Puppets in Lafayette

Last night we went to a cultivation event thrown by one of the theater’s cooler board members. It was a super swank party with tons of food, tons of booze, and tons of people who had never been to the theater before. We brought about 9 of the puppets, and decided that we would give a short workshop on puppetry and then let the people at the party operate the puppets if they wanted. It was amazing. We watched these incredibly shy conservative folks put on the puppets, and then just explode creatively. By the end of the party, people were running everywhere with them, and 2 musical numbers were performed (pictures are coming shortly). One of the guests (while holding Pistol) said “With a puppet, I could do anything, I could be funny, I could be handsome”. Brilliant.

There was one woman there that when she found out I co-directed Nicholas Nickleby, threw down her drink and hugged me – and insisted that after the party we all come back to her house for tequila shots and to talk about theater. There’s actually a much longer story to this, but we did end up at 2 in the morning at her house drinking tequila and talking about theater – ah, the joys of cultivation.

Oh, and also on a comedic note, yesterday Fenton’s jaw few off during rehearsal, and today, Slender’s arm broke during rehearsal – coincidence? Both were being used by Max Moore when it happened – is he trying to take us down by the inside? Hmmmm.