New Puppets!

Take a look at the newest puppets on the block. Or "AVENUE", I should say...

I just closed my first show of the semester, Once, Twice, Three Times a Tony, the third installment of a Tony Award winning "Best Musicals" review trilogy. Starting with winners from the first Tony telecast and ending with this past May, the three separate reviews have been performed over the course of three different years here at the Chicago College of Performing Arts. This season included best musicals from 1991 on, so I was able to be a part of some pretty great shows, all of which won in my life time! I was fortunate enough to be featured in Jersey Boys and my personal favorite, Avenue Q.

What was also great, was that my crew assignment for the semester was to build Kate Monster and Princeton for "Mix Tape" and "Purpose". I quickly decided not to go with replicating what the original Broadway puppets looked like, and got to work on my own designs for the puppets.

Check back for more about the build process soon!

Coming Soon

I have new puppets to share, but I can't find the cord to upload them from my camera to my computer!!!

I have literally torn my entire apartment to shreds looking for this cord. It looks like I'm going to have to go buy a new one if it doesn't turn up in the next couple days.

Check back soon.

Hopped Up on the Q

Recently Broadway lost a golden gem of puppety goodness.  After more than six years and over 2,500 shows, Avenue Q concluded it's Broadway run this past Sunday.  Have no fear, however, it will soon reopen in a new home Off-Broadway at New World Stages!

It is expected to be a pretty close transfer in the production aspect (I guess we will see), but in this version Gary Coleman will actually be portrayed by a man!  If you have no idea why this is news, you NEED to get in gear and dive headfirst into the world of Avenue Q, where puppets are just as messed up as we are!

In my efforts to find more information on the move, I found some other interesting tidbits about Avenue Q...

The first translated version of Avenue Q played in Stockholm, Sweden and has played in at least 15 countries to date!

In fact, Avenue Q won the Israeli Theatre Award for Best Entertainment Show - and was nominated for Best Translator and Best Choreography!

In the lyric "George Bush is only for now!" in the show's final number, some productions have toyed around with alternate lyrics - including "Swine Flu is only for now!" (tee hee!)

In Hungary, they don't have Gary Coleman at all - instead they feature Michael Jackson as the down-on-his-luck lovable martyr... (lost his estate after being sued by two six year old boys)... Hmm... Just check out this promotional video!

I have no words...

Yancy and Obama!

Recently Yancy and I attended a rally at the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN, at which President Obama addressed the health care reform situation.  Seeing as how neither of us had ever been to a political rally, let alone see a real live President, it was a big day for us both.  Being a little guy, Yancy relied on me to hold him for most of the event, which left my other hand to hold the camera... Now think about that!

After figuring out the logistics and having several failed attempts at making smooth videos I finally found a decent procedure that I hope to be able to perfect over the next several months.  As my friend Jonathan Little once told me, "As a puppeteer, you will eventually run out of hands, which is why its nice to have friends."

A Furry Friend

Recently a friend of ours updated his magnificent puppet site.

Zack Buchman of Furry Puppet Studio, just put a lot of work into updating his new site. We've been huge fans of his for a while, having frequented his blog for quite some time now, but the new look is even more of an inspiration to puppet builders, new... and experienced. There are a ton of great puppets to check out on his site and on his blog so get there, now.

PROOF!!!

See?!  He has been working on puppets in addition to actually working!

With only a few days left in New Hampshire its hard to believe that we'll soon be splitting custody of our puppet supplies again... but such is the life.

Its been fun experimenting with different techniques this summer and comparing things we've learned in our more recent builds - but somehow it all flew by much too quickly.

We're discussing an update to our website - which is LONG overdue (we know) - and are looking forward to posting more short video projects in the coming weeks.  Dave is looking to start on his own puppet adventure upon returning to Chicago... hence the picture above... and Yancy has been stocking up on some cool footage that I have not yet had time to edit.

As always, thank you for checking in on us.  I promise things will pick back up again really soon!

Hello Again!

Hello everyone!  

It's David...Yeah, the guy who hasn't posted in a ridiculous amount of time.  I thought that summer would bring gobs of free space in my schedule...posts every day, sometimes more...

Anyway, in my time away from the computer, I have been building quite a bit and will have a bunch of puppets to share starting next week.  Check back soon.

~David

A Little Update

Recently I made a last minute daytrip to Boston where I was able to meet up with Jonathan Little, founder of Little's Creatures!  

To say that we got along would be a severe understatement - and what transpired in the midst of that business cafeteria can only be described as hilarious, enlightening, and educational!

Not only was it nice to be able to meet face-to-face, it was so much fun just geeking out and trading stories.

It was great to hear how far he has come based on the strength of his passion, and he continues to grow exponentially.  I am proud to be able to call him my friend as opposed to a facebook connection.  Life certainly has a funny way of bringing like-minded people together!

Thank you, Jonathan, for a fantastic day.  I look forward to seeing your continued growth and can't wait for the opportunity to work with you someday!

Check out Little's Creatures here:

Website

Blog

Youtube

Here Comes the Sun...

So... I had a dream about blogging.  I guess it has been too long!

Tour ended beautifully in Miami, FL, as you can see above.  We took Yancy to the beach to see the sunrise and the shuttle launch (which was scrubbed due to a hydrogen leak) and it was absolutely breathtaking.

Although we had three shows that day and I was sure to be exhausted, I am glad I woke up early.  Seeing something that majestic really got me thinking:

As puppeteers and puppet builders, we strive to create life out of the inanimate world.  In some cultures puppeteers are even considered direct messengers of their respective gods due to their ability to breathe life into nothing.  Yet no matter how hard we try, our work pales in comparison.

That early morning was a nice reminder of the beauty we have surrounding us constantly that most of us don't really take the time to appreciate.  Not to get all hippy-tastic on you, but I recommend taking the time to wake up early and witness something that we can never recreate.  Why stop there, though?  Stay up late with some friends and take the time to stare up at the stars - get your hands dirty and go digging for bugs - at the very least turn on the Discovery Channel!

Understanding movement, connections, and emotions in the world around us can only improve us as people, performers, puppets, and any other array of "P" words... but lets keep it G-rated.

You're right Yancy... Earth rocks!

puppetFIX on flickr

We're on flickr!

Take a look to the left of the posts, you'll see the new  link to our flickr photos.  There, you can check out pictures from past and even current builds.  We've posted a lot of  construction pictures and will be adding more soon.