Camille Gavin: Unconventional calling as puppeteer pulls former editor's strings
| Tuesday, Dec 16 2008 09:02 PM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 01:51 PM
GO & DO
WHAT:Omnipresent Puppet Theater’s presentation of “Dude, Where’s My Sleigh?”
WHEN:11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Saturday
WHERE:The Empty Space, 706 Oak St.
ADMISSION: $4 per person
DETAILS:858-0831
Images
Comet the reindeer and Santa Claus in Omnipresent Puppet Theater's "Dude, Where's My Sleigh?" at The Empty Space. (Photo courtesy of Don Kruszka)
Who among us hasn’t seen an ad for a particular kind of job and thought: Hmm, that sounds kind of interesting — but for various reasons we fail to follow up on it.
Don Kruszka of Omnipresent Puppet Theater had the opposite reaction and, as a result, ended up with a new career.
In 1993, a year or so after his graduation from Buffalo State College in New York where he was a broadcast major, he visited his alma mater’s placement center when his job as editor of an entertainment weekly came to an end.
“I found a listing for a puppeteer for Das Puppenspiel,” he said. “I had never considered that as a job, but I thought it sounded like a lot of fun.”
And it did turn out to be fun, he recalled, as well as a hands-on learning experience.
Das Puppenspiel, he explained, is a German phrase meaning “puppet story,” but none of the people who made up the company was German.
Instead, all were American-born actors who spoke with accents they had learned from their parents who were immigrants from Eastern Europe. And to make it even more interesting, the plays were done in the Japanese style of puppetry.
Since then, Kruszka has developed his own style of puppetry and formed his own company. He makes the puppets, some of which are several feet tall, does almost all the voices, and writes the scripts, most of which are filled with the kind of humor young children enjoy. “I do try to not put the adults to sleep,” he added.
For his current offering, “Dude, Where’s My Sleigh?” at The Empty Space, he’ll be joined by his wife, Kamala Kruszka, an instructor in Cal State Bakersfield’s theater department.
“What Kamala does really helps move the play along,” he said. “She leads the children’s singing of Christmas carols that are part of the play.”
The plot involves a little girl’s search for Santa’s sleigh, which has gone missing. Among the characters are Comet the Reindeer, who is the source of all the trouble, Rufus the Snowman, and of course, Santa Claus. To provide just the right amount of scariness, there’s an evil villain that Kruszka describes as “a big mean-looking animal.”
Omnipresent has performed at The Empty Space for the past two years but will have a new home in 2009. Kruszka said that starting on Jan. 10, his puppet company will begin doing weekly shows at the Gaslight Melodrama and Music Hall.
ART SHOW
A collection of humorous pen-and-ink drawings by Bob Kempf is one of the more unusual offerings in the “Give Art” event at The Empty Space gallery, 706 Oak St.
The cartoon-like pictures feature odd-looking characters speaking equally odd phrases, such as a grown man who tells his mother — in language not suitable for a family newspaper — that he still hates okra.
About 10 artists contributed work to the show, and nothing is priced higher than $50. The show is a fundraiser for the theater, which does not charge for admission to most shows.
An open house will be held at the gallery from 4 to 7 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, call 327-PLAY.
CLASSES AT SPOTLIGHT
Coordinator Guinevere Park-Hall has announced Spotlight School of Arts’ schedule of “Winter Break” classes for young people, ages 5 to 18, beginning Monday and ending Jan. 2. Two sessions, each with a different focus, are offered daily during the two-week period.
Morning classes are from 8:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., and emphasize singing, dancing and acting.
Afternoon classes, from 1 to 4:45 p.m. will focus on musical theater. These will include instruction on doing improvisation, comedy, drama and auditioning.
Each four-day session costs $100 and ends with a performance on the Spotlight stage, 1622 19th St. Park-Hall said scholarships are available. To register, call 634-0692.
