For Bob Baker Marionette Theater, 'Choo Choo Revue' is more than a show. It's a statement

The Bob Baker Marionette Theater was astir to debut its archetypal caller accumulation successful 45 years, and it was uncertain whether 1 of the show’s signature caller puppets would adjacent work. A pelican, with an oversized bucket-like beak, was successful request of last-minute maintenance.

This gangly bird, designed to hop, skip, soar and sing to Clarence Henry’s mid-’50s bushed and blues deed “Ain’t Got No Home,” was expected to astonishment the audience, arsenic its elongated measure is really hiding a frog. Getting the pelican-frog duo to execute successful unison was a feat of mechanical artistry for the team, not to notation the choreography needed by the puppeteer.

And successful the minutes earlier showtime, manager Alex Evans was trying to enactment calm. In specified moments, helium would accidental later, helium lone request punctual himself of an aged adage successful the puppet arts.

“Puppets,” helium says, “break each the time.”

With that, helium was acceptable to clasp the unknown.

“I ever accidental I emotion the chaos of unrecorded theater,” Evans says. “We got to judge successful this thing.”

“Choo Choo Revue,” the latest successful a agelong enactment of song-and-dance productions, is arriving astatine a momentous clip for the Bob Baker Marionette Theater. Just past period the troupe announced its intent to acquisition its venue connected Highland Park’s York Boulevard for $5 million, doing truthful arsenic it was gearing up for performances astatine the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The second went viral, a information Evans attributes to galore of the archetypal week shows of “Choo Choo Revue” selling out.

An organist plays portion radical record into the premiere of “Choo Choo Revue” astatine the Bob Baker Marionette Theater.

In galore ways, “Choo Choo Revue” is simply a connection piece. Evans, who besides serves arsenic co-executive manager with Mary Fagot, wants to spot the spotlight connected the theater’s existent harvest of artists, fabricators and collaborators. While the amusement pays tribute successful galore ways to the theater’s legendary namesake founder, possibly astir notably successful its usage of his vintage grounds collection, it’s time, Evans says, for the Bob Baker Marionette Theater’s adjacent procreation to shine.

Evans was instrumental successful the determination to displacement the squad distant from the antecedently announced accumulation of “Arabian Nights,” a task erstwhile spearheaded by Baker, who died successful 2014. Just up of the accomplishment of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the theatre had gone truthful acold arsenic to people an “Arabian Nights” program, and had finished sets and puppets acceptable to go.

“Choo Choo Revue” is the archetypal caller Bob Baker Marionette amusement since 1981’s “Hooray LA!”

During the forced closure, however, the squad began to rethink its future. “It was a deep-breath clip to bash immoderate interior reasoning astir who we are and what we privation to prioritize,” says Evans, who joined the institution successful 2007 arsenic a unpaid and became a staffer successful 2009.

“The archetypal caller amusement successful 40 years — america finishing 1 of Bob’s shows would person been profoundly idiosyncratic and meaningful, but it would person kept the narrative, internally and externally, that this was 1 person’s vision,” Evans says. “‘Choo Choo’ is the culmination of truthful galore antithetic ideas and people. It was purposefully astir opening the floodgates, that Bob Baker could beryllium much than conscionable the idiosyncratic of Bob Baker.”

It wasn’t a definite happening the Bob Baker Marionette Theater would adjacent scope this milestone. For overmuch of the past decennary — since astir the decease of the theater’s patriarch — the communicative surrounding the theatre was 1 of survival.

In 2019, the Bob Baker Marionette Theater needed a lifeline. Forced retired of its edge-of-downtown location of much than 55 years, the beloved troupe with its thousands of handcrafted puppets — a saucy achromatic feline successful heels, a food retired of h2o that can’t assistance but wiggle — yet recovered a caller determination successful a Highland Park theater, wherever it signed a 10-year lease.

Then came the pandemic, erstwhile the theatre relied heavy connected assemblage fundraising to screen its rent. California, and Hollywood successful particular, has a affluent puppetry tradition. Bob Baker Marionette Theater likes to notation to itself arsenic the largest ongoing puppet theatre successful the U.S. The oldest puppet abstraction successful the state resides up northbound successful Oakland astatine amusement parkland Children’s Fairyland. And successful 2020, Bob Baker recovered it had galore fans, asking astatine 1 constituent to rise $365,000 implicit the people of a year. It did truthful successful 4 weeks.

Old favorites, including the theater’s famed achromatic feline marionette, marque appearances successful “Choo Choo Revue.”

But it was the agelong process of buying its home, namely the content that it would beryllium successful Highland Park to stay, that gave the institution the assurance that it could spell guardant with a caller show. The evident question, of course, is wherefore it took 40 years for a wholly caller Bob Baker experience. Evans gives a agelong answer, pointing to galore hurdles, beryllium it the displacement successful locations, the outgo of preserving its historical puppets and collection, arsenic good arsenic conscionable managing priorities.

“It’s not needfully a fiscal hurdle,” Evans says, noting “Choo Choo Revue” outgo $300,000, with astir fractional of that sum dedicated to the instauration of caller puppets and scenery.

“I deliberation it was much astir priorities,” Evans says. “Like, bash we get the unit healthcare first, oregon bash we bash a caller amusement first? So we got the unit healthcare. Or bash we springiness the signifier amended lighting.”

As for however and wherefore the squad settled connected “Choo Choo Revue” arsenic its archetypal accumulation since 1981’s “Hooray LA!,” Evans says not to overthink it.

“It made maine giggle,” helium says. “It was a jumping disconnected constituent to imagination. ‘Choo Choo Revue,’ by sanction itself, I thought to giggle.”

The amusement is simply a fantastical practice of a cross-country bid trip, filled with adorable puppet trains.

A meticulously elaborate log with windows, for instance, oregon a car that seems to equilibrium natural, mountainous wonders connected its back. They’re colorful playthings, astatine slightest until the inheritance scenery starts depicting assorted locomotive styles. Puppeteers volition whisk bid cars retired into the open, each often lodging a fantastical carnal — a moose, for instance, who takes a interruption from knitting to prance astir to a rendition of the on-theme accepted blues ditty “Midnight Special.”

Behind it each are tens of thousands of hours of handcrafted proficiency. Each caller puppet is simply a enactment of art. Take, for instance, a swarm of bats that seemed to glow successful the acheronian (the creatures, created for “Choo Choo Revue,” made their debut during past year’s Halloween season).

The Bob Baker Marionette Theater created much than 100 caller puppets for “Choo Choo Revue,” including a pelican hiding a frog successful its beak.

Or an intricately elaborate cicada band. They’re each playing tiny instruments — 1 a half-open sardine can, different a stringed matchbook. Their wings merit a adjacent inspection, arsenic the translucent curved fixtures are inspired by stained solid windows. There are trees that ski, and bid whistles with large lips and precocious heels, modeled aft harmony radical the Andrews Sisters. Wait till the second toot disconnected their tops, arsenic each of the 100 caller puppets is afloat of surprises.

“We get a clump of antithetic artists together, and we each brainstorm,” Evans says of the instauration process. “Like, ‘Let’s each deliberation for a 2nd astir anthropomorphizing trains.’ We did a bid of sketches and showed them to each other. I honestly astir apt person a 1000 antithetic fascinating ideas for bid movement.”

On opening night, the assemblage claps on to the numbers, cheering with delight astatine each caller portion of whimsy that rolls oregon soars onto the floor-level stage. And arsenic for the showstopping pelican, the frog erupts retired of its beak close connected cue, a infinitesimal that so inspires a circular of laughter and childlike awe.

As the imaginary bid whisks the puppets astir the country, the amusement manages to physique anticipation conscionable by making the assemblage wonderment what comes next. Say, for instance, a fluffy Sasquatch, oregon a crooner of a satellite successful pajamas singing an old-timey lullaby to each the small ones seated cross-legged connected the floor.

Puppeteer Ginger Duncan twirls a marionette named Comedy.

Much of “Choo Choo Revue,” similar the yawning, serenading moon, is rooted successful the euphony of the past. That was a determination made to guarantee the amusement feels successful enactment with earlier Bob Baker works. Yet Evans says the squad is emboldend aft Coachella to commencement tackling much modern songs astatine its Highland Park headquarters. The assemblage astatine the Indio festival, for instance, went chaotic for the puppets swooning to Ben Platt’s screen of Addison Rae’s deed tune “Diet Pepsi.”

“Honestly, if we had done Coachella past year, it would person pushed ‘Choo Choo’ further,” helium says, noting helium initially feared popular euphony could distract. “I didn’t deliberation it could enactment successful a mode that wouldn’t propulsion you retired of the show.”

And yet Evans doesn’t privation to get up of himself. He astir teared up astatine the extremity of the “Choo Choo Revue” premiere, saying the pursuing day that seeing this amusement travel unneurotic aft aggregate years was 2nd lone to his 2025 wedding successful presumption of creating an “overwhelming feeling of pride, emotion and care.”

“Choo Choo Revue” culminates successful a look toward the future. That’s erstwhile a sleek, silver, oversized high-speed slug bid arrives connected the scene.

It tin beryllium work arsenic a metaphor.

While the nonprofit is inactive seeking donor assistance — astatine the premiere, Fagot said the institution present has secured $4.7 cardinal toward its $5 cardinal extremity of buying the theatre and it besides hopes to rise an further $2 cardinal for gathering upgrades — its aboriginal is much unafraid than it has been astatine immoderate clip implicit the past decade.

At agelong last, the Bob Baker Marionette Theater tin unbend and look toward caller horizons.

Evans, for instance, can’t assistance himself excitedly tease a imaginable adjacent Bob Baker show. He says doubly successful the interrogation that the Olympics are connected the troupe’s mind.

“We’ve got 2 years,” helium says. And present the imperishable location to location it.