The Raynor family of Bristol, Indiana knows the true meaning
of being hired “with strings attached.”
The puppeteers perform year round with the famous Steven’s Puppets show.
“Marionettes are just puppets with strings,” says Dan as he sets up the stage
and arranges the
marionettes for the local production of “Cinderella.” Neither he nor his family
gets upset with
people incorrectly refer to marionettes as puppets. They just enjoy creating
the magic of it all
and sharing it with thousands of appreciative audiences. Dan and his wife, Zan,
have been doing
just that for eight years. “We call them puppets. They are just a specific kind
of puppet,” he says. Dan,
a native of California with a background in theater got into the business by
answering a newspaper ad
when he and his young bride moved back to her hometown. Bristol is the home
of the internationally
famous Steven’s Puppets. He was hired to carry on the historical shows that
have entertained audiences
throughout the world, including children in schools, festivals, and even royal
palaces. Steven’s was
a recipient of the Peabody Award for his original show, The Toymaker. His wife,
Margie’s paintings
are still displayed at the Bristol Opera House and one is still at the Detroit
Institute of Art, Dan notes.
The marionettes are the very same hand-carved characters, save for a few, that
have been used since
1949 and 1950. They are smaller versions of the almost life-size originals created
in 1933 by Martin Stevens.
Not only are the marionettes the originals, the sets and recorded voices are
those of Martin and Maggie
Stevens, who died mysterious deaths, but not before they had trained Elton and
June Hummel, who, in turn,
trained the Raynors. “We are gradually redoing the recordings,” he says. “Some
of the material is
outdated and politically incorrect.” This night, Dan is honoring the special
request by the Westchester
Public Library to present “Cinderella,” which is not this year’s show. There
is no mean step-mother in
this script, just two step-sisters. “Steve (referring to Martin) didn’t realize
how clever and truly insightful
he was when he wrote this script,” he continues, adding that Martin loved his
mother and would not want
to imply that step mothers would not be as kind as birth mothers. “He was always
called Steve,” Dan adds.
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is no longer politically correct,” Dan continues.
“We adapted the script.”
According to Dan, Steve founded the Puppeteers of America and one of Steve’s
protégés was Jim Hensen,
of the Muppets and Sesame Street fame. Hansen put together the idea of puppets
controlled by strings.
Puppeteer Bill Baird was another protégé. Baird is best known for the puppet
scene in
“The Sound of Music” movie. Dan handles the aging marionettes with care. They
are wrapped individually
in cloth cases. As he unwraps each marionette, he hangs it on the side of the
stage, placing it where he can
quickly reach it when it is necessary. “This is the new Fairy Godmother,” he
says taking out a tiny blue
colored marionette that looks something like Tinker Bell in the Disney version
of Peter Pan. “She was
reconstructed by Zan,” he adds. He carefully unwinds the strings and hangs her
on a special hangar above
the front curtain. The original Fair Godmother simply wore out. Remember this
are very old marionettes that
are handled with much care. “I try to keep everything the same as possible,”
Zan says. Restoration takes a lot
of time, and sometimes, she has to do some quick fixes. One time she had to
replace all the leather hands on the
puppets before the show. “We found out that mice especially like leather,” she
says. “We now pack everything
in plastic tubs.” Zan is the person who does the reconstruction of all the marionettes,
paints the sets, and is chief
assistant, although she also is now completing her masters degree in Canon law.
Because she is continuing her
studies, on scholarship, in Washington D.C., the family will soon be relocating
there. Dan will be moving his show
to the East Coast and hiring a new replacement to continue his shows in the
Midwest. However, much to their daughters’
delight, he will return to Indiana for some of his family’s favorite bookings,
including the Oz Festival in Chesterton.
Tonight Magnolia, 4, and Paisley, 9, help prepare the set-up, at times stop
to do cartwheels, or just watch the marionettes
being unwrapped. They watch as Lizard stretches his limbs. “I often have at
least one, or all of them in tow when I do a
show,” Dan says, adding that the children are home schooled, and family togetherness
is a priority for the Raynors.
Tonight Daniel is missing. He is celebrating his birthday with his grandmother
and his friends at a hotel with a swimming
pool. “I got to be the voice of a boy,” says Paisley, who then shows her gymnastic
skills. Her voice was one of those used
in the “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” adapted by Dan. Voices are easy enough to recruit.
The Raynors own and operate the
Mousetrap Production Theatre in Bristol. “The puppets are our bread and butter,
the theater is our love,” says Zan,
adding that they will be opening at the end of April with “Egad What A Cad,”
a melodrama. It is almost show time.
Dan goes out in front of the audience to introduce himself and talk about his
show. The lights dim and the stage lights
brighten. The children, (Magnolia and Paisley included) become mesmerized. Oops!
One of the puppets -Lizard - falls
from its stand onto the stage, and the curtain drops. Within only a couple of
minutes, the curtain raises and the show
goes on. Later, after the show, Zan says Dan is the world’s fastest untangler
of strings on the puppets. However, Dan says
he can count on one hand the number of times that this has happened in any of
the shows. Most untangling he has done is
when the puppets are taken out of storage, he says. He performs between 400-500
shows annually. Quite a record, without
mishaps. Dan says the most difficult trick is keeping the puppets’ feet on the
floor, so they are not just floating through the
air. With the show over, Dan goes out front of the stage, answers questions
and introduces his family. He also invites the
audience to take a peek backstage before the family begins striking the set.
“This might appear a glamorous lifestyle, but
it is hard work and demands that you love the business,” Dan says. His love,
and his family’s love is apparent, not only in
the performances, but in their appreciation of each other off stage. Contact
the Raynors at (219) 848-4288,
or E-mail [email protected]. or fax (219) 848-4019.