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.
Little
Rabbit goes into the forest to pick
flowers even after her mother tells her
not to. There she meets the Gunnywolf who
wants her to sing him to sleep. Every
time she stops singing, the Gunnywolf
wakes up and wants another song.
Meanwhile, Little Rabbit's froggie
friends are working on their act with
hilarious results. This musical show is
presented with Bohemian style marionettes
on a table top stage. Recommended for
ages 3 and up.
New
Series: Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury
Tales done with puppets, paper theatre,
actors and musicians
Tale One: The
Miller's Tale (this one's for the
grownups!) A carpenter tries to keep his
wife faithful, but she is less than
chaste. For more on this and upcoming
plays and this exciting literary
partnership with McCune Rare Book Library
(the McCune Collection) click here.
Chanticleer
the Rooster
Magical
Moonshine's newest addition to the
Canterbury Collection is Chaucer's
Canterbury tale about a rooster who is
caught by the flattering fox...but foxes
can be fooled as well. Assisting the
beloved Chanticleer is a wise ant, as
well as the pig, sheep, goat, dog, hen
and farmer. Medieval costumes and live,
ancient music (including a version of
"Old MacDonald Had A Farm" from
1710!) make for a delightful and
interactive family program. This
production is inspired by the Kelmscott
Chaucer from the McCune Art and Rare Book
Collection, who are sponsors of the
project.
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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Puppylocks and the
Three Bears
WHAT
IF? What if the
Three Bears were really Teddy Bears? And
What if Goldilocks was not a little girl
at all, but a golden, mischievous little
dog? That is exactly the case is this
very funny retelling of the traditional
fairytale. Watch this impish little dog
do everything wrong in the Bear's house
while the bears are off to the TEDDYBEAR
CIRCUS! Puppylocks is presented with
traditional Bohemian style marionettes on
a tabletop stage. It runs about 40
minutes and is highly recommended for
ages 3 and up. Live music and singing.
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The
Three Little Pigs
Three pigs set out to
seek their fortunes with a bit of house
building. Things don't go as planned in
this creative retelling of the
traditional story; houses collapse, pigs
and wolves play together and audience
members help the story along with lots of
live music, singing, construction and
laughter. Presented with traditional
Bohemian style marionettes on a tabletop
stage. This show runs about 40 minutes
and is recommended for ages 3 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 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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How
the Dragon Got His Horns
In this
Chinese/American tale, Rooster loans his
horns to dragon who never returns them.
This story is told with Chinese style
shadow puppets and paper cut outs and
usually culminates in an audience
assisted dragon dance with our 30 foot
dragon puppet (pictured above.)
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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.
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.
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.
In these African
American trickster tales, the clever
Br'er Rabbit survives by relying on his
wits. The stories are told with large,
direct-manipulation puppets, live banjo
music and singing and have been an
audience favorite since 1981.
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.
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.
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.
SEASONAL AND
SPECIAL OFFERINGS:
Magical Moonshine Theatre often
produces special seasonal and event
related offerings. Call for
info. 707-363-4573
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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
