Illusions help make puppets look real
By definition, a marionette is a "small-scale wooden figure with jointed limbs that is moved by manipulating the attached strings or wires."
But veteran puppeteer Ralph Kipniss says he adds stage illusions that give his young audiences the sense the marionettes are real.
He's in Aurora this month for productions of "The Wizard of Oz" and "Pinocchio" at the Copley Theatre.
He recently talked with us about the art form, history and enjoyment he's gotten from his puppets.
Q. Did you always want to be a puppeteer?
A. I did. I remember going to Marshal Fields in Chicago when Burr Tillstrom, later the creator of Kukla, Fran and Ollie, was there selling puppets. Every Saturday, he and his mother would have a marionette theater in the toy department. I bought some of my first puppets there.
Q. How did you become interested in marionettes?
A. My mother was an opera singer and my father a violinist, who later became a doctor. They came from Russia when they were 11 and 13.
The company originated in Kiev, Russia, in roughly 1815. It has been in my family since then. My grandfather was a carpenter and worked as a puppeteer. My family encouraged my interest since I was part of the Adler family of actors.
Q. How large are your puppets?
A. The ones we will use at the Copley Theatre in Aurora will be 30 inches on 8-foot strings and weigh about 10 to 20 pounds each because they are made of wood. We have 4,000 marionettes.
Q. Does a puppeteer choreograph his or her movements, or do you watch the puppets and make the necessary movements?
A. When you operate the puppet, you become the puppet. Your concentration is complete into the marionette. If you move too much on the platform it would shake.
Q. How many people work the puppets? How far up is the scaffolding you stand on?
A. There are four of us working the puppets and we work at about 6 feet high. We work from both sides of the 12-foot wide bridge with two 6-foot walk-ons. There are two sets that go back to one-point perspective that make the puppets look very large. The sets are all done in scale to the puppets so their environment is perfect illusion.
Q. How do you keep all the strings in proper order?
A. You have to be careful what you do. The strings are on a control that is balanced and tightened much like a harp for each performance. In an embrace, you have to make sure the one puppet brings his arm out and around the other.
Q. Who makes the puppets?
A. We do. I built many, but my late partner of 37 years, Lou Ennis, built some and did some carving.
Q. Do you change the clothes on a puppet, or is that a whole new puppet?
A. It is a different puppet. We have two costume changes and two complete sets of puppets.
Q. Do you write your own scripts?
A. The script for "The Wizard of Oz" was specially written for us with the approval of the L. Frank Baum family. We premiered it in 1965 in Chicago and the family came to see the show and said we had taken great care in presenting it.
Q. How do small children react to the puppets?
A. Little children will come up and talk to the puppets. They love it and become lost in the illusion of the puppet theater.
Q. Do you teach others to be puppeteers?
A. We teach at Pulaski Park in Chicago and have classes starting in February. We hope to again have our own theater in Chicago so that we can teach Art Theater.
Q. What is your favorite scene in "The Wizard of Oz" and in "Pinocchio?"
A. I actually have two favorites in "Oz" -- the forest that comes up through the floor of the stage and Munchkin Land, which goes back about eight wings to the back of the set. In "Pinocchio," my favorites are the puppet show within the show and the scene inside the whale.
Q. Would you define your job as a happy one?
A. The joy the children give me with the shows we do is like having a wonderful pet you love so much. I love to work and hear the reaction of the audience and the enjoyment they get out of it.
If you go
What: The Royal European Marionette Theatre
When: 11 a.m. Saturday, Wednesday and Feb. 16 for "The Wizard of Oz"; 11 a.m. Feb. 16, 20, 23, 27 and March 1 for "Pinocchio"
Where: Copley Theatre, 8 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora
Tickets: $12; $16 with pizza party Saturdays
Details: Recommended for children in kindergarten through fourth grade
Info: www.thenationalmarionettecompanyofchicago.com