Turnabout Theatre

Last updated

The Turnabout Theatre was a company of marionette puppeteers who performed in Hollywood from 1941 through 1956. [1] [2] The company's shows began with marionette performances, and concluded with a revue. [3]

The name of the theater derives in part from the fact that the theater seats were former streetcar seats that could be turned to face a puppet stage at one end or the live revue stage at the other. [4] Adjacent seats were labeled with humorous names (e.g., "Hot 'n Bothered," "Salt 'n Pepper," etc.), and after intermission theater-goers would "turn about" to see the show continued at the opposite end of the house. [5]

The Theater originated with a group known as the Yale Puppeteers composed notably of Forman Brown, Harry Burnett, [1] and Richard (Roddy) Brandon. Many artists, some quite well known or soon to be well known also participated, including Odetta and Elsa Lanchester, whose brother Waldo Lanchester was a famous puppeteer in the UK. [5]

The history of the theater is documented in the film, Turnabout: the Story of the Yale Puppeteers, directed by Dan Bessie (a nephew of Harry Burnett). Brown wrote a book about the puppet troupe, [6] and Bessie discussed the puppeteers in his memoir of his family, Rare Birds. [5]

Prior to opening Turnabout Theatre, the puppeteers had toured with their shows. [6] Their puppets also appeared in the 1933 film I Am Suzanne . [7]

Harry Burnett was the brother of advertising executive Leo Burnett. [5]

Related Research Articles

Puppeteer Person who manipulates a puppet

A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, called a puppet, to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the audience. A puppeteer can operate a puppet indirectly by the use of strings, rods, wires, electronics or directly by his or her own hands placed inside the puppet or holding it externally or any other part of the body- such as the legs. Some puppet styles require two or more puppeteers to work together to create a single puppet character.

Puppetry Form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets

Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a performance is also known as a puppet production. The script for a puppet production is called a puppet play. Puppeteers use movements from hands and arms to control devices such as rods or strings to move the body, head, limbs, and in some cases the mouth and eyes of the puppet. The puppeteer sometimes speaks in the voice of the character of the puppet, while at other times they perform to a recorded soundtrack.

Elsa Lanchester English actress (1902–1986)

Elsa Sullivan Lanchester was an English actress with a long career in theatre, film and television.

Marionette Puppet controlled from above using wires or strings

A marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms of theatres or entertainment venues. They have also been used in films and on television. The attachment of the strings varies according to its character or purpose.

Bil Baird American puppeteer

William Britton "Bil" Baird was an American puppeteer of the mid- and late 20th century. In a career that spanned over 60 years, he and his puppets performed for millions of adults and children. One of his better known creations was Charlemane the lion. He and his wife Cora Eisenberg Baird (1912–1967) produced and performed the famous puppetry sequence for "The Lonely Goatherd" in the film version of The Sound of Music. His son Peter Baird was also a puppeteer, and he continued his family's legacy until his own death in July 2004.

A hand puppet is a type of puppet that is controlled by the hand or hands that occupies the interior of the puppet. A glove puppet is a variation of hand puppets. Rod puppets require one of the puppeteer's hands inside the puppet glove holding a rod which controls the head, and the puppet's body then hangs over most or all of the forearm of the puppeteer, and possibly extends further. Other parts of the puppet may be controlled by different means, e.g., by rods operated by the puppeteer's free hand, or strings or levers pulled the head or body. A smaller variety, simple hand puppets often have no significant manipulable parts at all. Finger puppets are not hand puppets as they are used only on a finger.

Lübeck Museum of Theatre Puppets Museum in Germany

The Lübeck Museum of Theatre Puppets is a museum of international puppetry in the Hanseatic city of Lübeck, Germany.

Forman Brown American puppeteer

Forman Brown was one of the world's leaders in puppet theatre in his day, as well as an important early gay novelist. He was a member of the Yale Puppeteers and the driving force behind Turnabout Theatre. He was born in Otsego, Michigan, in 1901 and died in 1996, two days after his 95th birthday. Brown briefly taught at North Carolina State College, followed by an extensive tour of Europe.

Marjorie Batchelder McPharlin (1903–1997) was an American puppeteer and authority on the puppet theater. Her two best known puppetry productions were Aristophanes' The Birds (1933) and Maeterlinck's The Death of Tintagiles (1937). She was the author of many books on puppetry, including The Puppet Theatre Handbook. She was the second honorary president of the Puppeteers of America. Her marriage to the puppeteer Paul McPharlin was in 1948, a few months before his death. Marjorie was also the creator of the hand-rod puppet which was a style Jim Henson took up for The Muppets.

Peter Scriven

Peter Scriven MBE (1930–1998) was the founding artistic director of the Marionette Theatre of Australia.

Puppet Inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by an entertainer

A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to move the body, head, limbs, and in some cases the mouth and eyes of the puppet. The puppeteer often speaks in the voice of the character of the puppet, and then synchronizes the movements of the puppet's mouth with this spoken part. The actions, gestures and spoken parts acted out by the puppeteer with the puppet are typically used in storytelling. Puppetry is a very ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in Ancient Greece. There are many different varieties of puppets, and they are made from a wide range of materials, depending on their form and intended use. They range from very simple in construction and operation to very complex.

Nikolai Zykov

Nikolai Zykov is a Soviet and Russian actor, director, artist, designer, puppet-maker, and master puppeteer.

Yoke thé

Yoke thé is the Burmese name for marionette puppetry. Although the term can be used for marionettery in general, its usage usually refers to the local form of string puppetry. Like most of Burmese refined art, yoke thé performances originated from royal patronage and were gradually adapted for the wider populace. Yoke thé are almost always performed in the form of Burmese operas.

Sue Hastings was an American puppeteer known for popularizing the ancient art of puppetry in the 1930s and 1940s. She was a protégé of famous advertising artist and master puppeteer Tony Sarg. She was known as a society hostess and for performing with her large collection of professionally made marionettes, which she created with the assistance of her large team of artisan puppeteers. Her many renowned performing companies were headquartered in New York City, New York, USA. During the height of her career, as owner and CEO of Sue Hastings Marionettes, Inc., she reputedly, in her inimitable "hands-on" style, was actively and very successfully directing over 50 performing companies, some of which performed worldwide for heads of Royalty, such as Queen Elizabeth I, and many other dignitaries and distinguished national and international diplomats and world leaders.

Better Angel is a novel by Forman Brown first published in 1933 under the pseudonym Richard Meeker. It was republished as Torment in 1951. It is an early novel which describes a gay lifestyle without condemning it. Christopher Carey called it "the first homosexual novel with a truly happy ending".

Waldo Sullivan Lanchester was a British puppeteer who founded the Lanchester Marionettes (1935-1962), a puppet theatre that was based in Malvern, and later in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote a book on the revival of puppeteering and commissioned George Bernard Shaw to write his last completed play Shakes versus Shav in 1949. In 1952, Donald W. Seager wrote that "Waldo Lanchester has consistently been associated with all that is best in the puppet theatre." Archibald Henderson called him "England's greatest puppetmaster."

Randal John Metz is a professional puppeteer and variety/stage performer. He is known for creating puppet productions, and puppet performer for Children’s Fairyland’s Open Storybook Puppet Theater in Oakland, California, the oldest continuously operating puppet theater in the United States. He currently produces seven different puppet shows a year for the theater, and tours his shows throughout California under the name The Puppet Company. He has served several terms as President and Vice-President of the San Francisco Bay Area Puppeteers Guild.

Russian puppet theater

Russian puppet theater appears to have originated either in migrations from the Byzantine Empire in the sixth century or possibly by Mongols travelling from China. Itinerant Slavic minstrels were presenting puppet shows in western Russia by the thirteenth century, arriving in Moscow in the mid-sixteenth century. Although Russian traditions were increasingly influenced by puppeteers from western Europe in the eighteenth century, Petrushka continued to be one of the principal figures. In addition to glove puppets and marionettes, rod puppets and flat puppets were introduced for a time but disappeared in the late nineteenth century.

Harry Burnett

Harry Burnett was the designer of the Yale Puppeteers. He was also a mask creator. In Better Angel, Forman Brown's early gay novel, he is Derry.

Kamela Portuges American puppeteer, puppet designer, sculptor, animator, illustrator, writer, and director

Kamela Portuges, also known as Kamela Portuges-Robbins, was an American puppeteer, puppet designer, sculptor, animator, illustrator, writer, and director. Her work can be seen in many films including Being John Malkovich, James and the Giant Peach, Monkeybone, and Bicentennial Man. She started her career in puppetry in 1989 and was the co-founder of production company Images In Motion.

References

  1. 1 2 "Harry Burnett, Master Of Puppetry, Dies at 92", New York Times, 1993-06-01, retrieved 2018-03-05
  2. Blumentha, Eileen (2005), Puppetry: A World History, Harry N. Abrams, p. 91, ISBN   0-8109-5587-3
  3. "Elsa's Gazebo", Time, May 24, 1948, archived from the original on May 16, 2010
  4. Goslar, Lotte (1998), What's So Funny?: Sketches from My Life, Taylor & Francis, p. 75, ISBN   978-90-5702-177-0
  5. 1 2 3 4 Bessie, Dan (November 2000), Rare Birds, University Press of Kentucky, ISBN   978-0-8131-2179-6
  6. 1 2 Brown, Forman (1980), Small Wonder : the story of the Yale Puppeteers and the Turnabout Theatre, Scarecrow Press, ISBN   0-8108-1334-3
  7. Slide, Anthony (2003), Lost Gay Novels: A Reference Guide to Fifty Works from the First Half of the Twentieth Century, Haworth Press, pp.  129, ISBN   978-1-56023-414-2