Why Puppets?
Why is Mill City Puppet Company being started
Ok. So, why puppets? They are weird. People who play with puppets are also weird. Why start making puppets or aspire to perform with them?
A quick synopsis on who I am. I’m a professional flute player and flute maker. Obviously, I am uniquely qualified to be a puppeteer!! (Here’s hoping the flute players don’t find this…) No. Really, I grew up in the 80s. As a kid all of my favorite movies had puppets. On top of that, my father and I were always playing with puppets. I never thought a lot about it. Like whether or not I was good at it. I just played with them and had a lot of them.
Fast forward to 2017. My friends and I go to DragonCon in Atlanta GA every year. It was there that I discovered DragonCon’s “Puppetry Track.” It is like a mini puppet convention within a larger pop culture convention. When I was there I bought a puppet. It was made by Stacy Gordon of Puppet Pie. I brought him, who I named DJ, back to my friends and immediately tried him out. They freaked out! He was moving in too “lifelike” a way! I was doing it!
Between 2017 and now I have tried a lot of puppet-y things. I have taken a couple of classes at the Puppet Showplace Theater in Brookline MA. I have also taken part in many puppet panels at numerous DragonCons. I have learned a lot, but I am ready to dive in deeper.
What I have found in puppetry is a new way to perform. I can bring a character to life without worrying about whether or not I am going to hit the right notes. In fact, mistakes make it more fun. Interacting with people though a puppet is different every time I do it. And people smile! They also talk to puppets in ways they would not normally interact with a “human,” which is often a pleasant surprise for them.
My plan for Mill City Puppet Company is to take new steps into the puppetry world that I have not taken yet. I plan to bring a new group of characters to life based in Lowell Massachusetts. This blog will serve as a place for me to document what I am learning, since I have a lot to learn. I will be learning about puppet building, performing and recording. Hopefully what I share here will be helpful for others as well!