Behind the scenes for any exhibition at The Katonah Museum of Art the curatorial staff and leadership prepare not only for the installation but the programs that accompany them—programs for the general public, the Learning Center, school programs and docent training events.

As a docent volunteer I was recently afforded a treat—educational in nature but a fun afternoon nonetheless. 

We were shown an afternoon movie on the Art of Puppetry to introduce us to "The Art of Contemporary Puppet Theater" which will open on Feb. 28 and run until June 13.

Ellen Williams, the always enthusiastic, brilliant and sprightly head of docents, greeted us with circus-themed bags of popcorn and lemonade. We were then asked to fill out name tags with not only our names but also that of our favorite puppet. That not only brought about a feeling of nostalgia but a realization of how many puppets we knew.

I thought to go back to the oldest ones I could remember—Kukla, Fran and Ollie and then was torn between them and Lamb Chop with Shari Lewis. Then I thought of the mouse Topo Gigio that we used to watch on the Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday nights. We knew it was bedtime when Ed Sullivan tucked Topo Gigio into his own little bed. There was festivity in the air!

We all commented on how exhilarating it is to take yet another intellectual ride with the museum as they introduce us with great depth to yet another topic of exploration. To go from the study of Walt Whitman and American art of the Civil War to puppetry—a definite brain tease and adjustment.

Setting the tone was fellow docent Paul Gherson who did something quite entrancing. He very quietly sat down and played musical themes which featured puppets on a musical saw. It was a wonderful selection of music. He told us all of the pieces had a connection with puppets or dolls.

"My first encounter with this instrument was in Indiana about 30 years ago, where a musical saw artist (then in his late 70s) performed at Purdue University. I managed to visit him later at his home, and he gave me my first and only lesson in playing. However, I did not play often, since I had a very busy engineering career. 

"Three years ago I retired from engineering and picked up the old hobby.  Currently I am playing regularly at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White 
Plains, as part of their Therapeutic Recreation Program. For every 
appearance I prepare a new selection of songs, and this allows me to explore 
the limits of the musical saw capability, and at the same time it enriches 
my musical education. In the past couple of years I also participated in 
musical saw festivals (the largest ones are in NYC and Los Angeles), played 
at nursing homes, coffee shops, poetry clubs, in short any where there 
was an opportunity..."

(Contact me if you are interested in having Paul perform for an event.)

I later learned from him that the saws are made in Minnesota and France. The prices can range from $40-500.

The first melody was the musical theme for the 1953 Oscar winning movie "Lili" starring Leslie Caron and Mel Ferrer.  You may remember the refrain: "Hi Lili, Hi Lili, Hi Lo."

He then played the ballad from the ballet "Coppelia" (music by Leo Delibes). Paul told us it was from a scene where a young lad falls in love with a beautiful puppet he saw on a balcony.

The next two pieces were from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker: "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" and then "The Chinese Dance." Sugar plums were indeed dancing in our heads although we were in February!

Paul concluded with a Disney classic from the 1940 film "Pinocchio" which became the iconic theme for the Walt Disney Company—"When You Wish Upon A Star" sung by Jiminy Cricket (voice of Cliff Edwards)

The music cleansed our minds from the daily grind and took us to a level of playfulness. We were ready for the movie.

The film Puppetry: Worlds of Imagination introduced us to Basil Twist, Michael Curry, Ralph Lee, Janie Geiser, Cheryl Henson and Leslee Asch, who is the head curator for the show. We learned that a puppet can be any material that is given life through movement by the puppeteer.  Puppetry can be the movement of fabric through water or pageant puppetry (which is man-or should I say people-powered.)

Chinese New Year parades are perhaps the form with which we are most familiar. There is also puppetry on stilts with characters dressed in flowing costumes and masks. We learned that gymnasts make the best pageant puppet walkers since they have the rhythm and stamina for the job! The most well known example of pageant puppetry today is the Oscar-winning work of puppet designer and choreographer Michael Curry in The Lion King on Broadway. We learned that Ralph Lee was the founder of the famous Greenwich Village Halloween Parade and that it takes a year of preparation to stage the parade.

Several of these artists will have works at the Katonah Museum of Art exhibition and some will be giving adult puppet performances! For families there will be a fun-filled Family Day featuring Theo from Behind the Lions TV show.  There is also an event being planned that will have giant puppets created at the museum parade through a Metro-North train from Grand Central Station to Katonah.

Next week-may the lectures begin! We have two weeks of lectures and slide shows to enjoy and sheets of notes to study to prepare for the public and schools that will visit.

For more information click here.