Puppets never grow old - The Cashore Marionettes, 4.15.11 (7pm)

Remember when you were a kid and puppets were cool? Your introduction was most likely that of the Disney classic Pinnochio, who while making bad choice after worse, taught us not to lie and be mindful of those closest to our heart. 


Or perhaps it was the western cowboy marionette known as Howdy Doody. Heck, even the talking-est horse that ever was, Mr. Ed, probably falls in this category since the poor guy's lips were attached to strings that were (inhumanely) pulled from above.


But then, as you surpassed puberty and subconsciously assumed that puppets and the like were a novelty of the past, along came Jim Henson and his brilliant, age-defying creations known as The Muppets. And HBO's half-hour series, Fraggle Rock. (Bonus points to those of you who remember his holiday treat, Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas.) Why, Henson's rod-puppet paraphernalia even made it to the big screen with the semi-dark and magical, The Dark Crystal (which, btw, was Japan's highest grossing film for 14 years, only finally surpassed by Titanic). Of course by this time the Muppets were already big time stars, having starred in gems The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper.

These are shows and films that were not only fun to watch with our families and friends during our adolescence, but continue to be appealing viewing choices today with our own children and grandchildren. That makes these handmade characters even more special; simply because they remain in an impressive minority of artistic mediums that are still able to entertain and educate us as adults - just as they did when we were children.


Fact is, puppeteers work to develop an uncanny ability to mirror our changing cultural, social, and political landscapes. They seem to travel the globe like roving reporters, delivering the news that affects many to the few, and bringing the opinions of the few to the many. Their creations, whether puppet (hand, rod, etc.), marionette, or claymation act as their spokesperson and communicator, attracting and engaging their audiences.

To me, this is what makes the upcoming April 15th performance by The Cashore Marionettes, very, very intriguing.


Like many who will read this, I, too, glanced over the names and descriptions of upcoming shows in the new Avalon Spring calendar. I did what a lot of us do: Look for names I know - brand names, names that strike a chord of familiarity, or names of acts that may border the genres that bring comfort and joy. 


But after reading a little about Cashore's exquisite marionette creations, it became evident to me that these things; these intensely intricate characters that are so extremely capable of delivering a story and demanding our emotions - are both familiar and comfortable. 


They're simply packaged differently.

"Life in Motion", the hour-long performance that creator and performer Joseph Cashore will present at his upcoming Avalon Theatre tour stop, contains characters of depth, integrity, and humanity, performing and producing a product unlike anything else in theater today. "Motion" is a series of scenes taken from everyday life and set to the lush and beautiful classical music of composers such as Beethoven, Vivaldi, and Strauss. 


Through a combination of virtuoso manipulation, humor, pathos, classic music, and poetic insight, The Cashore Marionettes take the audience on a journey celebrating the richness of life. It's a powerful, entertaining, surprising, theatrically satisfying, one-of-a-kind event for adults, young adults, and children.


Which is why I think I will enjoy it. As will my 3 year-old. And my 53 year-old friend. And my 21 year-old niece. And so forth.


Turns out they all liked puppets as kids, too :)

From Joseph Cashore (Henson Foundation Grantee; UNIMA Citation of Excellence recipient; Pew Fellowship for Performance Art): "When I was ten or eleven years old, my parents took me into a large gift shop at the New Jersey shore while we were on vacation. This is where I first saw a marionette in person. It was hanging from the ceiling - a pirate, colorfully dressed. I remember looking at this marionette for a long time, imagining the possibilities. It was hanging high out of my reach. I was naturally shy, and my family had moved on to somewhere else in the store, so I had to work up all my courage to ask the saleswoman if I could try moving the marionette. She turned me down."


-D.E. Ferraris

Enter The Haggis: More than just "the other white meat"

I have always theorized that the next great wave of music to explode in America would come from a country other than ours.  There are too many great musicians playing today not to be affected by the originality of the harmonics in foreign sounds. The theory gets tested when

Enter The Haggis hits the Avalon on Friday, March 18^th at 8pm. Tickets are still available. 

 

The Avalon hosts a great Irish band the day after St. Patrick’s Day because the band is just too successful for the theater to afford them at any other time. They have been packing clubs around the world and will start on a tour of Germany in 2011. After capitalizing on St. Patrick’s Day in America. 

Irish for sure, but of a different nature, the band’s early music earned the descriptor “modern/high energy interpretations of traditional celtic & Irish songs”. They have since morphed into the much more unique and interesting moniker "Drop Kick Murphy's meets Green Day meets Freddy Mercury”. Personally I hear a lot of The Clash, R.E.M. and Paul Simon. 

Which may mean a lot to anyone looking for a “high energy rock and roll experience” on Friday.  The bagpipes, pan flute and fiddle are all here, but with ETH they are accompanied by powerful guitar work and musical segues that suggest any number of the great bands that came to national fame when the alternative music scene took over. And the alternative sounds fresh because of the Irish influence. They still sing about familiar Irish traditions, only the members are younger. One thing is for sure: the Irish are still having a blast at life, as in the days of yore, and we Americans are better for it.

-Tim Weigand

Upcoming Stoltz shows display diversity & musicianship: The hard-hitting indie rock of Philly's Zelazowa...and the groove of jazz guitarist Rob Levit

ZELAZOWA (w. The Gentlemen): Friday, March 4 – 8pm. $15

ROB LEVIT TRIO: Thursday, March 10 – 8pm. $20

Stoltz Listening Room

Box Office: 410.822.7299

www.avalontheatre.com

www.zelazowa.com

www.roblevit.com

Zelazowa means something like “steel will” and is the birthplace of Chopin in Poland. Not sure what this indie rock outfit from Philly has in common with the famous composer, but the steel will bit seems fitting. The guys in Zelazowa, who have been at it for the better part of a decade, rock hard, without borders, and with a good deal of passion. From the sounds of their 3rd DIY recording, Elephants on a Mouse Hunt, it seems obvious that the members love what they do, and, rather refreshingly, don’t lose any sleep when a song doesn’t end up in a catchy chorus like the listener might assume it’s working towards. Songs bounce around from something Pavement-sounding to what could be a Strokes b-side.

And nothing says rock n' roll quite like the kind of over-the-top attitude with which the band’s lead singer spits out lyrics. It’s the voice of a rock star to be, completely capable of hitting the high note with some vibrato to spare. Solid rock quartet from Towson The Gentlemen open the show, which makes Friday evening’s Stoltz affair the destination of choice for those about to rock. 

So Zelazowa, we salute you.

Guitarist Rob Levit currently resides in Annapolis, MD and splits time between the life of a recording jazz musician and cofounder of an arts-based nonprofit. With some 15 commercially available compact discs, though, it becomes clear just how hard it is (and how much luck one sometimes needs) to just play jazz music for a living.

Levit comes from the NYC jazz scene where in 1994 he released Singularity - part Pat Metheny, part Ornette Coleman, part Sam Rivers, nonetheless a 100% original jazz recording that trail blazed Levit's rise on the national jazz scene. Still, the closest he’s come to stardom was with his 2005 CD Touch the Spirit, a solo instrumental guitar album that received critical acclaim and climbed to #11 on the national New Age/World Music charts.

For a leader and co-leader of bands that have played gigs such as the Montreal International Jazz Festival, Boston Globe Jazz Festival, and Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, it’s truly a treat for jazz fans to be able to sit 10 feet from a musician of Levit’s stature in a 60-seat Easton venue.

This makes the March 10^th edition of the Avalon’s Stoltz Jazz Series a must-see for fans of jazz guitar and/or the likes of Mike Stern, Bill Frisell, and the aforementioned Metheny.

-D.E. Ferraris