WonderSpark Puppets: They've Got Their Hands Full
Welcome back, readers! It's yours truly, Esra Erol, one of the marketing interns here at PST, and I'll be taking you on a behind-the-scenes look at WonderSpark Puppets' rendition of
The Three Little Pigs, due to premiere at PST this week!
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| Chad Williams & Lindsey "Z" Briggs - Founders of WonderSpark Puppets |
Now, I don't know if you know this, but the Three Little Pigs are traveling all the way from Central Park in New York City to Boston. That's right. When they're not traveling to different venues, like PST, WonderSpark Puppets - founded by husband-and-wife team Chad Williams and Lindsey "Z" Briggs - perform a variety of puppet shows for children and adults alike in the different boroughs of Manhattan, Long Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, etc. They also volunteer at Mount Sinai's KidZone TV and have given lectures and demonstrations to a class at the Children's Museum for the Arts in Manhattan.
I think it's no secret: both Chad and Lindsey care deeply about children and bringing the arts to the children, which is why their rendition of
The Three Little Pigs is guaranteed to bring in laughs and smiles from your little ones.
Bringing the Pigs to the Stage
We all know the story: Three Little Pigs build three little houses, but when the Big Bad Wolf comes rollin' into town, hungry for some bacon, they have to see which of their three structures can withstand his huffin' and his puffin'.
In his adaption of the classic tale, Chad Williams hauls an entire show...alone! He manipulates different characters, changes scenery, and keeps direct contact with the audience. "How," you may ask? With table-top puppetry, of course!
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| The Three Little Pigs in Central Park |
By using the table-top style, he can manipulate up to two characters at once, stop for a bit of storytelling, and quickly summon different puppets or change a prop in full view of the audience, which allows him to create this intimacy between the stage and the audience.
From Script to Stage
Now, for those of you who may not know, this show is what the industry refers to as an "adaptation," meaning it's based on previously written material - in this case,
The Three Little Pigs. Of course, that shouldn't suggest this is not, in a way, a WonderSpark Puppets original.
During rehearsals, Chad did re-writes of the script. His mantra for writing characters is to "make each one stand out." In other words, each of the pigs, while literally being made of the same materials and patterns - all of which were designed by Lindsey - had to have completely different voices, mannerisms, fatal flaws, and goals. As a writer, it was important for Chad to ask questions like: What does each pig want? What can the Big Bad Wolf use against them? And so on...
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| Chad Performing as One of the Three Little Pigs |
By taking these steps - asking questions, doing character profiles, and re-writing the script - Chad was able to take someone else's Three Little Pigs and make them his own, giving them wacky personalities like the "Sloth," the "Diva," and the "Nerd."
Speaking of them pigs - you can't help but wonder: what would've happened if they had done their homework and gone to, let's say, Cal Poly, which offers some of the best undergraduate programs in architecture and engineering. They probably would've built more durable houses - you know, to withstand the big, bad breath of the Big Bad Wolf. Thank goodness that's not the case because then there'd be no story and the wonderful people at WonderSpark Puppets wouldn't be able to perform their delightful version of
The Three Little Pigs.
To see 'em in action - and by action I mean, going head-to-head with the Big Bad Wolf - come on down to PST, where WonderSpark Puppets will be performing
The Three Little Pigs on September 22 and September 23 (
BUY TICKETS). You know you can't resist puppet pigs!
'Til next time. Yours truly, Esra.
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