Halloween theater fare has never been better than the Kathy Burks Theater of Puppetry Arts' presentation of Hoot Owl Hootenanny, created in 1992 by troupe members Ted Kincaid, Sally Fiorello, Patricia Long, Kathy Burks, and B. Wolf.
At 45 minutes with no intermission, this is a manageable show for children as young as four years old. The youngsters delight in the quirky characters, with their brightly-colored costumes and frantic antics, while their parents and grandparents recognize some old favorites. The little green man, Mr. Grott, winds up the victrola as he lipsyncs "Falling in Love Again" in German. The kiddies chuckle, the parents delight in his campy crooning, and the seniors fondly remember Marlene Dietrich. There is also a larger-than-life Carmen Miranda puppet singing in her inimitable Latin style.
Three doors open, and out of each one, respectively, pops a Skeleton in a bikini, a pair of bright Red Lips reciting the Jabberwocky from Alice in Wonderland, and a Pumpkin. Suddenly a Hoot Owl flies out of the Pumpkin and enters into a chase with the little green man to the background of swing music.
The older children delight in some corny knock-knock jokes between Buford and Mavis: "What's the best kind of stew to serve at Halloween?" Answer: "Goulash". (get it?) We older types smile reminiscently as the little green man dives down a barrel and arrives at an underwater night club where the Whale sisters are performing (think the Andrews Sisters) and a worm on a hook lip syncs a Louis Armstrong recording of Mack the Knife. And there's lots more where this came from.
Kathy Burks Theatre of Puppetry Arts was founded by its namesake in 1973. It is one of a handful of puppet theaters in the country devoted to all styles of puppetry, including "black theater rod puppetry," which originated in Europe. Puppets perform in a stream of light, but the puppeteers are invisible through the use of black hoods, robes, and gloves. The puppets perform with no strings attached.
