The "The Stars of the Show" Story

The John Durang Museum in the "Hole in the Wall Puppet Theatre."

It was an ordinary day.  Standing in the John Durang Museum at 126 North Water Street in historic downtown Lancaster, Pennsyl-
vania looking at all the puppets and marionettes that fill most of the usable wall space in the museum.  John Durang was born a short distance away from the museum that bears his name.  

A marionette of John Durang holding
two marionettes.

Mr. Durang was one of country's first actors, dancers, clowns, musicians, acrobats, choreographers and puppeteers.  The museum is housed in the quaint little "Hole in the Wall Puppet Theatre" that was established in 1990 by my friend Rob Brock.  The 1850 building that houses the theatre and museum was built as a private residence, but eventually became a blacksmith shop and an office building before becoming the "Hole in the Wall Puppet Theatre".  My mission today was to see how Rob makes his marionettes that he uses in his performances at the theatre.  My visit today is during one of Rob's scheduled performances for his current "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" show.  Rob showed his guests today the procedure for making the marionettes that are used for his shows.  

Modeled clay heads are shown along with a foot.  The white
head on the right is the final result which is a resin casting
made using the clay head that Rob made.

He first uses Chavant DaVinci Plastiline modeling clay to shape the head for the marion- ette, then makes a mold of the clay head using a mixture of silicone.  When the silicone has cured, he cuts it apart and removes the clay.  Into the silicone mold he pours resin which when dry will form his marionette's head.  

Rob is holding the silicone casting made
from his original clay sculpture.

Feet can be made in the same manner if they are needed.  The head is painted with acrylic paints, hair is added and clothes are sewn.  The body is made primarily from wooden dowels with metal joints added for motion.  Then the strings are added to the moving parts of the marionette and attached to the wooden control.  Rob uses his trusty Singer sewing machine to make his costumes from cotton, felt, fur, wool, burlap and brocade.  Most of his marionettes take between 50 to 60 hours to make.  I got to stand backstage as he performed with the four marionettes needed for "Here Comes Peter Cottontail".  

This backstage photo shows Rob
operating one of his marionettes
for the audience.  He dresses in black
so he doesn't interfere with the performance
of the marionettes who are the stars of the show.

Rob is as animated as his performers as he moves from one marionette to the next to create an entertaining performance for the crowd seated in his theatre that is adorned with mirrors, velvet chairs, overhead cherubs and flickering wall sconces creating a 19th century appearance.  His 35 minute performance was well-received by both the children and the adults that filled the tiered seating, but the real stars of the show were the hand-made marionettes that captured all the attention of the audience.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - Click on photos to see a larger version.