006 to the end of my graphic design career and the start of this new chapter, all of these incredible people I've met online and in person in this wacky and wild puppet community… there is no other place I'd rather be right now.

Helping Drew slide projected on the big screen at the Ohio conference

I was reminded of an online chat with Puppetsmith members when someone was asking where you begin on a certain project and Pasha mentioned my favorite Goethe quote. The simple message was "BEGIN IT!" It's very easy to get caught up in lists and what needs to be in place for you to have the perfect situation to start but, one can easily get caught in a rut of stagnation if you don't at least DO something. Watch videos, read blogs, see puppet shows and FEED your creative brain. Learn from others and STAY OPEN when people talk about how they do things. We video taped my original showcase and SO many mistakes were made but, that was the wonderful part. That video was invaluable at improving the show. Down the line, I hired a wonderful puppeteer who brought NEW creativity to the show and he even improved MY way of puppeteering. I'm a member of Puppeteers of America and love to read their quarterly Puppetry Journal from cover to cover when it arrives. I'm filled with inspiration from one page to the next. I think any artist will agree that staying open and connecting to this flow is paramount to their growth. WELCOME when people show you a new way of doing things. If it doesn't work for you, you don't have to use it but, many times, there is always something new to learn when you remain open.

New shows are beginning to line up to be produced and my journey has really just begun. I've often told the story of a dream I once had where I proudly proclaimed "I'm an artist" and began to levitate in an expression of freedom. It was an awakening of sorts, realizing that my professional path would not be a traditional one like my peers. As a puppeteer, I'm even more certain of who I am and what amazing direction my life is going in because I'm finally creating my journey as I have always imagined it.

Workshop Round-up and New Creations

The past couple of weeks have been a welcome creative boom. After the success of the puppet manipulation workshop with the younger students, my friends at Just Off Broadway, Inc. asked me back to repeat the 2-hour workshop for their teen students. They end their 2-week intensive with a showcase of their class-work and the creative director, my friend Joyce, asked me to make the puppets available for the evening showcase to perform one of the group numbers that we practiced in class. Since it was only the first verse and chorus, I suggested adding a couple of the solo pieces to the beginning and crafted a short, almost two-and-a-half minute montage for their puppetry performance. The students made me so proud and the energy at the showcase definitely reached a high for the performers and the audience when the stage filled with puppets. It was a wonderful testament to the magic of puppetry. I absolutely adore this photo Joyce took of me and the students.

While doing the workshop for the younger class, I had cleared 8 of my puppets for the 13 students to use. Some had to share, obviously. For the older kids, I was more trusting and went about readying more puppets so that each student could have one in class. I got 13 ready in my stock and had 2 more to build. I had new build ideas brewing for a while and started some basic forms. One was a tentative rebuild of my first puppet Benny. In the process, I wanted to give him different eyes and when the ideas started to take shape, I was building a whole new puppet all together who turned out to be Helga. Complete with real wig, crazy eyes, wonderful blue nail polish and matching earrings and, of course, her crowning glory, a hairy mole on her face. She was truly an inspired creation. The dress is size 2T from JC Penney clearance rack and the bolero-style sweater was an ebay find, size 3T. Double sided tape is a great fix to keep sweaters clinging to puppet shoulders. Helga is the Project Puppet Rotondo Pattern with the Rotondo Fleece Covering Pattern.

My second puppet I wanted to finish for the students was a simple, Glorified Sock Puppet Pattern. I started out with this shaggy turquoise fur aka Punky Muppet from Mendel's. I first started with the nose and thought I would do a hedgehog style character. After trimming the fur and getting the larger eyes in place, I thought I might have a nondescript monster puppet but, I already had a similar one in darker blue. If I could find a good turquoise fleece, I would do ears and hands in that color but, knew my selection at the fabric store might be limited. I liked the idea of using a terry cloth towel so, headed to my local Target instead. As I made my way through bedding, I found a fantastic twin-size fleece blanket in turquoise for only $12.99. The color-match was almost perfect and Douglas the Demented Bunny was born.

Lastly - yes, another puppet! Some friends in the puppet community were conducting a 'top secret' puppet building workshop over the weekend. I really hope it rolls-out soon so I can shout it from the roof-tops. I had a fantastic time building with a group of passionate builders and puppet peeps. We spent two days diving into all of the puppet building basics - character development, proper stitching, working with fur and trimming, contact cement, hot glue, arm rods, and all the details that create the final product. It was 2 solid days of creative work, 9-5. Whatever they charge for this class will be well worth it. The class instructors are there for every question and guidance needed, not to mention, a lot of fun. The final product was a monster and, oddly enough, the next script my writer is working on for Up In Arms is about monsters so, this guy may actually make his debut in one of my shows. For inspiration and creativity, this is one of my best works to date. Tentatively named Russel [or Rusty for his fur.] Yes, that's a mohawk.

Moving Right Along...

Helping Drew, my anti-bullying puppet musical has secured a national booking agent, Theatreworks USA, which will begin to secure bookings in their over 2500 outlets this coming school year. Good friends of mine arranged the introduction and we met at their studios in Manhattan to showcase the show. Our first show has been booked for October and I already have a couple shows booked for local schools as well.

Recently, I've just been updating some puppets. I've added arm rods and articulated hands to older puppets that didn't have them. I'd also like to build a couple extra small puppets to use in situations like the kids classes. I've purchased a new backdrop system that will be easier to set up and transport. I'm testing the ability to have my backdrops printed on fabric and Velcro it to a frame that will make transporting that much easier as well.

This past Thursday, my friends at Just Off Broadway, Inc. asked me to come by their theatrical academy [camp] to teach some puppetry 101 to their students [photo above]. I was happy to oblige since these are the friends who made the introduction with Theatreworks and have worked so tirelessly to help get my puppet productions off the ground. Working with kids is always an unexpected pleasure. It's fun to hear what they're curious about. "You made these??" Well, all except one. Other curiosities included: what's inside the mouth? [material], how do you work both arms?, and... you play with these?? Kids bring their own delight and playfulness when working with the puppets. It inspires my own sense of play and creativity so, it's a welcome time of inspiration. It was a joy to see them so engaged and reluctant to have our time together end. I get to repeat it in a few weeks with the older students as well. Can't wait.

Easy Puppet Fixes

One thing I have come to love about puppet building is the ease in which you can fix or update most puppets. In the beginning, I built puppets by sewing as well as using a generous amount of hot glue. My early puppets had head and arms with a body 'sleeve' that the arms were glued to. When I learned a simple, foam body to add to my puppets for better form, I used a hair dryer to melt the glue to remove the arms. The body sleeve became a neck sleeve that went into the new body and the arms were fixed with doll joint to the new foam body. Most parts can be re-used if they are still in good shape. I also learned to either Velcro or safety pin the neck sleeve to the bottom inside the body. If a head needs to be re-built or replaced, the old one just detaches and slides right out. No need to rebuild an entirely new puppet.

I also started my puppet building with hands that were stuffed with poly-fill and used a very primitive technique to insert removable arm rods. When I learned a better method to create puppet fingers that were posable and a technique for permanent arms rods, I could easily unstitch the hands, replace the appropriate pieces and sew them back shut. Similarly, with mouth-plates, if they needed a repair or a better grip, you can cut along the back of the puppet hairline with about 1/8th - 1/4 inch fabric from the edge of the hair to sew back together after you access the repair area. This fix is virtually unseen when done properly.

I built this puppet Harvey Furstein back in May of 2009 in a puppet building workshop. I only wanted a basic black pupil and the building method taught was simple yet, with the goal of getting the best results. The hands were just two pieces of fabric glued together with the wire sandwiched in between for posable fingers and the arm rods. The whole hand was then hot-glued to the end of the arms at the 'wrists'. The eyes were also 'lined' with a pipe cleaner. This original incarnation had larger fangs which were replaced soon after the build with smaller ones. Just last month, I decided to update the guy. The eyes were done first by removing the glued-on pipe cleaner and painting over the pupil and eye with acrylic paint. I've been happy with the results of the craft eyes and used those instead with a better placement of the pupil. The eye-lining was replaced with a strip of craft foam. I used the hair dryer again to remove the hands and had extra of the original fabric to build 3-dimensional hands and new arm rods. Any of the old arm fabric that was gunked up with glue at the end, was simply cut away. Harvey looks better than ever now with his bright blue eyes and pro-looking hands.

I made a little blue monster and he was only the 2nd puppet I ever built. He was my first try at the Project Puppet Glorified Sock Puppet pattern. I didn't even take pictures of his original form because I felt he was just a trial 'flop'. The ping pong eyes were glued to the top of his head with flat, black pupils that never had any real personality or focus because the eyes would shift atop the flimsy head. Recently, I decided to at least give him the 3-D craft eyes. When drilling holes in the balls, the dremel slipped and gorged a nice line into one of them. That was it, time to get the hair-dryer to remove the ping pongs. When considering a larger dome eye, I thought I should firm up the head with a foam skull modeled after the top half of the head pattern for the puppet itself. With a firmer 'skull', the posts of the new dome eyes were secured inside and the eyes now have great personality and focus. Another successful, easy fix.

Helping Drew Promo Video is LIVE!

The 2nd showcase we had back in January was filmed by a camera crew and the wonderful, promotional video they made was just delivered and uploaded yesterday.

Our first elementary school show was February 15, 2012 for pre-K to 2nd grade [4-7 year olds] and they were just the perfect audience. We had a blast.

Our Facebook page is up with regular updates for the current shows. Most updates will appear here in the blog but the blog will also carry the regular builds and other puppet happenings. https://www.facebook.com/upinarmspuppets

Showcasing the show

SO much has happened in the past week and a half! The showcase for Helping Drew was a smashing success with wonderful feedback given and lessons learned. If you can rehearse your show in a space that will accomodate all your set-up, it is invaluable.

The initial scenery for the show was printed on a 5-foot wide banner [3-feet tall]. It was wrapped around the stands with Velcro and did not look as neat as I wanted. Above the 6-foot tall stage, it also looked rather dwarfed and the shiny fabric used for the stage looked like a black abyss though, the show stood on its own and was still pitch-perfect [if I must say so myself]. Doing a showcase like this allows one to solicit feedback and see how it works in order to make the necessary changes. A friend of mine informed me about black masking fabric which absorbs the light instead on reflecting like the shiny fabric. It's also called duvetyn and has been ordered to replace the shiny stuff. One note suggested that the top half of the stage should look like a part of the scenery - perhaps a side of the building. We had a 2nd showcase set up for filming on Thursday where I was able to have a new backdrop of 7 feet and mounted it flat on 2 pieces of foam core. It looked great. The side of the school building will be added prior to public performances.

We made another change for lockers that we had mounted in the foreground on either side and made them more 3-dimensional by adding sides and a top. Anything to add more depth, I think, really helps to make it come more alive.

Just as I was making all these changes and getting everything organized for when we finally go out with the show, I received my first phone call from a school that wants to book Helping Drew for February 15. It has begun! After all this time. What an amazing journey.

Anti-bullying puppet musical launches!

I'm too excited as I approach the launch of my anti-bullying puppet musical Helping Drew. We're 'launching' this weekend, January 14, with a private showcase for our creative crew and starting to accept bookings for K-5 school assembly programs.

A 5 minute audio sample is available on our website at http://upinarms.biz/Events.html

If you want to follow us on facebook, please 'like' us at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Up-In-Arms/324412420924871

My puppet life ~ Fall 2011

I have neglected updates in months and there is much to report so, I'll dig right in.

Back in September, I produced a puppet weekend for a local theatre group. We hosted a Tough Pigs Muppet Vault, had shadow puppet and marionette show [by The Puppet People] for the daytime/matinee shows and hosted a puppet slam with local talent along with a showing of Heather Henson's Handmade Puppet Dreams. The poster for the event [below] was designed by Pasha at Project Puppet.

Inspired by Project Puppet's Borsa pattern and this great fur that I found, I made this live-hand puppet which was completed toward the end of October. I was considering making a puppet for a raffle to raise funds for my anti-bullying puppet show that I'm working on but, fell in love with this guy so much, I couldn't part with him.


After a couple of rehearsals with new vocal talent, we were finally ready to get into the recording studio to record the anti-bullying puppet assembly program Helping Drew. It filled me with equal parts excitement and this feeling that this is the "put up or shut up" moment. This production has been gestating for so long and you get to this moment and you're like "oh, right, I really have to do something with this!" The process started back in January and went through the re-writing process, an initial recording session that didn't produce the results I needed and my obligations to the theatre I had been helping that kept me from focussing, along with my last studio that did not come through.

I had a business acquaintance whose husband makes ring tones for cell phones so, I knew he had some studio connections. He ended up offering to record us knowing he had capable equipment. He had great excitement and confessed his love for puppets - especially the Muppets. When I asked what I could pay him, he insisted on doing it for free. He was smiling and having a great time through the whole session since it was something he never had the chance to do.

I had terrific talent for the session. My friends Joyce and Ed both worked professionally in theatre and did table reads in Manhattan for upcoming theatrical shows and even did a read on an early Lopez/ Marx [Ave Q guys] scripting of another show they had worked on. Another one of my voice talents, Joni, had taken John Tartaglia's master class. She's got a great female puppet voice - somewhere in the neighborhood of Kate Monster and Abby Cadabby.

The 1/2 hour show took us about an hour and a half to record. We plowed through and only did additional takes where we messed up. I excused the actors when I felt we had everything complete and spent another hour and a half with the engineer to choose our takes, make sure all the spacing was cleaned up and the cues were in the right place. I should have a preview copy soon enough after all the levels are cleaned up.

I was at Party City yesterday and purchased nice big serving spoons for some sweet puppet eyes for the next puppet I hope to use for the raffle I previously mentioned.


All in all, everything is going great and the puppet projects are a great source of excitement and motivation. Excited to see The Muppets this coming week as well! Getting my Muppet geek on and seeing an early morning showing as well as attending an evening show with the extended family. Can't wait to share this new Muppet chapter.

A week of puppet

This past week was colored by many puppet events/encounters that I thought I would share. In Beacon, NY, Second Saturday celebrations center around art events all over town. The Music On The Squares events showcase live bands playing in various locations at different times of the day. This year, they incorporated local puppeteer [and writer] Peter Ullian who brought his puppets to Main Street on Saturday the 9th. Peter's puppets talked about US history. While one told some very 'creative' interpretations of history, the other tried his very best to correct the tall tales. It was a very humorous and raucous puppet performance aimed at young audiences.


On Monday, the 11th, I had the pleasure of meeting Pasha Romanowski from Project Puppet on his trip to New York. Pasha brought along fellow New York puppeteer Scott Biski as we met in front of the old Henson office on 69th Street. The Kermit prints in the sidewalk are no longer and the building was in transition with the new owners. No activity was going on and the building looked to be rather empty and without life. We walked down to FAO to peep in on the Muppet Whatnot Workshop. On the way, we did what any puppeteer/puppet builders would do, we talked puppets and puppet building. It's nice to be amongst those in the family of puppet. FAO had a few Muppet shirts in the baby-doll style along with a display of the Muppet PookaLooz plush. It's also nice to see that the kiosk continues to employ enthusiastic Muppet/puppet fans.


We headed downtown continuing our 3-man puppet conference and ended up in the fabric district doing what any 3 grown men would do - shop for fake fur! Although some of the prices seemed steep compared to what I'm use to paying online, Pasha gave a quick lesson in the quality of the fur and backing. Still, I might have to stick with the cheap stuff for now.

Thursday, the 14th, was the gala opening for the Jim Henson's Fantastic World exhibit at the Museum of The Moving Image in Queens. My friend and Richard Hunt biographer J. Max Stein scored a VIP invite and invited me along as her 'plus one'. Brian, Cheryl and Heather Henson were in attendance along with Dave Goelz puppeteering a Mayor Mike Bloomberg puppet for the opening remarks. I spied John Tartaglia in the crowd and met Tough Pigs' Joe and Ryan who bring their Muppet Vault to the Puppet Weekend I'm producing this September. I had seen the Jim Henson exhibit on its stop earlier in Massachusetts but it was fun to to revisit this inspiring collection again and see the addition of Ms. Piggy decked out in her wedding gown. The VIP group was treated to an 'Art of The Muppets' commemorative poster that looks like a promo for the original Art of The Muppets book and has a copyright of 1980 on the bottom. It measures 19 inches by 29 inches.


The 'week' ends with me auditioning acts for the September Puppet Weekend and continuing to work on putting together my own puppet shows for school assembly programs in the Fall.

"Helping Drew" build

I never felt this project would be finished and now that it's nearing completion, it has me very excited. I am especially passionate about helping ease the bullying problem that still plagues our schools - something that was very prevalent when I was in school and sometimes made my experience less than happy.

As I wrapped up this build, I had one last character to create, the school principal. She started as a different build and then I switched gears and turned to the tried and true Project Puppet patterns.

A head was born and I stuck on a pair of glasses to size up the eyeglass look.

I had custom-dyed my first batch of antron fleece a beautiful purple hue. I was really excited by the results and even more excited to see it covering the new build.


I initially started with a human-style wig in dark, tight curls. I specifically wanted cat-eye style glasses for the puppet and headed to the party supply store that has a full line of costume accessories. I found a wonderful, bright pink wig that I knew would look better than the dark curls. Naturally, the puppeteer had to try on the accessories before the puppet.


In the end, the puppet looked better. I popped out the eyeglass lenses and traced them to a white foam sheet, making sure I cut just a little wider around the trace in order to glue them to the back of the eyeglass frames.



A completed puppet, with nose, was ready for an outfit. The next day, I was off to the mall to hit up the kids racks for some 2T/3T sizes.


I hit up the usual suspects - Children's Place and Old Navy as well as Bon Ton children's department. I get close and start to formulate an idea of what I need - a feminine 'blouse' and a sweater was on order for this build. My last stop was Sears and, I was happily surprised by my find. I think you'll see they all look perfect together and the puppet seemed to approve.


'Flo' joins the rest of her cast in the show "Helping Drew" which is being offered to K-5 elementary school assembly programs. Rehearsals begin soon and will be shopped at an arts in education showcase in late May.

Costuming My Puppet

I love a simple trick to get things done - whether it's the magic that happens during the performance or the little tricks we use in creating our build. In the final scene of my new puppet show, a character breaks out into a song and dance number. He exits the stage and returns in full 'Chorus Line' costume. I purchased some gold sequined fabric and thought that some way, I would find the right hat and vest to cover in the material. I purchased a small top hat for a doll that I figured would tilt to one side on the puppet's head. I wasn't really comfortable covering it with the fabric so, purchased metallic gold glitter spray paint instead. After getting that situated, the hat just looked too small for the puppet.

In creating the vest, I couldn't find a child's suit vest cheap enough so, went about patterning my own - cutting it from a sheet of fun foam and then spraying the cut out foam with super 77 spray glue and then laying it on a flat piece of fabric. After sitting with that, I figured - if I could find a hat pattern, I could cover the flat pieces with the fabric and then fashion the hat. A quick google search and I was set. I enlarged the pattern to fit my needs. The hat was a little tall - more formal for my taste so, I cut it down before I glued everything in place. I ordered a silver sequined bowtie online and I will have a black shirt underneath it all when it's finished. For now - here is the costume in process. Happy World Puppet Day!!

All Hands On Deck...

...or, these are a few of my favorite things. I went out shopping over the weekend to my favorite puppet supply stores, Home Depot and Lowe's, America's best known hardware stores.



Any puppet builder will tell you that there is no one place to purchase puppet building supplies. There is inspiration everywhere and I compiled some well-known supplies readying myself to complete a build this past weekend. In the image is a package of doll joints from the hobby shop, hands and foam pieces from the fabric store, Weldwood contact cement and a small container of flat black paint from the hardware store, pre-fab wooden handles for the control rods from a materials exchange and drop ceiling wire for the control rods as well [from the hardware store as well.]

Quite a while ago, I purchased The Complete Doctor puppet building tutorial DVD from Dr. Puppet. I have watched the various installments at different points and it's just a wonderful resource to go back to time and time again to re-establish technique for the budding puppet builder. Jay, who runs the Dr. Puppet website, talks through the lessons like a puppet building friend who has tried all the techniques and knows some of the best and easiest ways to get professional results. In my latest viewing, I picked up on Jay referring to the group of puppeteers over at PuppetsAndStuff.com. I knew the site but had failed to join until recently. One of the admins at Puppets and Stuff is Daryl of StiqPuppet. Daryl was known for his blogtv channel of puppet building tutorials. I was thrilled to find that Daryl has transferred the videos to a Youtube account. Daryl shows various aspects of puppet making as well as proper puppet performance, cleaning your puppet and even a video on how to keep your puppet workshop organized. We're so lucky to live in this day and age where inspiration is right at our fingertips. Sometimes, I'll even grab the good old Foam Book and just leaf through to stoke the ideas.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't give a nod to Pasha over at Project Puppet who has been SO instrumental in getting my dreams off the ground. His new website Puppetsmith will be providing even more inspiration for puppet builders for years to come, I'm sure. My latest puppet was designed from the Project Puppet Simple Series Roly pattern. His name is Lee and he will be starring in an anti-bullying show for K-5th grade elementary school assembly programs.

Puppet Building with Michael Earl

Back in January of 2010, I had a great time at Michael Earl's Television Puppetry Workshop in NYC. Michael and Roberto are making a name for themselves in the puppetry world as they offer classes coast to coast through their newly created Puppet School. I remember Michael's puppets being very effortless to operate. New puppet builders like myself are always searching for that 'perfect mouthplate' and I always love incorporating new building skills into what I already know. When I saw that his Puppet Making Workshop was being offered this past Thursday [Dec. 2], I signed up immediately.

Michael and Roberto's relaxed approach makes learning fun and accessible for everyone in the class no matter their level of expertise. Within a matter of a few short hours, five new monsters were 'born' into the puppetry world. Michael's puppets are very simplistic but big on personality.

I originally intended to bring a bag with me to carry my new creation on my way back through the city to my home-bound train. I left the bag at home and slung the new creature over my arm as I walked the few blocks to my uptown subway stop. I'm glad I left the bag behind as I saw the quick glances and smiles blooming on the crowd of faces as I walked by. Those moments remind you of why you chose to be a puppeteer.

This Saturday, Dec. 4, was the holiday parade in Beacon, NY and my new little monster just needed a Santa cap and he was a natural for the day's festivities. I thought "Ned" was an appropriate name for the time being and he made many friends and took lots of photos with people on his first public outing.

Me and Ned before leaving for the parade

Down & Dirty Dog Puppet

I took Matt Ficner's puppet building workshop in Spring of 2009. It's been well over a year since I began building my own puppet using what I learned in Matt's workshop and I have FINALLY finished it. The foam head base was built last year after I knew my 9-5 job was going to be outsourced. The puppet was one of those projects I kept putting off until the job ended. It finally came to pass this October and, slowly, the puppet muse crept back in and before you know it, fur was flying and I was slinging the hot-glue gun once more. As a graphic designer, there's nothing I like more than what we call "down and dirty tricks" - simple tricks to get a job done. Matt's method to puppet making was a great crash-course in "down and dirty" puppet making. I had a lot of fun watching this guy take shape and finally come to life. The ears are pose-able with a built-in wire armature. The nose was sculpted from light-weight sculpey clay and its wet-like sheen was created with stain glass paint. Following are a full body view, head close-up and ear span images.