PUPPETRY: WORLDS OF IMAGINATION
Price: $310.00 Code: 1900 |
Directed by Joshua Malkin
2001, 44 mins.
Purchase: $310 Rental: $125
This documentary surveys the revolutionary new developments in American puppet theater, profiling many of puppetry's most imaginative contemporary artists, including Basil Twist, who uses bits of fabric, feathers, plastic and other materials in a 1,000-gallon tank of water to create a visually stunning underwater ballet musically accompanied by Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique" Ralph Lee, founder of the famous Greenwich Village Halloween Parade, discusses his current work designing figures for ballets and symphony orchestras and we see excerpts from his own theater company's production, which employs puppets as vehicles for the exploration of supernatural myths and legends; Michael Curry discusses the masks and puppets he created for the Broadway production of The Lion King, as well as the Super Bowl, the Olympics and the Millennium Celebration in New York City; Cheryl Henson, daughter of Jim (The Muppets) Henson, discusses the biannual Jim Henson International Festival of Puppet Theatre as we see excerpts of some of these innovative presentations; we also visit the puppetry program at the California Institute of the Arts, including one of puppeteer Janie Geiser's classes; and the video concludes by discussing the new directions and new ideas in puppetry and the ways it is transforming opera, music, theater and dance.
"Puppetry provides a thorough primer on the new Puppet people... a breed whose current works will take a back seat only to their future imaginations...profiles of these masters are short, insightfully edited, and packed with plenty of information. Highly recommended." - Library Journal
"unique...an important addition to any collection on contemporary theatre.” - Puppetry International
2001, 44 mins.
Purchase: $310 Rental: $125
This documentary surveys the revolutionary new developments in American puppet theater, profiling many of puppetry's most imaginative contemporary artists, including Basil Twist, who uses bits of fabric, feathers, plastic and other materials in a 1,000-gallon tank of water to create a visually stunning underwater ballet musically accompanied by Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique" Ralph Lee, founder of the famous Greenwich Village Halloween Parade, discusses his current work designing figures for ballets and symphony orchestras and we see excerpts from his own theater company's production, which employs puppets as vehicles for the exploration of supernatural myths and legends; Michael Curry discusses the masks and puppets he created for the Broadway production of The Lion King, as well as the Super Bowl, the Olympics and the Millennium Celebration in New York City; Cheryl Henson, daughter of Jim (The Muppets) Henson, discusses the biannual Jim Henson International Festival of Puppet Theatre as we see excerpts of some of these innovative presentations; we also visit the puppetry program at the California Institute of the Arts, including one of puppeteer Janie Geiser's classes; and the video concludes by discussing the new directions and new ideas in puppetry and the ways it is transforming opera, music, theater and dance.
Subjects & Collections
Reviews
* * * Good "engaging... eye-popping tribute to contemporary puppetry’s re-emergence in the arts, after being so long consigned to the realm of children’s entertainment. Recommended." - Video Librarian"Puppetry provides a thorough primer on the new Puppet people... a breed whose current works will take a back seat only to their future imaginations...profiles of these masters are short, insightfully edited, and packed with plenty of information. Highly recommended." - Library Journal
"unique...an important addition to any collection on contemporary theatre.” - Puppetry International