arts·meme goes to ‘The Circus’ 1

Reviews · Theater


It’s the eternal cliche … .”fun for kids of all ages.” But hey, half the experience comes from watching a show with little ones. And they are a great audience.

Legendary puppeteer Bob Baker‘s “The Circus,” a classic marionette revue now on at Bob Baker Marionette Theater, has been specially restaged for summer viewing — obviously great for families but we oldsters had a ball at the Saturday matinee too. The show just revels in innocent fun.

It’s a soft parade of hip-hopping, frolicking, dancing creatures, many of them four-legged. They skitter (and even skateboard) around their comfortable playing ground at Baker’s, whose building is also Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Landmark #958.

Carnival barkers, jugglers, a calliope, and a few finely feathered ostriches find their way into the mix. The hour-long high-energy spectacle includes 100 puppets on view. It is a torrent of joy.

A favorite was the splendid tightrope walker, seen in the photo with arts·meme‘s Debra Levine. Animating this brave puppet is the senior-most of Baker’s agile, fleet-footed marionette artists, with sixteen years of shadow-dancing behind puppets under his belt.

Show is enlivened by a fun soundscore including “Send in the Clowns.”

Highly recommended.

The Circus | Bob Baker Marionette Theatre | tickets 

One comment on “arts·meme goes to ‘The Circus’

  1. julie McDonald Jun 27,2017 11:56 am

    Thanks Debra, for taking me to the little puppet circus.. It was so charming and there is nothing else like it in LA. I highly recommend seeing this.

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