The magical puppetry of the late Jim Henson and his company evoke sunny days sweeping the clouds away.
Things are shining pretty bright at The Center for Puppetry Arts, too. It recently opened its third Henson exhibit, "Jim Henson: Wonders From His Workshop," to run in tandem with two other long-term exhibits ("Jim Henson: A Man and His Frog" and "Jim Henson: Puppeteer"). Curated by Brad Clark, this latest addition focuses on the puppet technology Henson and his collaborators developed through the years.
"A number of these puppets have been stuffed in boxes in a great big, dusty warehouse out in New Jersey," says Cheryl Henson, Jim's daughter, Center for Puppetry Arts board member and president of the Jim Henson Foundation. "And to have these things come out, have a new life and for people to be able to see the actual, tangible, physical puppets is really so exciting."
Step inside the Center's atrium and you're welcomed by an 8-foot Big Bird puppet straight off the fictional block known as "Sesame Street." The Southern colonel puppet dating back to 1965 poses feet away from his giant bird cousin.
Puppets from the HBO series "Fraggle Rock" (Red and Mokey Fraggle) are seen performing with puppets of their own. A step or two to the right, visitors will find Emmet and Ma Otter from "Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas" sitting in a rowboat in front of a detailed Ozark Mountains-inspired mural painted by Marietta artist Tom Jordan.
"What's fascinating is that parents get just as excited as their children [about this exhibit]," Jordan says. "It's the opportunity to be associated with something that spans generations, that has a history we all know."
Set pieces and puppets from the Jim Henson-directed 1986 feature film "Labyrinth" stand among hand-painted brick walls. Sir Didymus, a chivalrous fox terrier, holds court next to the larger Four Guards, a quartet of helmet-wearing, shield-toting canines. A puffy-faced door knocker and the pit of hands scene can be found, too.
Viewers may also peek behind the scenes of TV productions "Dinosaurs," "Farscape" and the new PBS series "Sid the Science Kid," which showcases digital puppetry. And hands-on interaction comes into play as guests create characters of their own by sticking eyes, noses and other body parts onto felt heads.
"It's beautiful how they put this together," says Muppet performer Kevin Clash, best known for his role as Elmo on "Sesame Street," who attended the exhibit's recent VIP reception. "[They created] an environment for each project that was done over the years. It's such an honor. I'd love to have all of the puppeteers get on a plane and come out and see this."
In 2012, Muppet fans will hopefully be seeing more. Plans are in the works to create a proposed Jim Henson wing at the Center.
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