The End?: Austin Drama Club and Geppetto Dreams

Received directly, news that:

• Officials of the City of Austin have ordered Japhy Fernandes and associates in the informal Austin Drama Club to stop offering public performances at the frame house just off E. 7th Street that they've been using since 2003. Last night Fernandes informed the cast, who had been preparing Romeo and Juliet for three weekends of performances beginning April 15. Prospects are dim and uncertain for this underground, underfunded and underappreciated group of Shakespeare lovers.(UPDATE, April 7: The City of Austin has handled this in a very cool way. . . .There is a ray of hope that we might find a new space. Maybe by the fall we'll be doing shows again. [No further information])

• Ricki Vincent is disbanding the Geppetto Dreams puppet company performance troupe. He writes, "After much soul searching and some craziness I can’t go into just yet, I've decided to disband our performance troupe. I'll be taking down the website Geppettodreams.com at the end of May and since there doesn't seem to be light at the end of the funding tunnel I will most likely be closing Geppetto Dreams at the end of this year… That being the case, a lot of our puppets from past shows are for sale. Some are up on E-bay for auction. Others are here at a set price if you'd like to haggle. All these puppets were made with a lot of care & love and are for sale cheap-cheap-cheap! So check it out and see if there's anything you can use for your shows... Also I still will be building/ writing/designing custom shows and single puppets for other people so if you don't see anything you like let me know what you're looking for and i'll build it just for you... The only limits are your Imagination... Oh... And your budget. For those who wish to keep up with my art or need to contact me at admin AT geppettodreams.com or just go to my Youtube Channel."

Upcoming: The Death Show, Geppetto Dreams Puppet Company at the Off Center, March 20 - 21

Received directly, from Ricki Vincent of the now-defunct Geppetto Dreams Puppet Company:

After losing their beloved Eastside Art Center , Geppetto Dreams returns to Austin with a brand new show funded in part by the COA and The Texas Commission of the Arts, as well as the last donation from long time benefactor Steve Spencer:

The Death Show
Saturday, March 20 at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., Sunday, March 21 at noon and 1:30 p.m.
The Off Center, 2211 Hidalgo St.

is GDPC’s first collaboration with Austin’s music scene favorites That Damned Band, and it'[s unlike anything they’ve presented before. This unique puppet operetta is a mixture of 7 vignettes, some dark and deep, some introspective, and some quite silly. But all of them deal with that most final of curtains. And all of them underscored by the haunting sounds of That Damned Band, an accordion-driven group of multi-talented songsters who pay musical tribute to eastern European, Yiddish, and old-time vaudevillian-era music and styles. Video cameras trained on the stage action will give the audience up-close views of the detail of each puppet as well as the artistry of puppeteers and musicians at work. The show runs 50 minutes, followed by a 10 minute Q and A to satisfy the curiosity of audience members who want a closer look at how the show operates.

The Troupe is performing at their favorite venue, The Off Center located at 2211 Hidalgo Austin 78702. Opening Night is March 20th with 2 shows at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Ticket’s are $12.00 in advance or 1$5.00 the day of the show. Sunday there will be two Pay-What-You-Can Matinees at noon and at1 p.m.

“Pay what you can literally means that,” say’s GDPC Director Ricki (Geppetto) Vincent. “If all you have is a buck and a stick of gum you’re in the door! We want all of Austin to be able to take part in and enjoy our puppety madness!” Seating is limited and advance tickets are suggested.




To purchase online go to http://www.geppettodreams.com/death.htm and http://www.myspace.com/thedeathshow3.20.10 through Pay Pal.

Garage Sale at Geppetto Dreams, September 19-20 and 25-27, 1715 E. 7th Street

Received directly:

Due to the rapidly failing health of our largest benefactor, and the scarcity of grants in the failing economy, Geppetto Dreams Puppet Company is forced to close its doors September 27th 2009.

In the same month that we received our first critics choice for “best place for fluffy dreams” in the Best of Austin edition from our good friends at the Chronicle. Can you spell irony?


But although we will no longer be able to run our workshops, films series, and kids programs, we will still be performing. So help us out by coming to a Garage Sale with items so eclectic, so cool, and so weird you could only find it in Austin ! Make your own fluffy dreams!

On sale from our coffers, stage props, stage risers, light board & dimmer box, folding chairs, tons of blank sock and muppet style puppets, tons of finished sock and muppet style puppets, puppet mouth mechanisms and other assorted puppet guts and pieces, the kids' puppet theater, flats, costumes, doll wigs, glass eyes, etc.


Unfortunately we are also forced to sell of most of our professional puppets from our Goblin Show.

As well as the puppets and rigging from our burlesque puppet show “A Night at Miss Mimi’s.”


Our black light pirate show The Dead Pirate Society and assorted black light/shadow puppets are all up for sale

There is a ton of craft Items such as fun foam, scissors, paints, felt, fabrics, amazing faux fur, pompoms, glue guns, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, sock/muppet puppet fixins, how to and art reference books, office equipment, cameras, video editing computer, work tables, Geppetto Dreams DVDs, show posters, grab bags, a chafing dish, a case of clear plastic forks, an almost new BBQ/smoker, and about 30 evil teddy bears. And that’s just what we’ve put out so far!

In fact there’s so much stuff, and due to the landlady wanting us out in 3 weeks we have added an early extra weekend, so from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sept 19-20 and again on the 25 and 26th at 1715 E 7th St, 78702. You can help us with our quest to bring great puppet theater to the people and visitors of Austin, as all proceeds will help us pay our bills and finance our two upcoming shows.


For info/press photos/ questions, or if you’re a millionaire in need of saving a non-profit you can contact Ricki at admin@geppettodreams.com or 438 4632 in Austin.

Love your face Austin

A Farewell: Geppetto Dreams

Received directly:

Cutting right to the chase

Due to the rapidly failing health of our largest benefactor, and the scarcity of grants in the failing economy, Geppetto Dreams Puppet Company is forced to close its doors September 27, 2009.

We have had an amazing and memorable 2 years in Austin and wish to thank all of you who supported our quest to bring Puppetry arts to you fine folks.

Although we will be ending our workshops, we do plan to perform two farewell performances, the first (as a troupe with a Puppet Operetta collaboration with Austin’s That Damned Band) in winter of 09 and 1 more in January 2010 which will be my personal final performance as a puppeteer with a show based on the last hours of the life of Dr Hunter S Thompson. Both of these shows were in pre-production stage so we’d like to still perform them for you before we go. We’ll make sure we send out the dates and hope that you will attend.


Also we will be having an all day Garage sale Saturday September 26th to sell off a lot of the chairs, tables, art supplies, workshop equipment, and movie editing computers, art, puppets, props, and toys. WE will be holding it at the center 1715 E 7th st on Austin ’s Eastside. The money raised will go to stage the last two shows and pay the rest of the bills.

On a personal note, for those who didn’t know I don’t live in Austin , I live outside of Dallas. Because Dallas has Ricki issues, and no sense of humor, I’ve spent the last 2½ years making that long three hour trek through the hills to share my dreams with this incredible city. You were worth every mile… even the summer the air conditioning went out in my truck. So because of that I’d like to say thank you for all the love, friends, and general weirdness I’ve found in this town. If you have any questions on the garage sale or the upcoming farewell performances please call me at 512 358 4632 Wed – Sat…

Love your faces Austin



Ricki (Geppetto) Vincent
Artistic Director
And the rest of the troupe
of the
Geppetto Dreams Puppet Company

Puppetry Classes: Merlin Works and Geppetto Dreams, July - August

These opportunities popped up in the in-box:

Saturday, July 5 and following
Geppetto Dreams Puppet Company Offers Families Inexpensive Summer Puppet-Making Workshops (other courses for adults listed in "Read More" continuation below)

With summer now in full swing, Geppetto Dreams Puppet Theatre offers an inexpensive, twice-monthly family entertainment option to get the kids out of the house and into using their creative skills. On the first and third Sunday of each month, the puppet experts of Geppetto Dreams will host puppet-making workshops for Austin-area children and their families.

Beginning July 5th, Central Texas children will have an opportunity to learn puppetry and entertainment skills. The workshops are designed for different ages, with an emphasis on imagination and creativity.

Workshops include:
- Paper Puppets: ages 4 and up - price: $4 to $8
- Sock Puppets: ages 8 and up - price $6 to $10
- Trash Puppets: ages 8 and up - price $4 to $8
- Glove Puppets ages 6 and up - price $4 to $8
- Deco-Puppets ages 12 and up - price $9 to $18
- Trash Toys ages 5 and up - price $4 to $8

Prices are suggested donations, and parents or guardians must accompany their children. The workshops will be conducted from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with expert workshop leaders who are leading professional puppet makers.

And in order to “give back to their community” of East Austin, workshops are free-of-charge to families living in the 78702 ZIP Code. However, space is limited, and reservations are suggested.
In addition, special workshops are also available - free-of-charge - to non-profit organizations serving children. Geppetto Dreams is located at 1715 East 7th Street, at the corner of E. 7th and Chicon. For more information and reservations - and to confirm age-specific workshop dates - call (512) 358-4632 or visit www.GeppettoDreams.com.











= = = =

Saturday July 11th 12pm - 3pm
IMPROV WITH PUPPETS! with Sara Farr

Puppets mania is sweeping the nation and improvisers are catching the bug, too! In this 3 hour workshop we'll play with the basics of puppet manipulation (eye contact, breath, emotion, etc.), before we get into some improv games & scenes to explore how improvising with puppets can get you closer to PLAY and out of your head. A fun class to take, whether you're looking to expand your improv tool-belt with puppets, or just looking for a fun afternoon with puppets. $25

About the Teacher: Sara Farr is currently the sound improviser for Get Up, and has been performing with them for over 2 years. In addition to creating improved scorse for Get Up shows, she has scored "Cochise," "Ka-Baam," "Improvised Shakespeare," "Start Trekkin" and "Cops & Lawyers". She has improvised on stage with other improv troupes including "Haunted," "The Pom-Pom Sisterhood," "The Flying Theater Machine," "The Leading Brands" and "Wooden Nickel". Sara occasionally performs in "Maestro" - a short-form, elimination style improv show at The Hideout Theatre. In January 2009, she created the Puppet Improv Project and dedicated the year to focusing her improv around puppets.

Click for more information about Merlin Works.






Read more at AustinLivetheatre.com . . . .

Summer Puppet Program: Geppetto Dreams Seeking Kids (10 weeks, free of charge!)

Received from Ricki on May 1:

Geppetto Dreams Puppet Company is looking for 20 kids between 12 and 16 for their Stop Motion Puppet Program, “Ghost Stories.” The kids will be split into teams of five; each team will work on their own 2 minute short stop motion film based on the ghost story theme.

This program is designed to teach a full range of stop motion puppetry arts. Storyboarding, scripting, puppet design/construction, music, set design, filming and editing.

The project runs 10 weeks, starting June 11, the workshops will be held Wednesday/Thursday from 11am to 5pm.

The first week will be an orientation and brainstorming sessions the next six weeks will be devoted to production, puppet and stage design and construction, the final three weeks will be editing and DVD transfer. We intend to make sure that everyone gets a chance to work all aspects of their production.

The end of the program culminates with three showings of their films, which will be offered free to the public. The showings will be held at a local venue, preferably the Long Center , and each participant will receive a copy of their film.

It is our hope that this program will provide an artistic outlet for kids giving them a chance to try a variety of different art forms at one time. Drawing, sculpture, painting, and movement are all incorporated into the program. It also teaches them to work together as a team. All our programs are an exercise in the teamwork between director, stage techs, puppeteers, and puppets. As with a machine, all parts must work in unison in order to turn out the best product possible.

The educational benefits include writing, science, and math skills. Finally it provides all the participants with a deep sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when a project comes together and you take your bows in front of an applauding audience.

Thanks to extra funding from the city the program is provided free of charge to kids from or visting the Austin Community. Spaces are filling up fast so interested kids should write a short pitch (idea) for a two minute ghost movie and send it to admin@geppettodreams.com by the deadline May 30^th, 2009. If you have any questions please feel free to email us or call 512 358 4632.

Thanks for your time,

Ricki Vincent

Artistic Director

Geppetto Dreams Puppet Company

1715 E 7^th st

Austin, TX 78702

www.geppettodreams.com

This project is funded and supported in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.

Geppetto Dreams Open House, March 21 - 22

Received March 10 from Ricki Vincent:

Geppetto Dreams Open House
March 21 and 22

You’re invited to help us celebrate the opening of our new Puppetry Arts Center . Yes, friends, no longer will we be known as the puppet place behind the Peacock Lounge, as we’re now at 1715 E 7th St. Austin TX 78702.

So please join us Saturday, March 21st from 6 to 11pm for our art show “The Puppets of Geppetto Dreams,” a presentation of 10 years of the puppets, toys, music, and live performance from Geppetto and his fellow puppet geeks.

Then come back with the whole family on Sunday, March 22nd for a big open house and BBQ. There will be free paper and sock puppet workshops, a theater to try out your new creations, a puppet story time, and free BBQ.

This is our way letting you know all the cool and exciting things we have planned for this summer, make some new friends, and also a way to say thanks to everyone who has supported us for the past two years.

For more info please feel free to contact us at admin@geppettodreams.com or call us at 512 358- 4632.

Hope to see you there.

Upcoming: Valentine's with Miss Mimi, Gepetto Dreams at Hot Mama's, February 14

Received January 15 with reminder on January 24:

For those of you looking for something more memorable then the same old candy and flowers for Valentines Day, Austin’s Geppetto Dreams Puppet Company is presenting a special puppet burlesque show “Mimi’s Valentines Show.” New songs, new routines, and a special guest dancer make this show a must-see. This special holiday performance is a benefit for the non-profit theater, which has just received a hundred thousand dollar commitment for the purchase of a permanent space here in Austin , providing they can raise the money for a down payment. All proceeds from this show go towards realizing that dream.

For those who missed last summer’s sold-out run, the performance is a mixture of western rod puppetry and Japanese style bunraku. This crazy cabaret’s 9 wild acts pay homage to the comedy, music, and dance of the old time Burly-Qs, as well as the new style burlesque that has been popularized in clubs from coast to coast. All performed by eight 36-inch anthropomorphic puppets. It’s like the Muppets meet Minsky’s.

Due to the unique nature of the show combined with the resurgence of interest in old time burlesque and vaudeville shows, this performance will appeal to a wide audience from 18 to 80. Mimi's puppeteers are in plain sight, dressed in black. It takes two to three puppeteers to put the dancers through their paces so the audience has the opportunity to see the teamwork and fluid movement it takes to bring each character to life. This style makes the experience not only visually entertaining but enlightening as well.

There will be three performances at 7, 8:30, and 10 pm at Hot Mama’s Espresso, 2401 E. 6th Ave. 78702. There will be three ticket packages available: a basic package for $30 a couple, The Valentine package for $40 a couple which comes with a special Valentine from Miss Mimi, and the I Love Puppets package which comes with champagne (or sparkling cider for the under 21 set) the special Valentine and chocolate truffles for $60 a couple. Tickets go on sale Jan 24th and can be purchased online at geppettodreams.com through PayPal, in advance at Hot Mama’s, as well as at the door the night of the show. Seating is limited to 20 couples so get yours early.

Miss Mimi's page at geppettodreams.com (pics and video available at links on bottom of page)


Geppetto Dreams Puppet Company has a small theater/workshop space (seats around 30) on Austin ’s growing Eastside, but despite its size we've done some amazing things in it. We've sold out both adult and children’s shows and held numerous free puppetry workshops. We were responsible for Austin ’s first Puppet Film Festival. Our greatest achievement has been a summer internship program for Austin teens, which culminated in a free show for the entire city at Austin 's Long Center for the Performing Arts. As well as donating 137 artisian puppets for CPS and other Texas children in need last Christmas. For further info on the troupe or the show feel free to visit www.geppettodreams.com. For interviews or more pictures please contact Geppetto at admin@geppettodreams.com or at (720) 255-5632 or Hot Mama's at (512) 476-6262.

Video with Audio -- Gepetto's Year by Ricki Vincent

Received December 20 -- a two-minute clip with a cheery history of the first year in Austin of the Gepetto Dreams puppet company, posted on PhotoBucket.

Click on image of Ricki Vincent and friend or click here.

Puppet Stuff, Gepetto Dreams

from Gepetto, December 9:

Geppetto Dreams Puppet Company has a hundred incredible artisan hand/rod and sock puppets looking for homes with kids in need of a smile for Christmas. If you know of such a kid or even a whole bunch of those kids please contact us and we' ll get you on the list...
Happy Holidays,
Geppetto

Also... Looking for people interested in building a dream. Some lifting involved… Interested parties must have a serious love for the art of puppetry. Newly formed non-profit Puppet Company is in need of puppeteers in the city that insists on keeping it weird… Austin, TX.

Austin’s already a big music and film town; we want to make it a puppet town as well. We’re looking for artists interested into making a new start. Experienced puppet folk would be great but prefer candidates that have a background in dance, theater, mime, performance art, or comedy… or a combination of any those. Oh and if you’re a puppet builder that’s even better. We’ll train you if you’re just into starting something new. The main thing is you have to love what you do… You don’t make a lot of money and it helps to have a straight job. We started full time in Austin Fall of 07 and in less then a years time we have our own theater, imagine what we could do with your help! We’re only looking for dreamers as this is something we love. Only the creative need apply.

So lets wrap up we’ve got the finances to produce shows, the equipment, access to grants, a great venue, and a ton of puppets… we just need a few more puppeteers to make it work… For those wanting to see what we do, go to www.geppettodreams.com

Tales of the Nauseous Fairy, Geppetto Dreams Puppet Company, October 2 - 31

This is a trifle, but it is a delicious one. Or more accurately and using further food analogies, it could serve best as an antipasto or an amuse-bouche, a light and diverting treat preliminary to a Halloween season meal.

The Nauseous Fairy is a twenty-minute puppetry experience at the newly installed home in East Austin of Geppetto Dreams Puppet Company.

Geppetto himself (Ricki Vincent) and 5 unseen collaborators bring to life a vivid goblins’ garden for audiences limited to 20 per show, beginning at 7:00 p.m. and repeating at 45-minute intervals. I attended the earliest séance with Geppetto and friends last Saturday evening, hung around for a while to chat, and still had time to get to an 8 p.m. performance at another East Austin venue.

“The Nauseous Fairy” offers an environment and a cast of imaginatively designed creatures, including a bobbing gnome, a dragon that keeps hungry watch on those safe inside the audience’s “magic circle,” a tiny creature perched over a bubbling bucket, a wide-faced pirate with an indeterminate Caribbean accent, and a tiny flying demon that sweeps overhead and spits red regurgitate.

And the Trash Monster! That seven-foot, swaying construction with illuminated red eyes is an animated rubbish dump. Looming at the end of the show, it serves as a green conscience and lively admonition against indiscriminate consumption and littering.

Puppeteer Ricki Vincent discovered Austin while touring his burlesque puppet show A Night at Miss Mimi’s. He now splits his time between Dallas and here.


The creatures in the troupe’s Nauseous Fairy experience evidence wonderful visual imagination and Geppetto’s mastery of both Chinese-style puppets moved by sticks and of bunraku, Japanese-style puppet constructions that can require two or more puppeteers to animate. The Geppetto Dreams website includes a fascinating 3 ½ minute video depicting the construction and testing of some of the creatures in this show.

During our twenty minutes in goblin underworld, the various creatures make fun of us, speculate how tasty we’d be if we stepped beyond that magic circle, sing cheery songs of the goblin life, bicker among themselves, and generally keep our attention moving from one point to another of the magic space. Rather than a story, this is a short submersion in magic. It’s a fine Halloween goody.

The theatre space is dimly lit, principally by a couple of blue or red floodlights in the corners. Black light effects and strobe are used to good effect. Dialogue and music are delivered by a recorded soundtrack that seems everywhere at once, a fact that can be momentarily disorienting. I discovered, for instance, that I’d been peering in one direction for half a minute while the speaking puppet was 180 degrees away.

I would have preferred to have someone running a simple light board so as to bring up a pool of illumination around the individual puppets as they spoke or cavorted.

But that will probably come eventually. The theatre space is newly installed and the company is operating with the resources and crew that it has. And the Sunday afternoon show, a little less scary since it’s meant principally for kids, is done in full lighting.


The performance space is a bit hidden from the street. You’ll need to park along Pedernales and then approach via the short alley on the south side of the Peacock Lounge. Geppetto himself will probably be there for you, with a genial greeting.

Review by Anna in Austin on Austin.com, October 23

Wikipedia on Japanese bunraku puppetry