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Review: Garden of the Wild

Capitol Broadcasting Company and Raleigh Little Theatre Review
By Robert W McDowell - May 8, 2007

"Garden of the Wild" is a magnificent puppet pageant that mixes humorous and serious scenes

Paperhand Puppet Intervention's encore production of Garden of the Wild (2005), presented by Capitol Broadcasting Company and Raleigh Little Theatre May 10-13 in RLT's Louise "Scottie" Stephenson Amphitheatre, is a nice change-of-pace -- a magnificent puppet pageant that employs live actors in masks and a seemingly infinite variety of puppets, some of them tiny silhouettes and others three-dimensional giant puppets, such as a 20-foot-tall Goddess and a 40-foot-long Hero.

Last Sunday night, Garden of the Wild earned a steady chorus of ohs and ahs of a rapt audience of children of all ages. This highly entertaining show smoothly mixes humorous and serious scenes. All but the last segment, "B Is for Bird," are performed solely in pantomime, with frisky live musical accompaniment rocking Stephenson Amphitheatre.

The eight segments of Garden of the Wild include:

o  "Enter the Wild," which features a fantastical procession of all creatures great and small;

o  "Man and Monkey: Part 1 -- The Deep Dark Jungle," which is a jungle tale in which man and beast match wits, with the man finally tempting the monkey into a trap baited by a big red apple;

o  "Morphos," which features an eerie dance by six black-clad puppeteers wearing white masks, variously, on the back, front, and top of their heads;

o  "Man and Monkey: 2 -- Practice Makes Perfect," which is Round 2 in the man-monkey matchup, with the monkey coming out ahead this time;

o  "Hog Wild!," which is a hilarious hoedown where square-dancing hogs outwit a wily butcher and the two wolves who assist him in making his daily bacon;

o  "Man and Monkey: Part 3 -- The Big City," which is a Chaplinesque adventure of man and monkey, who dart in and out of crowds in a big city patrolled by Keystone Kops;

o  "Endurance," which features an epic battle between a 20-foot-tall Dragon and a 40-foot-long Dragon Slayer, with the latter winning their initial confrontation and the intervention of a 20-foot-tall Goddess bringing the Dragon back to life in the end; and

o  "B Is for Bird," which is a whimsical, storybook-style ecological essay that emphasizes proper stewardship of natural resources as an antidote to the extinction that humankind all-to-often visits upon the animals that they displace from their natural habitats.

Garden of the Wild, created and directed by Jan Burger and Donovan Zimmerman, in collaboration with the cast and many others, with a big assist from RLT lighting designer Roger Bridges, employs an awe-inspiring assortment of giant puppets, masks, dance, humor, and "shadows" in making its theatrical magic. It is well worth braving chilly May nights and the persistent threat of rain to witness to hear the call of the wild, Paperhand Puppet Intervention style.

NOTE 1: The show's puppeteers include Phoebe Andrews, Alan Best, Jan Burger, Danny Blose, Jubal Creech, Gene Goldstein-Plesser, Jay Hamm, Claire-Elisabeth Anne Hartman, Sarah Howe, Carlie Huberman, Karen Kelly, Matthew Lyles, Jimmy Magoo, Zella Magoo, Whitney May, Elizabeth "Eli" Moore, Ben Pagano, Gabriel Pelli, Martha Pentecost, Christian Phipps, Michael Rogers, Johnny Waken, and Donovan Zimmerman. Its musicians -- mainly percussionists, but also a fiery fiddler -- include Jill Baldwin, Kevin Brock, Jubal Creech, Jimmy Magoo, Gabriel Pelli, and Donovan Zimmerman.

NOTE 2: Preshow entertainment, starting at 7:30 p.m. will include: Jubal Creech Storytelling and percussion (May 10th), The Old Ceremony (May 11th), and Jimmy Magoo and The Good Life (May 12th and 13th).

Capitol Broadcasting Company and Raleigh Little Theatre presents Paperhand Puppet Intervention in Garden of the Wild Thursday-Sunday, May 10-13, at 8 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday, May 19-20, at 8 p.m. in RLT's Louise "Scottie" Stephenson Amphitheatre, 301 Pogue St., Raleigh, North Carolina. $15 ($13 students and FREE for children under 5). 919/821-3111 or http://www.etix.com/ticket/servlet/onlineSearch?action=previousCalendar&venue_id=279&display_month=5&display_year =2007&cobrand=RLT. NOTE 1: Gates and concession stands open at 7 p.m., and preshow entertainment starts at 7:30. NOTE 2: All performances are wheelchair accessible. CAPITOL BROADCASTING COMPANY: http://www.cbc-raleigh.com/. RALEIGH LITTLE THEATRE: http://raleighlittletheatre.org/performances/06-07/gardenwild.html. PAPERHAND PUPPET INTERVENTION: http://www.paperhand.org/. Garden of the Wild: http://www.paperhand.org/gotw.htm.


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Review: Garden of the Wild

Capitol Broadcasting Company and Raleigh Little Theatre Review
By Robert W McDowell - May 8, 2007

"Garden of the Wild" is a magnificent puppet pageant that mixes humorous and serious scenes

Paperhand Puppet Intervention's encore production of Garden of the Wild (2005), presented by Capitol Broadcasting Company and Raleigh Little Theatre May 10-13 in RLT's Louise "Scottie" Stephenson Amphitheatre, is a nice change-of-pace -- a magnificent puppet pageant that employs live actors in masks and a seemingly infinite variety of puppets, some of them tiny silhouettes and others three-dimensional giant puppets, such as a 20-foot-tall Goddess and a 40-foot-long Hero.

Last Sunday night, Garden of the Wild earned a steady chorus of ohs and ahs of a rapt audience of children of all ages. This highly entertaining show smoothly mixes humorous and serious scenes. All but the last segment, "B Is for Bird," are performed solely in pantomime, with frisky live musical accompaniment rocking Stephenson Amphitheatre.

The eight segments of Garden of the Wild include:

o  "Enter the Wild," which features a fantastical procession of all creatures great and small;

o  "Man and Monkey: Part 1 -- The Deep Dark Jungle," which is a jungle tale in which man and beast match wits, with the man finally tempting the monkey into a trap baited by a big red apple;

o  "Morphos," which features an eerie dance by six black-clad puppeteers wearing white masks, variously, on the back, front, and top of their heads;

o  "Man and Monkey: 2 -- Practice Makes Perfect," which is Round 2 in the man-monkey matchup, with the monkey coming out ahead this time;

o  "Hog Wild!," which is a hilarious hoedown where square-dancing hogs outwit a wily butcher and the two wolves who assist him in making his daily bacon;

o  "Man and Monkey: Part 3 -- The Big City," which is a Chaplinesque adventure of man and monkey, who dart in and out of crowds in a big city patrolled by Keystone Kops;

o  "Endurance," which features an epic battle between a 20-foot-tall Dragon and a 40-foot-long Dragon Slayer, with the latter winning their initial confrontation and the intervention of a 20-foot-tall Goddess bringing the Dragon back to life in the end; and

o  "B Is for Bird," which is a whimsical, storybook-style ecological essay that emphasizes proper stewardship of natural resources as an antidote to the extinction that humankind all-to-often visits upon the animals that they displace from their natural habitats.

Garden of the Wild, created and directed by Jan Burger and Donovan Zimmerman, in collaboration with the cast and many others, with a big assist from RLT lighting designer Roger Bridges, employs an awe-inspiring assortment of giant puppets, masks, dance, humor, and "shadows" in making its theatrical magic. It is well worth braving chilly May nights and the persistent threat of rain to witness to hear the call of the wild, Paperhand Puppet Intervention style.

NOTE 1: The show's puppeteers include Phoebe Andrews, Alan Best, Jan Burger, Danny Blose, Jubal Creech, Gene Goldstein-Plesser, Jay Hamm, Claire-Elisabeth Anne Hartman, Sarah Howe, Carlie Huberman, Karen Kelly, Matthew Lyles, Jimmy Magoo, Zella Magoo, Whitney May, Elizabeth "Eli" Moore, Ben Pagano, Gabriel Pelli, Martha Pentecost, Christian Phipps, Michael Rogers, Johnny Waken, and Donovan Zimmerman. Its musicians -- mainly percussionists, but also a fiery fiddler -- include Jill Baldwin, Kevin Brock, Jubal Creech, Jimmy Magoo, Gabriel Pelli, and Donovan Zimmerman.

NOTE 2: Preshow entertainment, starting at 7:30 p.m. will include: Jubal Creech Storytelling and percussion (May 10th), The Old Ceremony (May 11th), and Jimmy Magoo and The Good Life (May 12th and 13th).

Capitol Broadcasting Company and Raleigh Little Theatre presents Paperhand Puppet Intervention in Garden of the Wild Thursday-Sunday, May 10-13, at 8 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday, May 19-20, at 8 p.m. in RLT's Louise "Scottie" Stephenson Amphitheatre, 301 Pogue St., Raleigh, North Carolina. $15 ($13 students and FREE for children under 5). 919/821-3111 or http://www.etix.com/ticket/servlet/onlineSearch?action=previousCalendar&venue_id=279&display_month=5&display_year =2007&cobrand=RLT. NOTE 1: Gates and concession stands open at 7 p.m., and preshow entertainment starts at 7:30. NOTE 2: All performances are wheelchair accessible. CAPITOL BROADCASTING COMPANY: http://www.cbc-raleigh.com/. RALEIGH LITTLE THEATRE: http://raleighlittletheatre.org/performances/06-07/gardenwild.html. PAPERHAND PUPPET INTERVENTION: http://www.paperhand.org/. Garden of the Wild: http://www.paperhand.org/gotw.htm.

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