Only In LA: Bob Baker Marionettes

Bob Baker Marionettes

1345 W. First St.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(213) 250-9995
More Info

Shows: Tuesday to Friday at 10:30 a.m.;  Saturday 2:30 p.m.; Sunday 2:30 p.m. The 2010 summer production, "Circus," runs until the end of September.
Cost: $20; children under 2 free.

Widely praised as a timeless throwback from the age before computers and even televisions, you can't call the show kitsch when Bob Baker and his team of puppeteers are so sincere about their craft. With the audience gathered in a circle, the puppets dance into their scenes on strings and even mix among the crowd during each performance.

According to his website, Baker started working with toy marionettes at age 8 and began making them during high school. He worked for such animation houses as George Pal Studios and Walt Disney before turning "a run-down scenic shop near downtown Los Angeles into a family entertainment institution." Baker has directed puppets alongside such legends as Elvis Presley in "G.I. Blues," Judy Garland in "A Star is Born," Angela Lansbury in "Bedknobs and Broomsticks," and even Larry, Moe and Curly-Joe in "Snow White and the Three Stooges."

See The Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry at http://www.lapuppetguild.org for more about the L.A. marionette scene.