Check out Charles Phoenix Presents An Evening At The Bob Baker Marionette Theater
Are you traveling in California? Are you looking for something kitschy? Do you miss puppet shows of old? Maybe you’re just looking for something completely different?
If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, then Southern California’s “favorite gay uncle”, Charles Phoenix has an idea fir for everyone and anyone. It’s An Evening At The Bob Baker Marionette Theater (located at 1345 1st Street) in Los Angeles, California on Sunday, September 18, 2016. This advertised “One-night-only Marionette Show Extravaganza & Party” will begin at 4 p.m. and runs until approximately 6 p.m.
This event is hosted by entertainer and self-described “Ambassador of Americana” Charles Phoenix. In a recent post via Facebook, the flamboyant Phoenix said that this will be a “special performance” featuring a lot of classic and “vintage marionettes in a spellbinding variety of time-honored acts” that were specifically selected for this particular performance. Phoenix appears to be very excited about this one-shot evening of family-friendly fun.
The author added that among the numerous classic, historic and vintage marionettes in this event’s “lively line-up” are the glowing black-light skeleton revue, the flapper dodo bird dancing the Charleston, the dodo’s date--the black crow, the exciting “amorous ostriches” who actually hatch a little ostrich right before the audience’s eyes, the famous purple people eater, and more. The puppets are all part of the longest-running children’s theater in Los Angeles, California. The costumes, marionettes, puppets and related props for the shows are all constructed in the theater’s on-site shop.
There will be food and refreshments too. Phoenix, a self-labeled showman, tour guide and food crafter reported that “cake and ice cream will be served” in the party room after the show. In fact,even the venue itself is both historical and noteworthy. Phoenix, also an author who celebrates classic and kitschy Americana Life and style, states that this historic-cultural monument and local landmark, the Bob Baker Marionette Theater, is not only a “castle of creativity” but also a “mansion of marionettes”, a popular “palace of puppetry”, one of the country’s national treasures and finally the “oldest continually operating puppet theater” in the world. The company was born decades ago in 1959 the numerous performances put on therein have literally “entertained generations” of spectators.
The theater itself was reportedly founded by Baker and Alton Wood in 1963. Phoenix likens the puppet theater to a living, breathing museum. He says that those who attend the show will find themselves in a “treasured time warp” and upon entering said place will ask: “What decade are we in ?”
Baker himself was trained in puppetry at the age of eight. He started building toy marionettes that sold both in the US and Europe while still a student at Hollywood High School. His puppetry went on to be include in such TV shows as Bewitched, Land of the Giants, Star Trek and NCIS, such movies as Bluebeard, A Star Is Born, G.I. Blues, Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He partnered with Wood to convert a rundown shop an institution of all-ages entertainment. Baker died in 2014 at the age of 90.
Humorist Phoenix concluded: “Be prepared for your imagination to be inspired and your spirit to soar. Colorful Attire is highly encouraged! Seats are limited get your tickets now!” Tickets are presently priced at $39.00 each plus an additional service charge bringing the total to $41.39. They are currently available online at this official website.
(All images are courtesy of the original owner unless otherwsie noted.)
