By Shari Barrett
Center Theatre Group is presenting Puppet Up! Uncensored through July 27 at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. BUT this is no ordinary puppet show! It’s a mix of puppet hijinks and surprises based on suggestions from the audience, guaranteeing each performance of outrageous, off-the-cuff comedy for adults will never be the same twice! Performances feature two shows in one: The MISKREANT puppets brought to life by a rotating cast of world-class puppeteers from The Jim Henson Company racing around in full view of the audience, with improvised puppet action projected live on screens above the puppeteers. Performances also include recreations of classic pieces by Jim and Jane Henson that have not been performed for audiences in decades.
Their son and puppet creator Brian Henson shares, “My dad was a great ad-libber; Frank Oz is a great ad-libber, and that always pluses up the comedy.” Looking for a way to include ad-libbing in puppet shows, Henson went to a Groundlings show and thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could teach the puppeteers to do the magic ad-libbing? And our director Patrick Bristow was right that as soon as you added a live audience, it sort of upped the stress level of the performers and sharpened up the comedy and entertainment value.”
As such, laughter fills every minute of the Puppet Up! performance from start to finish, with a few members of the audience called upon to participate. At the performance I attended, Patrick Bristow, an alumnus of The Groundlings where he first let Brian Henson, guided the mayhem as best he could while calling out for suggestions for the improvised skits. “Because it’s puppets and it’s uncensored, the audience is definitely more uncensored themselves, adding to the edgier risqué humor that happens – and the puppets get away with much more by virtue of being rascals one or two degrees away from reality.”
So, when you’re ready to forget your troubles for a few hours, tickets for Puppet Up! – Uncensored are available through CenterTheatreGroup.org, Audience Services at (213) 972-4400, in person at the Center Theatre Group Box Offices (at the Ahmanson Theatre) at The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown L.A. 90012 or at the Kirk Douglas Theatre (open 2 hours prior to curtain) at 9820 Washington Blvd. in Culver City 90232. Limited to audiences age 16 and up. This production is part of CTG: FWD which began with theatrical special events, community gatherings, and legacy projects, which now expands to include an eclectic offering of plays and musicals at Center Theatre Group venues.
Guests booking VIP tickets get priority seating and access to an all-new pre-show cocktail party experience where they can mix and mingle with puppets and puppeteers featured in the show, and take photos with iconic Henson characters from Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, and Fraggle Rock. VIP guests can also enjoy an exclusive behind-the-scenes conversation with show creator/producer Brian Henson and the production’s director and host Patrick Bristow.
Written by Alan Janes, Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story charts the rise of one of rock ‘n’ roll’s earliest icons from his small-town Texas roots to becoming a cultural phenomenon. Now presented by Musical Theatre West (MTW), this toe-tapping musical celebration continues through July 27 at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center at Cal State Long Beach featuring timeless hits like “Peggy Sue,” “That’ll Be the Day,” “Oh Boy,” and “Everyday,” while offering insight into the man behind the music. This electrifying musical isn’t just a show – it’s a full-blown concert experience starring 14 triple-threat actors performing every note live on stage as they bring Buddy Holly’s legendary music to life.
Energetic Will Riddle commands the stage as Buddy Holly with his magnetic presence and rockin’ guitar prowess delivering a performance that honors Holly’s enduring legacy and explosive sound. His authentic and overwhelmingly honest portrayal of Buddy’s desire to play his own music his way proves why it was not easy for Buddy to continue living in Lubbock, Texas where country music ruled the airwaves. But thankfully local radio broadcaster Hipockets Duncan (David Kirk Grant) knew Buddy was destined for greatness and referred him to Decca Records in Nashville. But again, they were only looking for country and western music played the way they wanted it done. But that was not enough for Buddy.
In February 1957, Buddy met with Norman Petty, a record producer at NorVaJak Music in Clovis, New Mexico who was looking for local musicians to take the new rock ‘n roll sound to an anxiously awaiting public. That’s where Buddy Holly and the Crickets recorded their first and only #1 hit song, “That’ll Be The Day.” And it was Petty’s wife Vi (instrumentally gifted Elizabeth Curtin) who introduced Buddy to the sound of the celesta which she played on his iconic “Everyday” recording.
The group’s next history-making stop was at The Apollo in Harlem, where fabulously soulful entertainers Tyrone Jones (Justin Marriel Boyd) and Marlena Madison (dance captain Janaya Mahealani Jones) raised the roof with a full brass band performing “Shout.” Buddy and the Crickets went on to mesmerize the audience with “Not Fade Away,” “Peggy Sue,” and “Words of Love,” then sealed their spot at the club by performing “Oh Boy!” with the resident singers and band. And, like so many other audience members, I could not help but sing along!
Act II focuses on Buddy meeting with New York record producer Murray Deutch (Brian Wallis) whose receptionist Maria Elena Santiago (Mia Sempertegui) catches Buddy’s eye and agrees to marry him after just five hours, inspiring him to write “True Love Ways.” Buddy’s decision to stay in New York separates him from The Crickets who want to stay in Lubbock. And that’s when Buddy decides to go on tour with The Big Bopper (Trent Mills) and Ritchie Valens (Ali Marquez-Qadiri) to earn money to support his wife and baby on-the-way.
Kudos to Director/Choreographer Keith Andrews and Music Director Ryan O’Connell (and the entire technical team) who then explode The Buddy Holly Story into the full concert show performed at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa during the Winter Dance Party tour on February 2, 1959, opening with a rousing rendition of “America the Beautiful” by Lauren Han as patriotically clad Mary Lou Sokolof (who also wowed the audience as an electric violin virtuoso) featuring the entire cast as The Buddy Holly Band. It was a joyous and bittersweet live concert, knowing their youthful exuberance would be forever silenced later that night when the small plane carrying the three young music stars to their next stop in Minnesota crashed in a bitter snowstorm. But for the moment, it was easy to get swept up into the moment, singing and dancing to some of the earliest and greatest rock ‘n roll tunes!
Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story presented by Musical Theatre West at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center on the campus of Cal State Long Beach runs 2 hours and 20 minutes including intermission. Tickets start at $20, available for purchase by phone at 562-856-1999 or online at musical.org. Student rush tickets for $15 are available at the Box Office one hour prior to showtime, with a valid student ID. More information, a full line-up of performances, and additional details can be found at https://musical.org. Arrive early as the onsite parking lot is under construction and completely closed, with parking available on the surrounding streets or in a lot behind the theater (shuttle provided).
And at the James Armstong Theater at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center, The Aerospace Players are presenting the classic Broadway musical Damn Yankees with original music and choreography by Bob Fosse through July 26. For more information and tickets, visit https://www.aeaclubs.org/theater/, text or phone (424) 341-5075, or email aerospaceplayers@gmail.com. Available tickets are also sold at the onsite box office prior to each performance.
