Shocking Puppets Storm U.S.
If you grew up watching Howdy Doody and his pals play musical chairs on Saturday morning television in the '50s or if you loved watching the Muppets cavort in the '70s, you might be surprised to learn that puppets are suddenly very hip, reports Sunday Morning correspondent Rita Braver.
Broadway has become a Puppeteria. There's the recent "Little Shop of Horrors," with its man-eating plant puppet, the long running hit the "Lion King," and "Avenue Q," the edgy send-up of post-college life that swept this year's Tony Awards and is getting its own specially designed theater in Las Vegas.
The stars of "Avenue Q" have names like Kate Monster and Trekkie Monster. They sing songs such as "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist" and "The Internet Is For Porn."
The show's creators, Jeff Marx and Bobby Lopez, note that puppets are cheaper than actors. Their show features seven actors and about 35 puppets, including a closeted homosexual.
And puppets are even becoming movie stars: Marionettes rule in the new movie "Team America: World Police," from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
In "Spiderman II," the Evil Doc Ock wreaks havoc with his four puppet octopus arms.
And then there's a new take on traditional puppetry. This spring, Jane Henson, widow of Muppet creator Jim Henson, was on hand at Maryland's Glen Echo National Park in at to inaugurate the Puppet Company Playhouse.
It's a state of the art theater, unlike any other in the nation, built just for puppets, which the dictionary defines as "inanimate objects brought to life through direct human control."
Puppets come at the audience from all sides - a catwalk about the crowd, windows to the sides, and trap doors underneath the stage.
"We've been compared to a small opera house," says puppet master Chris Piper.
The puppeteers can use foot switches to control the lighting, sound effects and even costume and set changes.
The puppeteers write the shows, and design and build all of the puppets, sets and costumes. Piper and fellow puppet masters Mayfield Piper, his wife, and Allen Stevens learned the craft while working their way up in the business.
However, you can now get a college degree - even a Masters - in puppet arts, at least at the University of Connecticut. Sounds frivolous? Well, Prof. Bart Roccoberton says puppets have played important roles throughout history.
"They represented the early gods and probably the early demons," says Roccoberton. "In medieval times the people were illiterate... so puppeteers were brought into the church and they performed the holy stories from the Bible. The nativity was performed so frequently that the puppets became known as little Marys - marionettes."
There are records of Chinese puppets performing at funerals as far back as the 7th century.
"It was only in the Sung Dynasty where you have a statement that puppets are no longer to perform for funerals because they were becoming too funny," he says. "There was too much entertainment and so the puppets moved to the streets."
It was on "Sesame Street" that Kermit and Elmo helped many of today's adults learn how to cope with life. They learned not only how to read, but lessons as diverse as how to share and what to do if there is a fire.
The creators of "Avenue Q" say their show is not really a parody of "Sesame Street."
"We started out trying to create a rulebook for kids our age, out of college, temping, answering phones. And we thought the way to do it was to go back to friendly characters, like in our youths, when we had friends on television, you know, teaching us that we were special," says Marx.
"There's something about puppets. That they can say the truth - shocking truths that no one really talks about," adds Lopez. "And instead of hearing the offensive side, since it's a puppet saying it, audiences hear the truth in it and laugh."
"All over the rest of the world, puppetry is used for adults," says Marx. "They don't have to be just for kids. Here they are, speaking to us as adults."
So watch for more puppets helping us say what we're thinking.