Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers

I hope everyone enjoyed their memorial day weekend. We spent a bunch of ours out and about at BBQ's and enjoying the weather. We also got the opprotunity to see the Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers at the Brookline Puppet Showplace theater. The Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers are based up in Bar Harbor, Maine and consist of three siblings Erik, Brian, and Robin Torbeck. They performed their original piece titled "everyone loves pirates".

The performance was all done with mouth and rod style puppets. The story based around two little kids that went fishing and ended up catching a treasure map. The children decide to go for the treasure but little do they know the are being chased by three fearsome pirates. This story is an amazing tale for both children and adults. The characters are all well defined and the story is jam packed with hilarious situations, great puns, and fun for the whole family. My personal favorites are Lobster Boy and the Jet Ski Guy who refers to everyone as "guy". Well if you hear that Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers are performing near you it is worth every penny to go.

After the Perfomance we saw, we sat and chatted with the Torbecks for a while exchanging puppet stories, building tips, and chatted for a while about their stage show. They invited us to come back the next day and watch the show again from behind the curtain. We couldn't pass up that opprotunity. Stephen and myself watched the show a second time from behind the curtain. In my opinion I wish I could watch all shows that way. The did some very innovative things in their show to make it all work and the transitions from one scene to the next are seemless. When you go to watch the show there is a great moment that we couldn't figure out till we were backstage. In the production after the kids dig up the treasure there is a scene with the two children and the three pirates and some how they grow and extra hand to be able to carry the treasure away. We found out how they did this but we'll never tell.

All in all some great people all around and if you get the chance please go and see their show. Well we are excited about seeing them again and the regional puppet festival in July.

For More info on Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers go to http://www.frogtownpuppets.com/

Could this change the world of puppet design

There is a new game coming out called Spore. The thing that really interests me in this game is not the actual game but the creature generator. You have the ability to completely design a creature in any shape or form and color.

Now for how this could impact us. This enables us all to have a quick and dirty 3d puppet creator. This could make all of our lives easier without having to redraw images we could use this game to completely resculpt the creature with a quick mouse click. I was doing a little searching around and I have seen a demo where they created a Carebear and stuff that looks like it is from the alien movie. So I'm sure with a little creativity this game could be a huge asset to all of us puppet builders.

TO see a little bit of the program in action check this link.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jpM1CsO0S0I

News Article

Woo hoo we got some press. That is always fun.

Press article

Puppet Slam

Thanks to everyone that came to the puppet slam last Saturday. It was a fun show and appreciate you all showing up.

The next slam will be in the fall so be sure to check back to find out exactly when.

Performance May 10th

We are once again performing at the Brookline Puppet Showplace Theater. This Saturday May10th there will be the last of the seasons Adult puppet slams till next fall. If you would like to come and see us perform this would be a great chance to do just that. I highly reccommend calling ahead due to the usual soldout performances.

If you would like to reserve tickets for the performance call 617 731 6400

Hope to see you all there

Somerville Open Studios(UPDATE)

Huge thank you to everyone who stopped by and said hello during open studios.  You all really made it an amazing weekend. Please feel free to drop us an email with any ideas or puppets you may need.  

If you would like to see more of us please stop by the adult puppet slam this saturday at 8pm. Be aware the shows sell out early so call ahead to reserve your tickets. If you want more info go the Brookline Puppet Showplace Theater website.  

Thanks again for the great weekend. We miss all the little puppets already but, we are sure they went to a good home.

Somerville Open Studios

May 3rd and 4th will be open studios in Somerville,MA. The hours of open studios are from noon to 6pm both days. So come on by to 82 Columbus Ave Somerville, MA and pick up our new DVD or grab a fabulous handmade puppet.

Hope to see you this weekend.