Hey Puppetman!

Humbled at Puppetfest Midwest

2011-07-18T14:07:00.009-04:00

I recently returned from an amazing week of puppetry in the middle of nowhere; Trenton, Missouri. Once again I was honored to be on the staff of Puppetfest Midwest, an intense puppetry conference that features week-long workshops and nightly performances.

I taught 8 students about our polyfoam puppet techniques and their results were just fantastic. We had a wide range of skill levels and age levels in our class. As the week progressed the bond that grew between the students was really neat to watch. Just look at the amazing characters that these folks created. Awesome!

A true highlight of the week for me was performing our production called "A Show of Virtues." One of the many triumphs that has been cultivated at Puppetfest Midwest is public attendance at festival performances. This is no easy task and yet over the years the public has come to not only look forward to this week of puppeteers overrunning their town, they embrace it! I dare say that over the 9-year history of this festival, the Trenton townsfolk might very well have seen more puppetry than a lot of us puppeteers!

This year, it was one of these local Trentonites who paid me perhaps the highest compliment that I have ever received and I will never forget it.

"A Show of Virtues" begins and ends with this simple line, "This could be your lucky day." I first performed "A Show of Virtues" at Puppetfest Midwest back in 2006. Following that performance, Festival Artistic Director Peter Allen led an audience member backstage to meet me. It was obvious that she had been crying and I came to learn that the final story in the performance, "Why Frog and Snake Don't Play Together" had uncovered some childhood intolerance that she had experienced and that emotional recall had brought her to tears. Oh the power of puppetry! As Peter Allen succinctly put it to me, "it's amazing that your crappy hunks of foam on sticks, telling the simplest of stories, are a powerful enough catalyst to open some door she had shut long ago." Amazing indeed.

Fast forward to this year's performance of the same show. Peter Allen again brought this same special person backstage. Again she had been crying. She told me more about the circumstances of the intolerance from her childhood. I was so glad to see her again. It was amazing and humbling to hear how the stories in my performance had affected her. She explained that seeing the performance this time had been very healing for her and that she was so glad that she had come to the theatre again. Then she said the words that rocked me. She said simply and plainly as our conversation drew to a close, "do you know what? This really was my lucky day, and I thank you."

It meant so much to me that she would take away that small essence of what I was trying to convey with that simple opening and closing line. As a performer it is so necessary to keep a clear conduit between performance and audience and I'm always cognizant of this. It was a triumph for me that these words stuck with her! I was so humbled by her sincerity. I packed up my show feeling the warmth of that compliment and realized yet again how powerfully our theatre form can stir so many emotions within people.

Doug Swink

2011-01-19T21:29:00.011-05:00

When I think about the people who helped shape my career in puppetry, a lot of folks come to mind. But three really stand out.

The inimitable Daniel Llords, "one man, two hands," really inspired me as a boy when I saw him perform at Davidson College. His virtuoso performance; his stage crammed with over a hundred marionettes; his cigar-smoking French guy in a sidewalk cafe; are you kidding me? It was completely mind-blowing and set me on this course for life.

Donald Devet, who I worked with for years and years at Grey Seal Puppets, probably did more to influence my current approach to puppetry and puppet theatre philosophy than anyone else.

But the man who to this day puts a tear in my eye when I think about how he helped me so very much wasn't a puppeteer at all. But he did more for me as a person and a puppeteer than I could ever imagine at the time. It's now, in hindsight, that I see the enormity of his investment in me.

His name was Doug Swink, Theatre Professor and amazing Renaissance Man at my Alma Mater, The University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

When I arrived at UNC-Wilmington, full of innocent stupidity and stupid innocence, I went to the Theatre Department and announced to no one in particular that I was a puppeteer and I needed a space to work. The details are a little fuzzy, but I don't believe that the secretary even looked up from her papers; she simply said "go see Doug Swink over at Kenan Auditorium."

So, I did. I made the same announcement to Doug, right there in the lobby of Kenan Auditorium, his preferred place to do his administrating. He stared at me for what seemed an eternity. He twiddled his moustache toy. His blue eyes twinkled. Finally he said, "come with me." I followed him to the second floor where he showed me a vacant faculty office. "Will this do?" he asked.

For the rest of my time at UNC-W I was given this space to use as my own. To this day I find this just so incredible. But it didn't stop there. Doug Swink took me under his wing and tutored me on everything theatre. He critiqued my puppets, he coached my puppeteering and he taught me what constituted a good story.

While at UNC-W I produced two original performances; "A Show of Emotions," and "The Aged Puppeteer." In hindsight these works were pivotal and crucial to my career as a professional puppeteer. Doug Swink guided me through every stage of these pieces with patience, humor and brutal honesty.

Doug Swink was just fantastic. I will never forget him. He made me a better puppeteer. He gave me countless hours of his life and asked only that I do the best work that I was capable of. All the while twiddling his moustache toy, all the while with a twinkle in his eye.

Off to Cayo Hueso

2010-09-29T09:37:00.006-04:00

I had a fantastic trip to south Florida last week for performances in Key West and Coral Gables. Sometimes the places those little hunks of polyfoam take me are just too cool.

The first leg of the trip took me to Coconut Creek, Fla, near Ft. Lauderdale. On the way, I stopped for an unbelievable lunch at The Ga. Pig at the Jekyll Island exit on I-95. I don't eat a lot of meat, but I'm a sucker for some slow-cooked beef and their chopped beef sandwich was unbelievable. This place is classic. It was kind of hard to see inside because of all the smoke, so most folks ate outside at picnic tables strewn under the pine trees. The sandwich was perfect for eating in the truck as I continued on my way, it wasn't too sloppy and stayed within the perimeter of the cornmeal-dusted roll really nicely.

Then it was on to my puppeteer buddy Bob Nathanson's house to spend the night. We headed into Fort Lauderdale proper for dinner and to chat with fellow puppeteers Shana Zingman and Dave Goboff. Fun times!

The next day I took off for a leisurely drive down the Keys. Amazing! Not only the flora and the fauna, but the humans were fun to look at too. I slung it into The Wreck and Galley in Marathon for a pretty amazing Grouper BLT and watched the locals swilling beers at the bar, toasting one another on their days off.

I eased on down the Lower Keys into Key West. The vibe was awesome. I cruised Duval just to get a barometer reading. Folks in sleeveless shirts tottered down the strip, swilling from tall plastic cups while they fried in the relentless, equatorial sun. Bars were jammed, bicycle cabs whizzed by and the ubiquitous Conch Trains slunk here and there.

I headed to Glynn Archer School to meet my contact and sponsor, the super cool Phyllis Pope. She led me to the classic old school auditorium and I set up for an evening performance of "Salsa Cinderella."

With my set up complete, I follwed Phyllis to her home and she showed me their Guest House where I would spend the next two nights. It was awesome; outdoor shower, cistern turned swimming pool, giant banyan trees, perfect! I showered up and headed back to the school for the performance. It was a fine audience and we had a fine time!

I reset up for a performance of "Tangle of Tales" the next morning and then headed to Louie's Backyard to unwind. Jim the Bartender out at Louie's Afterdeck handed me a very cold Red Stripe, neatly tucked in a Louie's koozie. I relished the beer as I stared out at a choppy Hawk's Channel. Great way to end the night!

The next day before the show, I stopped at a little window counter on the street next to the school. A nice Cuban woman there made me an absolutely wonderful egg sandwich, pressed on super fresh Cuban bread. A double shot of Cuban Coffee completed the meal and got me all jacked up for the performance. It was a blast performing for the students! After the show, I reset "Salsa Cinderella" for an afternoon performance. A day of puppetry for these students, how cool is that!

After everything was ready, I walked down to El Siboney, which should be a "must do" on any one's trip to Key West. Really fantastic Cuban food at this place. Keeping the afternoon performance in mind, I decided to have a light lunch. A bowl of conch chowder and an order of crispy "tostones" were just perfect.

The afternoon performance was just as much fun as the morning show. I was amazed at how passionate both the students and faculty at Glynn Archer were. This school has a great energy to it!

After the show, I packed up and returned my truck to the Popes' house. I showered up and was free to roam Bone Island once again. My plan was to head to Blue Heaven for an obligatory beer but alas, they were closed for vacation. I changed course and headed towards Virgilio's and ran into the same problem there! What's going on? I changed course yet again and was headed to The Green Parrot when I decided to stop at Caroline's and re=energize myself. It was fine and my stool at the outdoor bar allowed for great people-watching. One last night cap at Louie's Afterdeck and I was done.

I ended my stay in Key West the next morning by joining Phyllis and her husband Tom for breakfast. It was Tom's birthday and they were heading to The Banana Cafe for crepes. Wow, it was super good.

By midday I was heading back north, on my way to Coral Gables and a performance at the really cool Lowe Art Museum on the campus of "The U," The University of Miami.

I missed my guest house accomodations as I checked into a really normal Holiday Inn. But it was fine. The next morning I arrived to set up for the performance of Salsa Cinderella at The Lowe. It was great! The Museum's Jodi Sypher did a fantastic job with the "family day" and packed the house. Too fun!

In the blink of an eye I was once again heading north, on my way back to Charlotte. It was a great trip; fun performances and obviously some fantastic food!

Bliss in Chapel Hill, NC

2010-06-22T15:10:00.004-04:00

It's summertime and for puppeteers like me that means library performances as part of their Summer Reading Programs.

So, there I was in Chapel Hill, North Carolina performing our "Bathtub Pirates" twice for super audiences. Karin Michael has us perform there every year and it is always such a pleasure!

The performances were spaced just far enough apart to dash out for some lunch. Every time I read about some cool spot in some town I might find myself in, I put its name and address in my phone so that a quick search often yields an off-the-beaten track spot for a meal. Voila! Such was the case this day. I entered "Chapel Hill" and up popped "Merritt's Store and Grill." I had made a note: "Order the BLT. "

Now let me back up here a minute. I don't consider myself a vegetarian, I like to think of myself more as a "meat minimalist." More often than not I'll go meatless when given a choice. Bacon is often a source of conversation around our studio because I often refer to it as "the sidemeat of the devil." This is because some 20 years ago my wife Peggy said that we were to swear off bacon forever and ever. She had read some article about the horrors of eating bacon and what it does to us and promptly laid down the aforementioned edict.

However, she did not and does not adhere to her own proclamation. In fact, she may as well be known as the bacon queen nowadays. Her eyes have been known to roll back in her head like a shark in frenzy as she chomps down on some thick-slabbed applewood-smoked pork belly.

I have adhered for the most part. I understand that bacon makes everything better, but as a rule I steer away from it. But, I do have a little rule in my head that says if it is a component of something larger, it's OK every now and again. I'm not as bad as my quasi-vegetarian friend who utter this classic one time: "I'm a vegetarian unless there's meat for free somewhere." But, a BLT sometimes has my number.

Back to Merritt's Store and Grill. Unless you were a Chapel Hill native, or in the know about this place, I think you would definitely drive right on by it. Boy am I glad I had made the note in my phone. You enter the joint and head towards the back where two guys are serving up hot dogs, hamburgers and ta-da, BLTs. You can get a single decker, double decker or triple decker BLT. I opted to go middle of the road and went with the double decker.

Any good Southerner knows that a BLT has to be on white bread. Toasting is allowed, but not necessary. Duke's Mayonnaise. That shouldn't even have to be said or written. Salt and pepper.

In a short flash my double decker was ready. It was wrapped up neatly in waxed paper and handed over to the counter. I headed back up front for a large sweet tea, a bag of Miss Vicki's Jalapeno Chips and a USA Today. Perfect. I paid the exceptionally nice gentleman behind the counter and stepped out into the rising midday Carolina heat. There was an wire-mesh table open in the front yard and I spread the newspaper out and dug in. Four guys sat at the table next to me and ate hamburgers and BLTs and talked about the landscaping job they were currently working on.

I unwrapped the sandwich. It was a work of art. Vibrantly green romaine lettuce, crispy thick bacon and the star of the show, bright red heirloom tomato slices, streaked with pale yellow and tinged with salt and pepper perfectly. It was Heaven. I don't think I even read the paper. I just ate silently, in complete awe of this BLT's perfection. It was the best.

I wadded up my wax paper, gave the obligatory, silent guy nod to the landscapers, refilled my tea glass and headed back for round two at the Chapel Hill Public Library.

Shootin' The Lights Out in Plymouth

2010-05-06T10:50:00.004-04:00

Plymouth is a cool little village in Eastern North Carolina, just upstream of the Inner Banks region. Clustered around the southern bank of the Roanoke River, it has the feel of a water town.

After a pleasant drive from Charlotte, I pulled in to town at dinnertime for two school performances the following day.

My taste buds were set on a fish sandwich and a cold beer. I envisioned dining at some riverside dive with my newspaper and the view to accompany me. However, it looked like the sidewalks in downtown Plymouth were rolled up pretty tight. I did have a peek inside the super cool Maritime Museum and while I stood gawking at a beautiful handmade 12’ Bateau that was being raffled off at the Community Art Center; I heard a pickup pull up behind me. A nice guy jumped out and asked me if I wanted to buy some raffle tickets. Ahhh, you have to love the small towns. He explained the boat was donated by its maker in an effort to raise money for the guy down at the Bike Shop who had to go in the hospital and had one hell of a bill to pay. I was “all in” to help out and gave him my address so that he could mail the raffle tickets. I should have asked him where to eat.

The fish sandwich wasn’t happening, but I vowed to seek out some local place, rather than succumbing (shudder) to the fast food chains back out on the big road. I saw a sponsor’s banner, “Mama’s Pizza” on the school ball field fence as I drove out of Plymouth proper. It sounded sort of promising. Mama’s Pizza wasn’t hard to find, it was nestled in a small strip center that was anchored by the Piggly Wiggly.

The place had a good vibe. A hearty mix of locals filled the joint; farmers, fisherman and golfers. They all talked across their tables about their children’s baseball games earlier that night. Cool.

It turned out to be a fine meal; a one trip salad bar followed up by a really great grilled vegetable ravioli. Fantastic. They even had that cold beer I was after. Plymouth you rock.

The next morning found me up and out of the hotel and standing in the office at Pines Elementary School promptly at 7:45am for a 9:00am performance. Things did not start out spectacularly. It went something like this:

Me: Good morning, I’m Drew Allison with Grey Seal Puppets. I’m here to set up for the puppet performance this morning.

School Secretary: (blank look of confusion.)

Me: (Stare back with expectation)

School Secretary: OoooooKayyyy. Where was it supposed to be, in the gym?

Me: I’m not sure.

School Secretary: Which grades were supposed to see it?

Me: I’m not sure.

School Secretary: (whips out walkie talkie) Mrs. Pendergast? Mrs. Pendergast?

Other School Secretary: She isn’t here. She’s gone to a meeting.

School Secretary: (with the slightest of tones) I’m going to have to go out to the Bus Ramp and ask the Assistant Principal where you’re supposed to be.

Suffice it to say that 20 minutes of my set up time was spent waiting in the office to be told where to go. Nobody’s fault really, but still kind of exasperating. Leave it to the students to save the day. They were a great audience and it was a blast performing for them.

I struck the show and grabbed a perfect veggie patty sub at the ubiquitous Subway, resplendent with pepper jack cheese, jalapenos and banana peppers. A great sandwich artist put that baby together. Then it was on to Creswell, NC for the afternoon performance.

Creswell Elementary had the thing that all school-bound troubadours are looking for; a custodian who runs the show. This guy was great. He got me primo parking inside the cones, turned on the stage lights and showed me the only outlet that I never would have found without him. Awesome.

So, you’re probably wondering about the title to this little piece. Well, there’s a scene in the show I was doing, A Show of Virtues, where a tiny bit of water is shot through a plastic syringe and sprinkles the audience. It has to do with the story of the Little Hero of Holland, the finger in the dyke, all that. The little plastic syringe is pretty amazing. I can hit the 8th or 9th row with this thing. Except for this time. Something went wrong with the trajectory and the water went straight up into the aforementioned stage lights. These were ancient scoop-like fixtures for you lighting techie-types. At any rate, the water shot up and in an instant one of the bulbs burst and along with the water a shower of glass clattered down all around me. It was pretty cool and rock star-like. I heard a 1^st grader instantly assess the situation: “He blowed the bulb out.” Indeed I did.

We all regrouped and the rest of performance went just fine. The Creswell students were as amazing as the Pines students that morning. As I packed up, the custodian returned. I heard a student say, “He’s coming with the vacuum to get that bulb up.”

Hilarious. Many thanks to the Washington County Schools and sweet Victoria Fields for a great day of puppeteering along the Roanoke River.

Classic Audience Comments

2010-01-07T15:28:00.011-05:00

There's a special time at our studio when we all sit around the conference room table eating lunch. It's here that we take time to read aloud the amazing letters and drawings that children send us after watching a show. If you're ever feeling low, read some of these. Nothing makes you feel better. We also rehash some of the simply classic statements that are overhead during a performance. Little jewels that emanate up from the mouths of the innocent.

It's true. Children say the most wonderful things. We love to revel in the comments heard during our performances. Children seem to have a profound sense of succinctness that is delivered with perfect comedic timing.

Following our recent run of "The Emperor's New Clothes" at The Children's Theatre, I believe we have added another classic to our list. The show opens with the puppeteer creating a palace set piece; an abstract looking set of draperies fashioned from three pieces of fabric. It's a quick, non-verbal scene set to a jaunty piece of music. Following the scene, with a perfect delivery, a voice in the front row chimed, "you make an awfully good-looking window." How do you continue a performance after that hilarity?

Here's another classic from that same production, this one uttered years ago. Upon seeing the non-existent outfit in "The Emperor's New Clothes," our Counselor character stammers that the Emperor will be so, will be so . . . . and here was inserted perfectly by a 5th grader in the audience, "cold?"

Another time, pre-schoolers were enjoying, maybe, a performance of "Tangle of Tales. " It's a collection of short stories, perfect for the younger ones. As the first story finished and the lights came up for the second story, I distinctly heard an exasperated voice from the stage right side of the house peep, "Oh no, not another one. We're tired for Pete's sake!

Here's a random sampling of some things students said before, during and after my two performances of "A Show of Virtues" last month at Hawk Ridge Elementary School in Charlotte.

At one point in the show the character I play, a salesman, rolls up his sleeves. After this, a small voice said, "he's got hair on his arms."

After the Salesman wonders aloud, "how long will her courage last?" a voice from the audience confidently said, "6 minutes."

As the audience left the multi-purpose room following the 2nd performance, a 3rd grader turned around and said to me, "so long, young man."

It kind of makes you wonder what's waiting around the corner at the next performance. I can't wait to find out.

Detroit after Christmas

2010-01-04T15:45:00.009-05:00

It's not easy changing gears from holiday mode to work mode the day after a great family Christmas. But change gears I did, for a three day run at the super cool Detroit Institute of Arts.

The trip began ominously enough. I opened The Charlotte Observer early Saturday morning and read about someone lighting their pants on fire aboard a plane from Amsterdam to . . . Detroit. I tucked the headline away so that my wife wouldn't see it until I was airborne.

Happily, the flight and surrounding security pleasantries were fine and just like that I was unpacking the previously-shipped crate containing our show called "Bathtub Pirates" for a 2:00pm performance. The DIA's Michael Hill was a great sponsor and the three days of performances were a blast.

In between performances I would stroll the museum galleries, lodge at the unbelievable Inn on Ferry Street, watch some bowl games, try not to hear the couple in the room next door having an absolutely fantastic weekend and dine at the nearby Wasabi Korean and Japanese Restaurant.

Whenever I'm at the DIA, I love to study their collection of armor, marveling at the various pieces and what they must have been through. The Museum was recently renovated and has wonderful, extensive collections from many different eras and artists.

The Inn on Ferry Street is a comfortable collection of three turn of the century houses that have been converted into amazing rooms for travelers of all sorts. If you're ever in Detroit, you must check this place out.

I was without a vehicle and therefore would light out on foot each night in search of dinner. The first night at the aforementioned Wasabi, I enjoyed a wonderfully light and tasty plate of gyoza; little steamed veggie dumplings that were finished to a browned crisp in a wok. A nice glazed salmon and a cold Kirin completed the meal. I found myself there again the next night as the Creperie I had my sights set on was closed on this snowy cold night, despite the "Open" sign crackling in their window. So, it was a great selection of sushi and Sunday Night Football back at my spot at Wasabi's bar. Perfect.

After Monday's performance, I packed up the show for its return to Charlotte. I said my good byes to Michael and his colleague Lisa who were such a blast to work with. I was driven to the airport by a man with a Bluetooth thing in his ear and a pen and legal pad balanced on the steering wheel. He would take turns looking at the road, talking another language into the Bluetooth, scribbling on the pad and nodding off.

Security had been ratcheted up at the airport, but all went well. My wireless microphone case that I "carried on" with me caused much more of a stir this time, but that's OK. I was waiting for my suitcase at the carousel before I knew it.

The trip that started with an ominous newspaper article ended with the inherent goodness in people everywhere. As I waited for my bag, I heard someone behind me say, "Don't you worry, sweetheart, we will find it." I turned to see a vision-impaired man with a cane talking to his vision-impaired wife with a cool dog assisting her. They hurried up to an exit door and asked a complete stranger if this was indeed "Door D." The stranger said it was and they hurried on their way. Maybe you had to be there, but in a world where someone feels passionately enough to light himself on fire for his cause, somehow there was an equal passion of kindness here as well. Kindness between the man and his wife, their beloved dog and by the stranger who helped them.

What's In a Name?

2009-11-30T16:27:00.010-05:00

People often ask us where our name "Grey Seal Puppets" came from. Sometimes solicitors call on the phone asking for Grace Hill. Sometimes folks wonder why there aren't seals in our performances. Sometimes people think we're crusaders, bent on saving the seals of the world Sea Shepard-style.

It's really much more humble than that.

Back in my high school days, I was the youngest of four siblings. My two older brothers and one older sister were all away at college. My father's job involved a lot of travel and my mother very much fancied to go with him whenever she could.

This left me home alone a lot, which I really rather enjoyed. I owe my love of cooking to this time in my life. It was sort of a do or die type of situation. My mother would leave some food in the refrigerator along with detailed directions on how to prepare it. I loved toiling away at my creative cookery, often becoming adventurous and veering off the neatly supplied instructions. I took great delight in these culinary forays.

But that doesn't really have anything to do with the name of our company.

Many times these parental trips would span a weekend. This provided me with the perfect venue for some pretty awesome parties. High Schoolers, a weekend and a parent-free house. Modestly enough, I have to say these parties grew to legendary status.
It was during my ceremonious prep time for these parties, sort of my pre-party warm up if you will, that I would put on Elton John's now-classic double album, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." If you know the work then you know that buried in the deepest of cuts is a sort of mournful little tune called,of course, "Grey Seal."

I can't remember what I liked so much about this song that it drove me to name a fledgling little puppet company after it, but that's exactly what I did. Oh, back then we had a much loftier sounding moniker, "Grey Seal Productions Puppet Studio." Impressive, aye? Over the years it was thankfully shortened to a more manageable "Grey Seal Puppets."

So now you know. If you get the chance, take a listen to this catchy little tune. In the meantime, here's the lyrics, which were written by Bernie Taupin.

Why's it never light on my lawn
Why does it rain and never say good-day to the new-born
On the big screen they showed us a sun
But not as bright in life as the real one
It's never quite the same as the real one
chorus
And tell me grey seal
How does it feel to be so wise
To see through eyes
That only see what's real
Tell me grey seal
I never learned why meteors were formed
I only farmed in schools that were so warn and torn
If anyone can cry then so can I
I read books and draw life from the eye
All my life is drawings from the eye
[repeat chorus]
Your mission bells were wrought by ancient men
The roots were formed by twisted roots
Your roots were twisted then
I was re-born before all life could die
The Phoenix bird will leave this world to fly
If the Phoenix bird can fly then so can I
[repeat chorus]

Ultra-cool School in Monroe, NC

2009-10-14T10:12:00.003-04:00

I had a great couple of days performing in Union County, N.C. last week. I found myself at the swanky Central Academy of Technology and Arts, a magnet high school in Monroe. It was one of those situations where school groups were bussed in to the beautiful campus auditorium. These were very young children attending the performances, so it was definitely time for our venerable production called "Tangle of Tales." It seems to work well for younger audiences because rather than one long story, it's a collection of shorter ones. Therefore, it tends to hold young attention spans better.

The day started with the obligatory fly by the school office. This had a little different feel, it being high school kids and all. This was immediately apparent when I encountered an earnest conversation between the school secretary and a high schooler with a "Hooters" T-shirt on. The student insisted that the t-shirt was part of his right to free speech, the secretary was just as sure that the Principal would make him turn the shirt inside out for now.

With the coveted "Visitor" sticker in place on my Grey Seal T-shirt, I headed around to the back of the theatre for the load in. Drama Teacher Larry Robinson met me there with his students to help roll in my stuff. What a luxury!

The two performances went swell enough. But what made this gig so neat was the high school students themselves. I got to meet and talk with Larry's Senior and Freshman drama classes. They were fantastic. What was even more refreshing was these same students were able to see the performance of Tangle of Tales too. It was cool to hear the reactions from the pre-schoolers and then the adult laughter of the Drama students as they responded to a different layer of humor. After the performance, I chatted with the Freshman class. They asked the most amazing questions about the performances, puppetry and life as a puppeteer. Then I asked them a question and received an amazing answer, "do you all have drama every day?" The answer? "We sure do!" Awesome!

So, hooray for Larry Robinson and the important work he is doing at the Central Academy of Technology and Performing Arts. Hooray to the Union County School System for implementing such a wondrous campus. But most of all, hooray to the students there. They were confident, very together and focused on their goals. It was great being with them.

Chugging Away In the Workshop

2009-09-09T09:38:00.005-04:00

I always think it's neat when our dusty old "business plan" seems to be working the way it's suppose to. When we started Grey Seal away back in the roaring '70's, the idea was to have several "irons in the fire" at all times. That way, if one iron cooled off, hopefully, another would heat up. Our three irons have always been live performances, on-camera performances and custom-built characters.

So, now I'm seeing long Summer road trips around the country to perform in libraries and theatres give way to Fall building projects here in the studio. We are so lucky to have a really neat myriad of projects to work on.

We just finished a HUGE project for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. They are launching the largest cruise ship in the world, the Oasis of the Seas, and we built 29 super-cool masks to be a part of the on board entertainment. Cheralyn Lambeth headed up the project here and did a great job. The masks had to be virtually indestructible and involved cool materials like "alumacore" inserts, 1/16" airline cable, aluminum pool poles and about a gazillion 10/24" nylock nuts and bolts. A lot of work, but we were very happy with the end results!

Now it's on to a slew of sports team mascots. This is the time of year the pro guys get their costumes tweaked or rebuilt. On the workshop tables now are a new Hugo the Hornet for the New Orleans Hornets, Roofus the Charlotte Bobcat, Sir Purr from the Carolina Panthers and Norm from the Charlotte 49ers. Oh, and the local hospital's favorite fish, Dr. Gil Getwell, has come in for a new stethoscope and some seam repair.

On the very near horizon are two on-camera projects as well. We have begun construction on puppets for an oral hygiene DVD aimed at 4-6 year olds. Next week we begin construction on puppets for another pilot as well. More on that when the non-disclosure is lifted! Grey Seal Puppets will be providing puppeteers for both of these projects too.

So, we're chugging away in the workshop. It's awesome to have these hot irons in the fire!

Never Heard That Before

2009-07-08T16:12:00.005-04:00

As a traveling performer I've seen and heard and experienced a lot of wacky stuff. But in over 20 years on the road, I'd never heard what was uttered amidst the audience the other day at a performance of "Tangle of Tales" at the Gaston County Public Library.

Heck, I've seen a stark-naked child walk across the stage during a performance. Puppeteer Donald Devet was manipulating a character in front of our puppet theatre that was perched atop a large street festival stage one hot summer day. From backstage I heard a collective sort of gasping chuckle from the audience. I peeked out to see a young boy, let's say 4 or 5ish. He was completely naked as he casually strolled from stage right to stage left, inches from Donald and his puppet, Bruno, the ugliest man in the world. But then again, this was in Asheville, so what the hay.

Then there was the time in New York City when Death caught on fire. We were at the Asphalt Green Theatre doing "The Nightingale." In the Emperor's dramatic dying scene, he is surrounded by lighted candles as Death approaches. Death was a marionette. As I deftly manipulated Death past the candles and towards the reclining Emperor, I realized that I wasn't deft enough. Smoke and a small yellow flame appeared around Death's shinbone. I heard a woman in the second row, with a thick Brooklyn accent, say "He's on fye-yah." Alarmed, but keeping a stage face, I dramatically stepped on Death in hopes of extinguishing the flame. I removed my foot to see fresh flames and more smoke as strings began burning in two and Death was left dangling by his elbow string, the only one that remained. The woman in the second row spoke a little louder this time, "he's still on fye-yah!" I threw theatre to the wind and stomped on Death and finally extinguished the flames. I dragged him by his one string upstage and out of site.

But let's get back to the scene at the Gaston County Library the other day. Now, I didn't hear this, but I was told about it after the performance by the librarian. It seems that as the 250 folks filed into the theatre, security was summoned after an exchange between two mothers that went like this:

"If your child sits in front of my child, I'm going
to kick your ass."

Can you believe that? The affronted woman went to the librarian to tell her what had happened. The unflappable librarian replied, "Well, I suggest you sit over there, then."

So, there you have it. Another one for the books. Or the blog. As someone told me years ago, gee whiz it's just a puppet show!

Breakfast at Denny's

2009-06-01T11:02:00.012-04:00

I have a real aversion to the hotel breakfast bar scene while on the road performing.

Maybe it's because I constantly find myself in uncomfortable, early morning situations. Like last month, when in the pre-dawn gray, I stood up to refill my coffee cup and loudly conked my head on a very low-hanging pendant lamp that was positioned perfectly at a mere 18" above my two-top. All of the other breakfasters turned as one to see the commotion. A woman seated directly in front of me lowered her Bible and broke out laughing. Moments later she appeared table-side and apologized. "Once I saw you were OK, it was just funny to me." I said not to worry as I patted the top of my head and then was a little taken aback to see a small drop of blood on my palm.

However, my distaste for the scene runs deeper than just this. I can't get the toaster to work. I can't figure out how to spin the fruit bowl cover thing. I burn stuff. I don't need a whole carton of milk for a single bowl of cereal. I don't like people who stand in front of where I need to be and just stand there. I don't like to talk to people early in the morning. I don't like people who pour a cup of coffee and then commandeer the entire coffee area while they concoct their delicate balance of cream and sugar.

Just last Friday, a gentleman saw my Grey Seal Puppets t-shirt while I was trying desperately to get two pieces of wheat to stay DOWN in the toaster and he loudly proclaimed that he thought I dated his ex-wife in 1982. The hotel clerk stopped checking someone out and started checking us out. GET ME OUT OF HERE!

So when Saturday morning rolled around I found the breakfast bar to be a real train wreck. A bus full of middle-schoolers had joined us at the hotel the night before and it was game on this morning. So, I jetted past the breakfast bar, into my truck and headed straight to a nearby . . . .Denny's.

Saturday morning breakfast places are a crap shoot for sure. Always too busy, sometimes smoky, sometimes just bad.

But not this Denny's. You could tell upon entry that this place had it going on. Quick, efficient, not too crowded. The host quickly led me to a nice booth. We hurried past a middle aged lawyer-looking guy who woke up that morning and decided to say good bye to his legal world for the weekend and dress in camo cargo shorts and a "I'm a Legend in Japan" t-shirt. He was diving into a perfect stack of pancakes as his pretty companion stared forlornly out the window.

Before I knew it I had a mushroom and Swiss eggwhite omelet with above-average grits and fresh sourdough toast right in front of me. It was a great breakfast with a great server in a great place. The only momentary hiccup was when the kid across from me began slamming his body into his chairback as his father obliviously ate his waffle. Not to worry, after the 4th or 5th time, the older man who was receiving the body blows on the other side of the chairback growled "cut it out" without even lowering his News and Observer as his wife pursed her lips and all was calm again.

When I'm on the road performing, I like to start the day with a good breakfast and today Denny's came through. I strolled out into the bright Carolina sunshine, past a mini-van with a "Synthesizers are Musical Instruments too" bumper sticker and into my truck. I pointed my bow towards the Southeast and took off for Fayetteville and a performance at the Museum of Art.

"Write What You Know" - Mark Twain

2009-05-11T13:50:00.009-04:00

I had a great trip down to Orlando last week for performances co-sponsored by the ultra-awesome City of Orlando Puppettroupe and the equally awesome Ibex Puppetry. It was a blast doing "A Show of Virtues" there as well as catching up with friends in the hopping Orlando puppet scene.

My trip took me from Charleston to central Florida. It was a beautiful ride through South Carolina's Ace Basin, Georgia's endless coastal savannas on into Florida's billboards. I was excited to pass the Wienermobile on 1-95. The Wienermobile has some power, maintaining a solid 75mph on down the road. That's one fast Wienermobile.

I stopped at a swanky "McCafe" for a Java McGrande. While climbing back into my rig, I noticed a raven-esque blackbird in the parking lot. The bird was eyeing a fry, baked to super-crispy in the warming Florida sun. As I looked closer I was amazed to see the bird had only one leg. How curious. The bird seemed to handle the handicap in stride. I watched as bird and fry ascended to a power line and marveled how he or she landed and steadied on the single appendage with little trouble. Ahh, life's little dramas.

My constant companion on this trip, as often is the case, was the music of Jimmy Buffett. For years I've waged a quiet crusade for this man's body of work; over 30 albums, novels, short stories, a kick-ass musical! My heart falls when people equate him with such pablum as "Cheeseburger in Paradise." Leave this silly fun to the escapist parrotheads that flock to his concerts in grass skirts and coconut shell bras. It's the deeper cuts of the album where I find solace.

I feel buoyed enough to openly share these comments here after none other than Bob Dylan recently tagged Buffett as one of his favorite songwriters, naming Buffett's "Death of an Unpopular Poet" and "He Went to Paris" as specific gems in the repertoire. What an affirmation! Long overdue!

So, I leave you with the lyrics from a Buffett masterpiece, inspired by the above-mentioned Mark Twain. Twain wrote in his classic "Following the Equator" about the tragic Remittance Man who was paid by his family to stay away from them. So, here's a little "mental floss" for you, to use another classic Buffett image:

THE REMITTANCE MAN, by Jimmy Buffett

Sinner on the mainland
He's a sinner on the sea
He looks for absolution
Not accountability
How many destinations
Oh God he's seen them all
He collects his precious pittance
Never a port of call

Remittance Man
Blacksheep of the family clan
Broke too many rules along the way
Remittance Man
So far away from home
No they'll never understand
The Remittance Man

A man of empty pockets
From jingling his change
The idleness and grieving
For all that he retains
By the harbour lights of Sydney
Or the Bora Bora moon
He recites his sad confession
To the seagulls and the loons

Remittance Man
Blacksheep of the family clan
Broke too many rules along the way
Remittance Man
So far away from home
No they'll never understand
The Remittance Man

Well you can claim that you were born a prince
But you're the only one you can convince
Survivor with no livelihood
That you could ever make it good
But still you dream of what you can pretend

An unexpected passenger
Boarded in Marseilles
An angel full of tenderness
She gave her heart away
She was but a gypsy
He was just a stray
They almost made a miracle but it slowly slipped away
So he follows the equator
With a wish to run aground
It's a very vicious circle
Goin' round and round and round
And he watches from the fantail
As the mainland disappears
Just like the Flying Dutchman
He's a prisoner of his fears

Remittance Man
Blacksheep of the family clan
Broke too many rules along the way
Remittance Man
So far away from home
No they'll never understand
No they'll never understand
No they'll never understand
The Remittance Man

A Place I Go

2009-04-20T10:29:00.015-04:00

When I have a few days free of performances and obligations here at our studio in Charlotte, there's a place I go in the Low Country of South Carolina. It's a secluded place, the perfect spot to do some writing. There's no phone, no TV and no Internet.

Last week I had three concepts to present by Friday. It sounded like a good time for a few days "in the Village," to focus on the task at hand.

I have a writing table that looks out over a marsh and a small creek. It's very inspiring. Seated here with the salted breeze on my face, I can watch the marsh activities throughout the day. I see an osprey pluck a spottail out of the creek and soar skyward while he turns the fish in his talons to parallel his own body to better his aerodynamics. An egret stalks silently upstream and cormorants swim underwater. A giant pileated woodpecker drums on a pine tree while mullet jump three feet out of the water. Stoic blue herons stare out from the marsh grass. Amazingly, a bald eagle occasionally criss-crosses the marsh with a piercing scream to announce her arrival. Watching this wetlands smorgasbord, I tap away on my laptop.

As darkness falls, the writing intensifies. I have a bottle of Beaujolais tucked away. Bastille Day is a few months off, but I figure what the heck. As Buffett says, "I'm a Frenchman for a day." The Beaujolais is full-bodied and wonderful. It fuels the creative spirit. A draft of the three concepts is completed.

I spend the rest of my time in the Village editing and tinkering the piece. There's time for sitting on the dock and staring off across the marsh as the flag above pops in the prevailing breeze. The osprey checks back in and another mullet jumps. I'm sad that my time to leave is fast approaching. It's time to get back on the performance road.

I pack up and head out for some shows in Wake Forest, NC. My truck windows are open as I roll down the dirt road, I hear the bald eagle scream above the marsh and I look back for one final glance.

Day Trip to Aiken, SC

2009-04-09T10:07:00.006-04:00

I love days like yesterday, which found me on the road at a reasonable hour for a mid-day performance and then back home, also at a reasonable hour! Added bonus? The destination was an ultra-cool little Southern town, one of my favorites, Aiken, SC!

I hit the road at 7:30am armed with some Home brew, sliced "Gala" apples and a burrito I made with fresh eggs from Marybeth across the street. The tunes were locked on XM 55.

Heading to Aiken always reminds me of when I was a teenager and I would take my horse, Nikki, there for schooling shows. It is a horse town for sure. I remember sleeping in the barn there and hearing the horses make their horse sounds. Lying on my back I would watch the bats in the rafters and breathe in the smells of hay, woodchips and manure. For me, a more savory, sensory concoction just doesn't exist!

I rolled into Aiken on US 1 to see a palette of huge azaleas that were resplendent in every color imaginable. Standing guard over them were dogwoods with blooms so luminescent they seemingly glowed on their own in the bright morning sunshine. I love the South! It was so beautiful.

I eased through downtown Aiken-proper, headed down Whiskey Road and turned into Hopelands Gardens. This was my third year doing this event, so knowing where to go and how to get there is always a comfort. This was an outdoor performance of our show called "A Show of Virtues." The performance space is a neat amphitheatre with a nifty creek between the stage and the audience. Alicia Davis, with the Aiken Parks and Rec. Department, always does a fantastic job of getting a huge crowd and perfect weather for this mid-week happening. Folks come and spread their blankets out and picnic during the show. The Easter Bunny cajoles about while Bufflehead Ducks swim in the creek before me. It is a bucolic place to do some puppets!

The show went well! Not always the case with an outdoor performance, which present their own set of problems; is the music loud enough, will that crow stop cawing and who is that walking out on the stage sort of stuff. Also, there was this little problem of no windscreen on my mike which led me to play a lot to stage right, thus enabling me to use my head to block the breeze that was terrorizing the microphone. In the calm moments, I would overplay it back to the left, hoping to keep those folks in the loop as well! Despite all that, I plowed in to the performance with optimism. In an effort to hold every one's attention, I ratcheted up my pacing a tick, raised the energy level and puppeteered away. The audience laughed and cheered and we all seemed to have a fine time.

I packed up the show and rolled it out to the truck. The load out area backs up to a barn that's on the grounds as well. As I shoved the last crate on board, the smell of hay and the soft nicker of a large Bay completed the day. Man oh man.

There's Somebody Doing That

2009-03-23T11:37:00.005-04:00

I had a swell time in Greenville, South Carolina recently. Librarian Eva Putnam brought Grey Seal in for a performance as part of their Family Fun Series. The library in downtown Greenville is gorgeous and the room where the performance was held was large and spacious. Our production called Tangle of Tales was the perfect show for the occasion. A sell-out crowd provided a wonderful energy for the evening!

As Tangle of Tales begins, an abstract green hand/sculpture puppet begins moving around the stage. As the character began moving at this performance, I heard a small voice in the audience say, " there's somebody doing that." The tone of the voice was not definitive, it wasn't 100% sure about its statement. It was as if the voice was trying to at once convince and reassure itself.

I thought a lot about that statement on the drive home. As puppeteers, isn't that what it really all boils down to? Sure, there IS somebody doing that. But it is our job to create the illusion of life, through movement, if only for a moment. The wonder in the simple statement was a great thing. The fact that this little voice wasn't committed to believing one way or another was the perfect testimony to what puppet theatre is all about.

I love that this all happened during non-verbal movement of the character as well. That little statement was a microcosm of all my puppet philosophy; succinctly uttered in a mere moment. There's somebody doing that. There is somebody doing that whenever a puppet is manipulated. Through the mere movement of a puppet we can non-verbally create a thought-process, a mood and a tempo. We can create conflict and resolution. We can make our audiences feel something, some emotion. They may want to laugh, they may want to cry. All without the need for words. How great it that?

So, indeed, there was somebody doing that. But hopefully, at least for a moment, we can convince ourselves that there wasn't. Suspending reality and creating belief that a little hunk of foam and fabric is alive, only for a moment; that's our job and therefore we should be doing just that.

Quick Philly Trip

2009-02-17T16:09:00.010-05:00

Last weekend I made a quick trip up to Philadelphia for two performances of The Emperor's New Clothes. I drove up from Charlotte on Saturday, spent the night in the heart of the City of Brotherly Love, did the shows on Sunday and buzzed on back home right afterwards. It was great. I love the life of the puppet troubadour!

I left Charlotte around 9:00am, equipped with a K.R. Special from Owen's Bagels, three litres of Raspberry Lime Sparkling Water, some Stacey's TexArkana Hot Pita Chips and a recently downloaded album of Lord Kitchener, King of Calypsos.

From the onset I had several altercations with Eva, the nice girl inside my GPS. She was hellbent that I go up I-85 and I was just as hellbent to take the laid back, pastoral trip through the Shenandoah Valley via I-77 and I-81. I finally convinced her.

The trip up was great. I can never get enough of the bucolic wonder of those gentle hills that roll through Virginia. I saw an amazing vertical line of cows grazing up the side of one hill and thought of my father telling me when I was a boy that mountain cows were bred with their legs shorter on one side so they can stand on the mountainside just right. I believe him.

I drove on and thought about the performances coming up tomorrow and marveled at whoever the clever person was to book The Emperor's New Clothes in conjunction with a Textile Exhibit at the museum. That's just hilarious to me.

Just like that I was there and checked in and wandering around the Avenue of the Arts on a Saturday night, and Valentine's Day no less. I thought of my Valentine Peggy, who was home alone with our dog Jessie. Then I realized that dinner might be a problem; swooning couples were streaming, arm in arm, into every eatery in sight.

I peered through the windows at an Italian place right next to my hotel and saw what I had been searching for; a lone seat at the bar. The Traveling Man's Shangri-La! I had my newspaper pacifier folded neatly under my arm as I strolled confidently inside the welcoming confines of Sotto Varalli.

I sat down and order a nice glass of Montepulciano. I scanned the crowd, noting the different temperatures of the Valentine Lovers around the bar. Some were new and excited, others where assured and complacent. Two old black guys played the piano and upright bass off in the corner and the place was filled with their wonderful crooning. It was nice.

I chatted with this guy Mike who was waiting with a party of 10 couples for their table. He was a physicist. A fusion (not fission!) physicist no less. Quite a guy. Then I chatted with the couple on the other side of me. I told the gentleman that he looked like a cross between Bil Baird and Anthony Hopkins. I was amazed when he responded, "who is Anthony Hopkins?"

After more observing and another glass of the Red, I left with some gnocchi for the room and a good night's rest before the shows the next day.

The performances were a blast. Everyone at the Museum was fantastic to work with. The houses were full and the audiences had a passion that was great. The Emperor's New Clothes relies heavily on 5 volunteers from the audience and both shows provided excellent "townspeople."

Before I knew it, I had struck the show and the truck was headed South once again. Some more pita chips and sparkling water and another tank of gas. It was a quiet, uneventful trip highlighted by my iPod on a full shuffle of all the music on there. What a wild ride that was. It would go from a Beethoven Sonata to Todd Snyder to Lucinda Williams to the aforementioned Lord Kitchener to Jimmy Buffett to Charlotte Church to etc. etc. etc. Man, it was something.

Towards the end of the trip, some beautiful snow fell in the mountains of Virginia, just before crossing into North Carolina. I pulled back in front our our house at midnight and all was well. Great trip!

Drew's Day Falls Apart

2009-02-04T21:28:00.003-05:00

So, there I was; jauntily rolling down 1-440 in Raleigh at 7:15am on my way to St. Raphael's Catholic School for two performances of A Show of Virtues. A crisp, cold, DRY day stretched out before me and I was happy to be alive and to be a puppeteer and not on my way to some cubicle with faux-fabric walls.

Suddenly, my phone rang. It was super nice Kelly O'Brien, our contact from the school. She said that, inexplicably, the school was on a two hour delay. Non-existent wintery weather hysteria had prevailed. Due to the delay, the school day will be compressed and there's no time for the performances. We will have to reschedule.

I have performances here in Raleigh tomorrow of course, so basically I'm here with no shows and a whole day ahead of me.

Am I destined to be trapped in the confines of this hotel room to watch the likes of Dr. Phil and Maury Povich along with the rest of Raleigh's cigarette-dragging, bathrobe-wearing bleary-eyed housewives and house husbands? No I say! I will endeavor to persevere! I have work I can do, I will multi-task the day away! I have a list of libraries I can email about possible Summer Reading Program performances! I have repairs to A Show of Virtues that I can undertake in the ding dang parking lot of this Hampton Inn! It's not too cold for staple guns I say! I have a Schlotzsky's nearby! I will survive!

Besides, I can't stand Dr. Phil.

Junior League of Charlotte has Passion for Puppetry!

2009-01-28T15:28:00.007-05:00

We've had a great time working with the Junior League of Charlotte to produce a puppet performance on healthy eating habits.

"You Are What You Eat" premiered last Fall. The show is a pastiche of every game show you've ever seen. Host Guy Goodeats guides contestants such as Jack B. Nimble, Little Jack Horner, Little Miss Muffett and the evil Junkfood Jake through a myriad of questions on good eating and exercise. Guy has the complete support staff on the game show too; the lovely Gloria Grain, the energetic Richard Slimmons and the Don Pardo-esque "Jay" are all on hand.

What's neat about this production is that members of the Junior League themselves take this show out and about all around town and perform it themselves. They set up the stage, hook up the sound system as well as manipulating the puppets.

I have found their dedication to this project to be amazing. All of the puppeteers have a great passion for this theatre form and it has been wonderful. Throughout the entire production process these performers have brought an intensity and concentration that I just think is so cool!

I went into the project with a mission. I didn't want this production to end up as just another amateurish "puppet show" with bad manipulation and a sloppy soundtrack. The Junior League Puppeteers bought into my mantra of making this show something special. The passion they bring to their performance is fantastic. We began with an intense, day-long puppet "boot camp." I think that taught them right then and there that manipulating a puppet correctly was more than just shaking a character on the end of your arm. They understand the concepts of "economy of movement," "a physical thought process," and the idea that a puppet can often say more non-verbally than verbally.

If you have the opportunity, catch "You Are What You Eat" around town here in Charlotte. It's a real hoot!

A T-Shirt in Lumberton

2009-01-12T13:04:00.006-05:00

Last week I performed our show called Bathtub Pirates at Tanglewood Elementary School in Lumberton, North Carolina. Two back to back performances left my throat feeling raspy but my heart was happy. These were two wonderful theatre audiences and performing for them was just great.

Following the second performance, I stopped to chat with some third graders in the front row as they waited patiently for their teacher to give them the "o.k." to head out. One boy wondered if I'd ever been to a Panther game since I had mentioned that I was from Charlotte in my post-show speech. Another two girls wanted me to hear their rendition of "Loufa," one of the characters from the show.

Then I noticed a girl wearing a cool t-shirt. The shirt said "Peace" with a picture of Kermit the Frog below it. I told her that I liked her shirt and she smiled and said thank you. Then her face turned more serious and she solemnly said "I'm very fond of him." I said that I was too.

Driving back to Charlotte, it struck me that what this little girl said and how she said it was quite profound. How amazing that she would state her love for Kermit in such an adult and meaningful way. It was fantastic and it has stayed with me for these days following the shows. What a term of endearment and a testament to Kermit's enduring legacy.

It made me think back to that sad day in May, 1990 when Jim Henson passed away. Once again I was on the road performing that day when a call from the studio delivered this dark news. I remember how difficult it was to gather my emotions and still perform that morning; no easy feat with such a heavy heart.

The little girl in the Kermit T-shirt also made me think of that simple, wonderful little book called "It's Not Easy Being Green." I treasure my copy of this book, with its folded corners and tear-stained pages. I'm not sure why the philosophies of this small work affect me so, but they do in a deliberate and consistent way. I find it to be an amazing piece every time I picked it up.

So here's to Kermit and the people everywhere who are, as she said, very fond of him.

Happy Holidays

2008-12-22T09:50:00.006-05:00

I finished up my last performance of 2008 on Saturday. It wasn't a big tadoo. Just a small, quiet holiday party at a swim club of all places. I did a production of ours called Christmas Cabaret. It's a show I've done for years and years. It's no great theatrical feat to be sure. Just a collection of light vignettes with an underlying theme of slowing down enough to really enjoy the holidays. There's some predictable characters: a harried monologue from Santa's head elf, two reindeer with head colds, a couple of babies singing a duet and a puppy pops out of a brightly-wrapped box.

But a couple of the segments try to strike a more serious tone. No easy task in the venues that this poor little production finds itself; shopping malls, corporate celebrations and the occasional library still secure enough to present something with the word "Christmas" in the title.

In one of these heavier segments, a talking present laments that after Christmas morning you won't even recognize him. He'll be a crumpled mess, scattered all over the place. A regular fire hazard. His shiny paper and curly ribbons will all be forgotten once you open him up. He says it's a rough life being a Christmas present. So, he asks the audience to take a moment to enjoy the simple beauty of all the presents under the Tree.

In another of the vignettes, a sort of "off-duty" Santa Claus tells the audience that he was in the neighborhood and thought he would stop in and see if they all had been good this year. He implores the audience not to forget the true meaning of Christmas and the warmth that comes from loving, caring and sharing.

I tell you all this because on Saturday, there in the chilly rain, as I wrapped another year of performances, I felt that these two pieces worked. There's been plenty of times that perhaps they were not given the attention they deserved. But on this day, a hush came over the audience while a talking present and gentle old St. Nick had their say. I like to think that maybe, just maybe, some sugar-high child that was at this show might slow down for a moment on Christmas Eve to just stare at the beautiful presents under their tree. They might even hold a parent tight for an instant.

As I packed up the show, a little girl in a very fancy dress came for a peek backstage. She looked at Nick and the talking present, hanging side by side on the stage frame hooks. "Are they real?" she asked. I answered her without thinking. "Today," I said, "they were real enough."

A Singing Christmas Tree Weekend

2008-12-08T11:20:00.010-05:00

We just came off a great weekend of performances with Carolina Voices and their annual production of The Singing Christmas Tree!

Fellow puppeteer Christy Pleasant and I had a blast performing with a slew of other guest artists in this Charlotte Christmas choral tradition! We joined dancers from Charlotte Youth Ballet, Inspire The Fire and Moravian Peace Choirs, percussion guru Jim Brock, Chris Thompson and the Cultural Ensemble, Native American song and dance artist Little Big Eagle, the ultra- cool siblings band called The Whippersnappers and more and more and more! Hundreds of guest artists crammed the wings for what truly was a spectacle! It was a real honor to be a part of this amazing weekend of song, dance and puppetry.

I performed an illusion puppet named "Mountain Dan." The team here at Grey Seal designed and created him and the puppet worked just great. Since the theme of the performance was a Carolinas' Christmas, Mountain Dan served as a narrator; helping the audience navigate the history of the holidays in our area. Mountain Dan was a like-able old coot and it was fun getting to know him as the performances progressed. I'm a big fan of illusion puppets like this.

Christy performed with Little Big Eagle in a piece called Cherokee Morning Song. While Little Big Eagle chanted and played the flute and the Carolina Voices chanted away nicely, Christy sat cross-legged on the stage floor and created a beautiful moment with a simple, abstract Cherokee woman character. It was really nice. Jeff Hawley, who works here with us in our studio, did the costume for this puppet and it was just perfect.

The nicest thing I take away from such a collaborative effort like this are the friendships forged over such a short run. Everyone was so great to work with and Christy and I left with a warm feeling of camaraderie towards our fellow performers. Many thanks to director/conductor David Tang for bringing us all together!

A little Jimmy B, Macy's and Father Time!

2008-12-01T16:39:00.009-05:00

The weather took a downturn here in the Carolinas last week; a rare stretch of cold, rainy days. A rough patch like that always reminds me of a song by Jimmy Buffett called "Savannah Fare You Well." There's a lyric in the song that says:

There's something in the wind tonight,
Some kind of change in the weather.
Somewhere some devil's mixin'
Fire and ice together.

Is that an awesome image or what? Not to worry though, things have cleared up and the sun's shining brightly on a Carolina blue sky.

We're too busy around here at Grey Seal to worry about the weather anyway. We finished up a cool project for Charlotte Center City Partners last week, just in time for the Thanksgiving break. We designed and constructed a 14' tall pageant puppet of Father Time to help promote Charlotte's resurgent "First Night" event coming up this New Year's Eve. Father Time debuted in the Carolinas' Thanksgiving Day Parade and was a big hit. Cheralyn Lambeth puppeteered Father Time and was a stoic trooper, shouldering the mighty load for the entire parade!

We were also really jazzed to see the puppets we made for Cartoon Network were once again on their Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Float! We had a blast making these puppets of characters from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. It's super cool seeing those puppets in the parade. But then the showstopper! The Foster's Float got Rick-rolled right there in the middle of the parade. It was HILARIOUS! Here it is again, if you missed it (courtesy of YouTube):

Seemore Goodstuff

2008-11-24T16:38:00.005-05:00

We had a fun, two-day shoot last week over at WTVI, the local PBS affiliate here in the QC. I have puppeteered a character named Seemore Goodstuff there for years. Seemore is a 6-year old (perpetually) elephant who tries his best to know right from wrong. He hangs out in the Kids' Clubhouse and soaks up adult-type advice from Beverly Dorn-Steele, WTVI's Ready to Learn Diva.

Over the course of the two days, we found ourselves shooting on-location in a dentist's office, a playground and around a police car in a parking lot. We also shot several spots in studio. Seemore and Bev usually say their piece in a nifty 30-second interstitial that's shown in-between regular PBS Kids' programming.

I'm always reminded during these shoots how lucky I am to be able to puppeteer both on stage and on camera. The two are so different and it's a blast to explore the manipulation differences inherent to each. A subtle twitch of the puppeteer's wrist is lost on stage but becomes an incredulous look of disbelief on camera. Large, sweeping movements that read well on stage are big and overblown on camera. Using the camera's perspective to puppeteer by, via a monitor, is a must. What a neat challenge it is to create a believable character while it stays neatly tucked inside the tiny camera frame.

Role-playing with an on-camera character in between takes is an important personality builder too. What may appear as frivolous fun really is an exercise in finding out what a character is capable of physically and also how and why that character may react to different situations. I really believe that exploring the character's traits off-camera creates a better performance on-camera. It also helps mask the puppeteer's pain, since we usually are crammed into some unnatural position, with head craned downward to keep it out of the shot!

The end product is so different with on-camera work versus on-stage work. The immediate reaction of the audience is not there. It's a delayed gratification for sure; the end result put on hold until the piece is post-produced and readied to air.

So it went last week. A great two days of exploring what new things this character I know so well might be capable of. And then seeing if I was capable of making him achieve them through movement and dialogue. I look forward to seeing the end result of our work soon, after the spots are edited and complete!

Grey Seal's Three Ring Circus

2008-11-10T15:06:00.002-05:00

Last week found me wearing a lot of different hats and that's one of the reasons I love doing what I do so much. Each day presents a different template and it's fantastic. As puppeteers, we're involved in many different areas. Not only creatively, but in a business sense too. Good business practices have always been important to us and we try to practice them constantly. It's not easy turning a profit as professional artists, but we have been lucky to stay afloat and happy for all these years.

Early on in Grey Seal's history, we decided that several irons in the fire was a smart way to go. Better to have a few different options rather than relying on just one revenue stream. We settled into three areas; on-stage performances, on-camera performances and the custom-design and construction of characters for others. These different areas would serve as safeguards to one another as we rode the ebbs and flows of the financial seas. This early cornerstone philosophy has served us well over the years and each week usually finds me involved in each of the three sectors.

Take last week. Back in the workshop the finishing touches were put on a new mascot character for The University of Virginia. "Sabre the Horse" was packed up and shipped just as a new "CavMan" was being "foamed out" for UVa as well.

Last week also found me performing Salsa Cinderella out and about the Tarheel State. Over the weekend it was a privilege to perform the show at the prestigious Sarah B. Duke Gardens in Durham and then return to Charlotte for a performance of Salsa Cinderella at McAlpine Elementary School. Great fun!

Then it was time to slip on another hat and write some dialogue sequences for a couple of Dalmatians named Alto and Tenor who will be a part of our 26th consecutive year of performing with the Carolina Voices acclaimed Christmas concert called The Singing Christmas Tree. Next up, a meeting with Lucy Hazlehurst from Children's Theatre of Charlotte to plot out our upcoming performances of Tangle of Tales there in January. After that, another quick hat change and some pre-production work on our upcoming shoot at Charlotte's PBS station, WTVI, where we have performed "Seemore Goodstuff" on-camera for the last 10 years.

So it goes at the three-ring circus we call Grey Seal Puppets. Just another week of "pandalerium." Who knows what the next phone call will bring. Stay tuned and we'll keep walking the tight rope.

Accounting 101 For Puppets

2008-11-03T16:58:00.002-05:00

Last week found me jetting to the Windy City of Chicago for two days of corporate puppetry. The late, super-great puppeteer Bil Baird once said, "you can make puppets out of anything, you can make puppets out of meat." Here at Grey Seal we like to think that not only can you make 'em out of anything, but they can handle almost any kind of material as well.

My trip to Chicago is proof of that. The Reznick Group P.C. is a national accounting firm with a 90-employee office in Chi-town. They held a retreat last week to cultivate teamwork and good customer satisfaction. Dean Sellers is the Director in Charge at that office and he understands the power of puppetry. Dean had the idea to bring in a puppet character not only for a little levity, but also to convey some sensitive material to the participants too.

So, there I was manipulating our puppet Steve Sticklewood, crack investigative reporter, who was on the trail of good customer service and satisfaction. I learned a long time ago that puppets can get away with things that people cannot. This lesson works perfectly in complex corporate climates such as this. There is information that members of the team want to know, but are afraid to ask. There's also information that the leaders want to convey to the team but aren't sure of the best vehicle to do so. Our formula with Reznick was to have Steve Sticklewood appear "live" on a projection screen located to one side of the speaker's podium. The puppet would interrupt the speaker and ask the tough questions. The back and forth dialogue between speaker and puppet was light-hearted and fun, but all the necessary information got through to the participants. Mission accomplished!

The way the puppet was presented was neat, too. Appearing on the screen somehow legitimized the puppet more than just having him pop up behind a puppet stage. But having the "live" interaction was paramount as well. We achieved this by setting me up in a separate room, nearby the meeting room. I had two monitors to work off of; one monitor showed me the camera on the puppet, the other showed me a camera on the speaker and the projection screen. This way I could have the puppet react to not only what the speaker was saying, but I could also respond to any non-verbal body language, which was really funny too.

I will say this though. Accountants work too much. I didn't get to see anything of Chicago, those folks barely stopped to eat for pete's sake. Aside from a few swell games of Bocce Ball the first night when the meeting finally broke, the trip was all business. Fun business, but business all the same.

Lobster Salad

2008-10-27T11:08:00.003-04:00

Last Thursday found me sitting on a tall wooden stool at a table by the window at Michelle's Brown Bag Cafe in Bar Harbor, Maine. There on the table before me was a steaming bowl of New England Clam Chowder in a sturdy cardboard container. Some oysterette crackers waited patiently to take the plunge. Along side of that was a HUGE lobster salad sandwich; ginormous hunks of buttery lobster in a dill-flecked sauce fighting for space with crisp lettuce and bright red tomatoes, all crammed overflowingly into a crusty French baguette. A tall, cold bottle of Orangina and a giant Claussen-esque dill spear completed the feast!

I was in Bar Harbor as part of The Maine Puppet Festival, sponsored by the ultra-cool Criterion Theatre and hosted by the also ultra-cool Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers. What a great weekend of puppetry! Along with performances by Grey Seal and Frogtown, the Criterion Theatre's Rob Jordan brought in Perry Alley Theatre, Nappy's Puppets and Crabgrass Puppet Theatre for a cavalcade of puppetry by the rugged Maine coast! I was so honored to be a part of this inaugural festival and Rob Jordan is a great advocate for puppet theatre!

While I was there, I was really happy to get to know Erik, Brian and Robin Torbeck of Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers better too. They were so very kind to me during my stay. Erik and Brian gave me a wonderful tour of the nearby Acadia National Park. Fantastic vistas and views! We stepped atop the peak of Cadillac Mountain just as the sun was setting. Too cool. Frogtown does this hysterical show called Everybody Loves Pirates, but now I know why everybody loves the Torbecks. They are just super-nice people, the best!

Back to the lobster salad. With my show all set up for an evening performance, the afternoon beckoned for a stroll around Bar Harbor with a goal of finding some good indigenous food! I love food, and I love to find cool places to eat when I travel. No chains for me! I'm always amazed at the intriguing places I end up at, all because these little foam puppets take me there.

So, there I sat, at the window table, relishing every bite of the lobster salad and watching the world go by in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Ain't life grand?

Artistically Flip Flopping!

2008-10-20T10:36:00.005-04:00

I couldn't stop reading the article by Charlotte performing artist Hardin Minor that recounts his recent trip to the Burning Man Festival 2008. (Charlotte Observer Carolina Living Section, 10/19/08) He spoke of the restorative powers that the festival had on his approach to life, both personally and professionally and therefore artistically.

I think this article was so transfixing to me because I've been giving a lot of thought to my own artistic journey of late. I had a great conversation with Vania Reckard about this just last week. Vania, an amazing puppeteer in her own rite, runs the workshop here at Grey Seal. What a wonderful environment she has created; it's truly a pleasant place to design and build. A pastiche of personalities gather each day to create amazing characters amid conversations that run the gamut from plastic people in Star Wars costumes to vampire books to morning-long discussions on where to have lunch. All this while "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" quietly plays in the background.

Back to my conversation with Vania. I was telling her about how my views on my own puppetry have been changing over the last 5 years. Looking back to when I started out as a professional puppeteer, I think of all the opportunities to learn and grow that I must have missed because I was close-minded and unwilling to consider another way beside my own. I can think of occasions when I was filled with a silly self-induced bravado; unwilling to believe that what I had envisioned and realized was not the only perfect approach.

This is so amazing to me now because at this point in my puppetry career I realize daily that I have only scratched the surface when it comes to the possibilites of the puppet. The opportunities to learn and grow and become better surround me. They're everywhere! Our recent collaboration with The Children's Theatre of Charlotte on a production of Roald Dahl's "The BFG" invigorated me, I was overwhelmed by the capablities of my fellow collaborators.

Recently I've seen puppets from a full blown opera of Hansel and Gretal by Paul Mesner, a side-splitting "Cinderella" by Great Arizona Puppet Theatre, an impromptu shadow play by puppeteers Sarah Frechette and Ceili Clemons and got a pure shot of adrenalin from "Quintron and Miss Pussycat;" all of these performers amaze me and leave me tingling with the power and possibilities of the puppet.

So, I plow on, alive with a new-found vigor for what I do! The current puppetry palette is fantastic and it's absolutely great to be immersed in it; and to be soaking up as much as I can!

A Chicken Crossing the Road

2008-10-15T11:17:00.002-04:00

I was clipping along at a jaunty pace through the sand hills region of Eastern North Carolina, heading towards the next performance. It was a beautiful day. The sky was that Tarheel blue. I tell you true, a prettier sky cannot be found. Highway 74 stretched out ahead with tobacco plants off the port side and soybeans off the starboard. Driving is inherent to the life of a puppeteer like me and I tend to enjoy it.

Suddenly I looked out the passenger side window to see a chicken flying straight towards the truck. The chicken was side-view mirror high and accelerating.

I never knew that chickens could fly. Not like this. I also never knew that a chicken’s face could display such angst. Eyes penetrating, beak ajar, chicken feet splayed wide open; it is an image that I cannot erase after all of these years. I felt I had looked into the eyes of terror itself, albeit for a fleeting moment.

Then the chicken was gone. She went up and over the truck and did not re-appear. Nothing on my side of the truck, nothing underneath, just nothing. The bird had vanished, like a chicken banshee racing away from some unknown hell close on her heels.

I rolled on in silent awe, wondering what I had just seen and wondering why. I rolled on past the tobacco, past the soybeans. I rolled on towards the next performance.