Magical Moonshine
Theatre Shows
Magical Moonshine
has a large selection of productions for
you to choose from, everything from
large, mainstage performances that can be
seen by 600-1000, to small shows for the
home party, library, classroom, cafe or
gallery. To help you find what you are
looking for, please select from the
following choices, or for personal help,
call 707-363-4573 or email mail@magicalmoonshine.org.
Fees vary according
to production and travel, but there is
something for most every budget.
School Assemblies --.-NEW: Mailer with
special discounts for 2011-12 school year
....(School Funding Programs in
California) (2011-12 school
packages mailer/discounts)
Preschool Shows
Bilingual (and
minimal text) Shows
Library Shows
Party and Event Shows
Outdoor (small scale and
festival) Shows
New for Fall, 2011: Cannibal
Island, A Taste of Paradise (ages 12 and
up)
(Some unsorted
shows below)
The Puppet
Man
For
hundreds of years puppet entertainers
have roamed the streets in countries all
over the world. They have sought to
delight, amuse, reform their audiences,
as well as earn their keep in society.
Traditional puppet characters such as
England's Punch and Judy, Germany's
Kasperl, and France's Guignol all evolved
from humble folk origins, nurtured by
these street performers.
In The Puppet Man, MMT's Michael Nelson
creates his own version of traditional
European street theatre. The performances
are colorful, lively, spontaneous and
ever-changing. In this unique
theatrical experience, the puppeteer,
puppets and audience respond to each
other to create the play together!
Great for Libraries.
Recommended for children ages 4 and up.
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Animalitos
(The Little Animals)
A
collection of Aesop's fables woven
together in a magical puppet dance. A
rabbit starts a race with a tortoise, but
seeing that he has plenty of time, he
wanders off, and gets involved with a fox
who is trying to court a crane with a
romantic dinner for two. With some clever
tricks they manage to get some food to
serve but things go awry when the fox
talks the rabbit into being the waiter
for the meal. Meanwhile the tortoise is
getting closer and closer to the finish
line...
This story is told in a combination of
English and Spanish.
Recommended for children ages 4 and up.
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The
Grasshopper and the Ant
This
performance may be unlike anything you
have ever seen before. It is a
recreation of Victorian Miniature or
paper theatre. People have compared
the beauty and miniature size of the show
to a jewel; it sparkles with rich colors
and a universal story. The
performers have gone far beyond the
simple Aesop's fable of the grasshopper
and the ant to create a green-man cycle
tale as in olden times, a story that
takes the audience on a journey through
the seasons, leading them to a new
understanding of their own place in the
cycle in nature.
Great for Libraries.
Recommended for children ages 4 and up.
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The
Armadillo's Rancho
This
story from Argentina tells of a wealthy
Fox who tries to take advantage of a poor
Armadillo, making her work his garden for
him. He thinks he is getting the best
part of the deal, but the Armadillo is
smarter than he is at every turn and in
the end succeeds in setting things right
once and for all.
This story is told in a combination of
English and Spanish.
Recommended for children ages 4 and up.
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Shipwrecked!
The Adventures of Miss Robin Crusoe
Miss Robin Crusoe (pictured
left) is the niece of the famed Robinson
Crusoe. Like her famous uncle, she also
finds herself shipwrecked on an
island...an island, as it turns out, that
has been visited by pirates in the past.
The sumptuous backgrounds
for the production are the results of an
artistic collaboration with textile
artist Meri Vahl and are comprised of an
array of beautiful batiks and fabrics.
Recommended for children ages 4 and up.
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The
California Bear Flag Show
In
MMT's The Bear Flag Show, California
history roars to life with puppets of all
shapes and sizes, live music and song
from the California period, and good old
fashioned theatrical effects.
Famous historical characters such as Kit
Carson, John Fremont, and General Mariano
G. Vallejo were all involved in this
hilarious comedy of errors which resulted
in the short-lived (26 days)
"country of California,"
complete with it's own president and flag
(the first California Bear Flag).
This story is told in a combination of
English and Spanish.
Recommended for children ages 4 and up.
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Cirque du
Cafe
MMT's Cirque
du Cafe is a table top circus for
the whole family, where salt shakers do a
trapeze act, a wine bottle and a baguette
perform magic, a bread roll rides a pizza
cutter unicycle and a banana swallows
swords longer than it's body. This is
object theatre and puppetry and circus
and great fun!
This show was originally
designed for adult audiences in the cafe
setting, but since it opened in Spring of
2005 it has played very well in various
forms for family as well as adult
audiences, in a variety of settings, both
restaurant as well as theater.
With many acts, the length and age
appropriateness can be adjusted.
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Jaguar's
Fountain
In
the rain forests of South America all
living things sing in harmony with each
other. But then the chords of disharmony
sound as drought descends upon the land.
The greedy Jaguar proceeds to force the
smaller and weaker animals to dig a well.
Soon there is water again in the rain
forest and it is controlled by the
Jaguar. But there is one animal in the
forest who will stand up to the Jaguar.
He is the Rabbit. Armed only with his
humor and wits, he alone dares to
challenge the Jaguar and his henchmen
until justice prevails and the balance of
nature is restored. In The Jaguar's
Fountain the puppets and scenery have
their own musical sounds created by a
variety of hand crafted non-traditional
as well as traditional instruments.
Recommend for children ages 4 and up.
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The
Recycling Show
The
Recycling Show focuses on the whys and
hows of living on earth in our age of
consumption. The entire stage for
this show was made from recycled
materials. Because recycling
regulations often differ from county to
county, MMT researches recycling facts
and statistics for each county before
they perform this show.
Recommended for children ages 4 and up.
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Coyote
Sings
In
the Native American story, Coyote Sings,
the crazy buffoon, Coyote tries
desperately to learn a song. This
combined with his bungling attempts to
hunt for food and impress all his
neighbors with his personal skills make
for hilarious slaps tick. Southwest
motifs and designs and Mexican folk tunes
make this bilingual show a very poplar
addition.
This story is told in a combination of
English and Spanish.
Recommended for children ages 4 and up.
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The Cat
That Walked By Himself
Shadow puppetry creates a
mysterious and wonderful world where
color, light and story enthrall adults
and children alike, belying its
simplicity. Using both black and
illuminated shadows, MMT presents
literature and folktale inspired stories
from around the globe.
From the Rudyard Kipling "Just So
Stories", The Cat That Walked By
Himself makes a deal with the first
humans to share their cave on his terms.
Great for Libraries.
Recommended for children ages 4 and up.
___________________________________________
The Fox and
the Condor
In
this mythological story from South
America, there is little food on the
earth while in the clouds the birds have
much food. The Condor, the king of the
birds takes pity on a hungry fox and
carries him up to the clouds to eat, but
the greedy fox does not stop eating until
he falls from the cloud and his belly
bursts open, spreading seeds all over the
earth. It is these seeds from which the
plants on earth have descended (so the
tale tells us.)
This story is told in a combination of
English and Spanish.
Recommended for children ages 4 and up.
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Br'r Rabbit
and the Number Nine Shoes
In
this African American trickster tale, the
clever Br'er Rabbit plays a trick on
Br'er Bear, and steals his fish from him.
Br'er Fox watches the whole trick, but
when he tries it himself his efforts end
in disaster. Once again Br'er Rabbit
survives by relying on his wits. The
story is told with large,
direct-manipulation puppets, live banjo
music and singing.
Recommended for children ages 4 and up.
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Dragon,
Tiger and Bear
This
story is a Southeast Asian Folktale from
the Hmong people. Long ago a wise,
old man lived with a Bear, a Tiger and a
Dragon. One day the animals all set out
to try to scare one another by seeing who
could make the greatest commotion. When
the man finally took his turn, he used
his brains to teach the others a lesson.
He scared the animals so badly that
bears, tigers and dragons will no longer
live with people. The story is presented
with shadow puppets, masks, and live
music played on a variety of SE Asian
musical instruments.
Great for Libraries.
Recommended for children ages 4 and up.
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The Fox and
the Elk Make a Trade
In
this story a fox and elk decide that they
are not happy with the way they are made,
so they decide to switch arms and legs
with each other. The fox, now with very
long arms and legs, finds that she can no
longer hunt, and is in danger of
starving. The elk with the short fox arms
and legs can not reach the leaves on the
trees that he is used to eating. Both
finally realize that they were much
better off the way they were originally
and in the end exchange arms and legs
again, happy to have their old limbs
back. The story is humorously set to
popular U.S. music of the 50s.
Recommended for children ages 4 and up.
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Coyote
Brings Fire to the People
It
is told that long ago when the earth was
new, the people of California were cold
because they did not have fire. They went
to Coyote for help and he organized Bear,
Mountain Lion, Rabbit, Squirrel, and Frog
to help steal fire for the people. MMT
presents this native Californian folktale
with shadow puppets and music.
Great for Libraries.
Recommended for children ages 4 and up.
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Coyote and
Grizzy Bear
Native
Americans of the Western part of this
continent tell many stories about the
trickster, Coyote. In this story from the
plains states, Coyote plays a trick on
the ungrateful Grizzly Bear, thus saving
the life of Mountain Ram. Although
presented as a Native American folktale
here, the theme of this story is
universal, and appears in tales from many
cultures around the world. This folktale
is told with masks and Native American
drum.
Recommended for children ages 4 and up.
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Br'r Rabbit
and the Lucky Rabbit's Foot
Once
again Brer Rabbit finds himself in a
precarious position when he thinks his
luck has run out and he seeks advice from
Mammy Bammy Big Money. Her magic shows
him his luck is in his wits and not in
his lucky rabbit's foot.
Recommended for children ages 4 and up.
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The Grape
Blessing
The
Earth Mother, represented by a graceful
14 foot tall figure, leads the procession
of musicians and celebrants to the rustic
altar, made of barrels, burls and natural
objects. There She takes her place to
preside over the following ceremony:
First comes a symbolic creation of
Napa Valley (or Sonoma Valley, Central
Valley, etc.); great seismic forces shift
rocks, sand and wood in a symbolic
geological tableau.
Following is the purification of
the ceremonial grape knife, and the
harvest of the grapes, the crushing of
the grape to juice, and the offering to
the four directions. When the offering is
given to the Earth, the Spirit of the
Vines (an animated figure made of natural
grape vines) is awakened.
At his touch the bounty (and the bottle
on the altar) overflow, as red wine
fountains down over the altar in
abundance. The blessing is complete with
offerings of music and poetry shared with
the celebrants.
Recommended for adult audiences.
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Coyote Runs
Another
Native American folktale, Coyote Runs,
Coyote finds his efforts to fool his
neighbors backfire as he is outwitted by
a lizard, a badger, a rabbit and a
rattlesnake. But as always, Coyote
prevails, himself outwitting death to the
joy of his loving wife.
This story is told in a combination of
English and Spanish.
Recommended for children ages 4 and up.
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Br'r Rabbit
and the Goober Patch
Another
trickster, Brer Rabbit comes to us from
Africa, but has settled right in to
American Folklore. In this puppet tale,
Brer (short for Brother) Fox decides to
plant a garden, and Br'er Rabbit decides
to help himself. The fox decides to set a
trap for the rabbit but Brer Rabbit is
one rabbit who can take care of himself,
and Br'er Fox does not end up with the
prey that he bargained for.
Recommended for children ages 4 and up.
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The Lion in
the Well
This
Afro-American Br'er Rabbit story tells
about how one day a lion moved into the
forest and started eating all of the
other animals. Br'er Rabbit sets out to
get rid of the lion with his usual
trickery, and succeeds in getting rid of
the l ion and becoming the hero despite
the lack of help from Br'er Fox and the
other animals. This story is told as a
story within a story; a roving puppet
troubadour is telling the tale when the
"real" Br'er Rabbit stumbles
upon the play and begins to take over.
Complications ensue when the real lion
shows up instead of the puppet lion. Told
with live folk music and singing.
Recommended for children ages 4 and up.
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Seasonal and Special Programs
4th of July Parade, City of
Vallejo, California
July 4, 2007 Marked the 200th
birthday celebration of General Mariano
Vallejo, who lived in Sonoma, California.
The city of Vallejo, California is named
after him.
To celebrate, the cities of Sonoma and
Vallejo commissioned MMT to make two
giant Vallejo puppets to walk in parades.
We made the puppets very light and airy
so the puppeteer inside would be as
comfortable as possible. By the
end, the puppet weighed about 17 pounds.
It also had a structure inside of it that
allowed the puppeteer to stand the puppet
on the street and rest, not holding the
weight of the puppet at all.
Orpheus
Ascending
A one-run-only dramatic theatrical
production based on the myth of
Orpheus. Choreography and story
adaption: Michael Nelson. Music:
David Auerbach. Text: Steve
Tillis. Puppets: Michael Nelson,
Kamela Portuges, Lee Armstrong, Michael
Wick.
SEASONAL
AND SPECIAL OFFERINGS:
Magical Moonshine Theatre often
produces special seasonal and event
related offerings. Call for
info. 707-363-4573
December 2009: The Night
Before Christmas- This
handpuppet production was a recreation
and celebration of the very first
production that MMT performed in
1979. The premise is that a group
of puppets attempts to act out the Night
Before Christmas with mixed
success. As this show is a seasonal
offering, please call for availability.
Recommended for children ages 3 and
up.
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For more information
about any of our programs or to secure a
date,
contact us at 707.363.4573. or
mail@magicalmoonshine.org
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