Since 1980, Puppetworks Classic Puppet Theater has been delighting and entertaining its young and not-so-young audiences in Park Slope. Puppetworks offers original, interesting, fun, and educational plays for kids and their parents, which are naturally based on children’s literature. There is also a lot of music in these performances. Music is one of the priorities of this puppet theater. In addition, kids love performances based on folk tales.
Another feature of Puppetworks is that most of its performances use special wooden puppets. Thus, each puppet show adds a good mood to the audience. There is also a lecture-demonstration by the puppeteers when the children go behind the scenes. Read more at brooklyn-trend.com.
The story of Nicolas Coppola
Puppet theater Puppetworks was founded by Nicolas Coppola, who is still its artistic director. Nicholas has dreamed of doing something like this since he was a child. There is a well-known story about how he saw the Suzari Marionettes for the first time when he was a third-grader in a Brooklyn school.
What he saw had such an impact on the boy that he organized his entire family to help him create his first fabric marionette doll. His mother, a seamstress, who sewed the costume, and his uncle, a tailor, who helped make the puppet itself, were also involved.
This experience came in handy when in 1954, at the age of 19, he took part in a competition and audition for the position of a professional puppeteer. From that moment on, he himself became a part of a magical fairy tale called Suzari Marionettes and was hired.
It should be noted that Suzari Marionettes was a well-known and experienced puppet company. It worked in Brooklyn from 1938 to 1962. To get here at such a young age was a certain success and luck. After all, the company was well-known in the borough, and in New York City as a whole. Young viewers especially liked the performances of classic stories. Here, the good old “Wizard of Oz” was out of competition.
The path to the dream
Once he joined the troupe, Nicolas Coppola was not going to be satisfied with ordinary roles. Therefore, it is no coincidence that after 1962 the troupe changed its name to Nicolo Marionettes. Naturally, Nicolas became its director. The young man was barely 27 years old at the time, and it was at this age that Nicolas became the artistic director of the theater.
Since then, Nicolo Marionettes has toured extensively, with five different productions in its repertoire at the same time. They toured almost all over the United States of America. In the spring of 1976, the theater opened a branch at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. At that time, the repertoire of Nicolo Marionettes already included seven productions. The puppeteers continued to tour until 1978. The highlight of those performances, which were very popular with young audiences, was the recognized production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Magic Flute.
And in the fall of the same year, a puppet theater was built for the Nicolo Marionettes in Herald Square. It should be noted that at that time Nicolas Coppola produced 30 holiday performances, three of which were Easter, six special releases for tours. The culmination of all these multifaceted premieres in 2013 was the puppet show Yes, Virginia. It featured a special puppet, Whoopi Goldberg. But all this happened in a new theater – Puppetworks.
Puppetworks – the beginning
Puppetworks was founded in 1980. It was influenced by the difficult economic situation of those years. As it became more and more difficult to make a profit from the puppet theater tours, Nicolas decided to found a non-profit company. This is how Puppetworks Inc. was born, which later completely replaced Nicolo Marionettes.
At some point, from 1997 to 2000, Puppetworks presented its performances at the Greenwich Village Theater of the Children’s Aid Society. But today, Puppetworks is a permanent puppet theater in the historic district of Brooklyn.
As we noted above, music plays an important role in Puppetworks’ puppetry productions. Therefore, the appearance of musicians at puppeteers’ performances and concerts is a common thing. The Little Orchestra Society, the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, Orchestra da Camera, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, have performed with puppeteers.
This creative symbiosis has been seen in works such as Debussy’s La Casket de l’Or, Ibert’s Divertissements, and a highly acclaimed performance of Haydn’s marionette opera Philimone et Bavkida or Jupiter’s Travels on Earth. The theater also performed with the Sylvan brass quintet. It staged Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel.
Further productions include Herbert’s Naughty Marietta at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey, Mascagni’s Iris and Sullivan’s Ivanhoe, also at the New Jersey State Opera. As well as a production of Mozart’s opera Bastien et Bastienne with the Ancient Music Association of New York State.
Today, Puppetworks is located in the family-friendly Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn. Without a doubt, it is a beloved nonprofit theater that has been delighting audiences, not only young, but perhaps old, since 1980. In general, this cozy puppet theater specializes in bringing classic fairy tales to life on its stage. They convey eternal values and folk wisdom to the audience through the art of puppetry.
Puppetworks performances are popular not only among children, but also among adults. Therefore, not only children, but also uncles and aunts watch the magical fairy tales with nostalgia. Especially because they are shown to the audience in a unique and exciting way. Thanks to the performances that take place here every week, Puppetworks invites both children of all ages and their parents to have a great time. That is, it’s not a “should” place, it’s a “must” place for the whole family.
If, of course, there is a desire to spend time with benefit, seeing magical puppet shows with handmade puppets and original music. Again, you shouldn’t forget about it, and you can remind your children that after the performance, they will have a close personal acquaintance with the fairy tale characters.
A place of children’s pleasure
The Puppetworks Theater is one of only two places in New York City where children can enjoy a real puppet theater. The other is the Swedish Marionette Theater in Central Park in Manhattan. Puppetworks brings those magical fairy tale classics that young audiences love to live with the help of artistic puppets and the age-old art of puppetry.
Generations of Brooklynites have grown up attending the Park Slope Puppet Theater, and each local has a special story to tell about their time there. Some people enthusiastically recall the magical performance of Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio, others the immortal Wizard of Oz, and others something else. Those performances lasted from 45 minutes to an hour, and it was a very good way for someone to introduce children to puppet theater.
And the best indicator of the professionalism of the Brooklyn puppeteers is the incident that occurred during a performance in Queens. According to the scenario, the evil witch doctor Pow Pow Kiwis threatened to eat a squirrel. After the squirrel escaped from the dragon’s jaws, there was a moment of complete silence. It was at this moment that one of the young spectators shouted frantically, addressing the animal: “Look out!”
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