Big Bird, Snuffy, and Alice with Paul Vincent Davis
The International Festival of Puppet Theater was a series of puppetry festivals put on by the Jim Henson Foundation from 1992 to 2000 in New York City. The multi-week festivals would feature puppetry performances from individuals and troupes from all over the globe.
The inaugural festival, referred to as "Puppetry at the Public," took place from September 7-20, 1992, in the Public Theater. While not fully listed in the official event program, a show titled "Big Bird and Friends" was mounted on September 19 in the Public's Newman Theater. The hour-long show featured some of the Sesame Street Muppets presenting performances from Yang Feng and Paul Vincent Davis. The program was recorded and preserved in the New York Performing Arts Library's Theater on Film and Tape archive (TOFT).
Summary[]
Following an introduction by Cheryl Henson, pianist Dave Conner plays the "Sesame Street Theme" as Big Bird takes to the stage. He sings a verse of "Welcome!" and talks about the upcoming puppetry performances this afternoon - "I don't know why, but I just love puppets!" As he introduces Yang Feng from China, he recalls the trips he has taken to the country and teaches the audience to say "Hello" in Chinese.
Feng appears onstage and briefly interacts with Big Bird before performing his act, where a ferocious tiger eats a hapless farmer, who is eventually saved by a hunter.
After Feng's performance, Big Bird returns to the stage with Shivers the Penguin, who is shy about meeting a house of new people. He eventually gets the courage to say hello (multiple times over) before he and Big Bird sing "We Can Still Be Friends."
Conner begins to play "Doin' the Snuffleupagus," signaling the arrival of Snuffy and Alice. Snuffy apologizes for their tardiness; he was unexpectedly left in charge of Alice and they rushed over to the theater. Alice hasn't even had her nap yet. While Big Bird goes offstage, Alice roams around, excited to see a puppet show. Snuffy needs to get her to calm down, so he begins to sing her the "Snuffle Lullabye." On the reprise, Alice does all the moves as instructed by the lyrics, as Snuffy falls asleep while he sings. Alice settles down on the floor too.
Big Bird comes back onstage and wakes the Snuffleupaguses up so the next performance can begin. Paul Vincent Davis proceeds with a production of "Androcles and the Lion."
After the story, Big Bird, Snuffy, and Alice come back onstage and inquire about how puppets work. Davis shows off a "gingerbread-shape" puppet he uses for rehearsals and demonstrates how it works. He gets the audience to use their hands as puppets, with Big Bird using his wing and the Snuffleupaguses using their snuffles. In need of something to perform with their puppets, they lead the audience in singing "Sing."
The show closes with everyone taking a bow and departing, as Conner continues playing "Sing" before segueing into "Somebody Come and Play" as the lights dim.
Credits[]
- Musical Director and Pianist: Dave Conner
- Writer: Louise Gikow
- Director/Choreographer: Lynne Taylor-Corbett
- Henson Workshop: Ed Christie, Laurent Linn
Notes[]
- The listing from the Jim Henson Foundation of titles from the various festivals recorded for TOFT lists the George Latshaw Puppets performance of "Wilbur and the Giant" as being a part of the "Big Bird and Friends" show, but it was a separate performance entirely (held the weekend before).