As a baby, Sam didn’t care much for puppets. And when I say “didn’t care much,” I mean that he burst into tears every time some creature or muppet-type face looked at him sideways. The Discovery toys stack-em set Dennis got for his first Christmas included a small fish hand puppet we called “Burpy.” While Sam giggled nervously at the site of Burby chomping happily on Daddy’s fingers, he stiffened up for a scream whenever Burby turned his guppy face his way. At two, he nervously entered into conversation with Talky the Toucan—a colourful squeaky gift from Grandma and Grandpa Ashe—but couldn’t even meet Larry the Lobster’s wee, beady eyes and so immediately sent the grey plush crustacean to live with Carter, who housed Larry’s post-boil red twin (both gifts from Jacquie).
My, my, how times have changed! This past weekend, we took Sam out to the charming community of Almonte, part of the town of Mississippi Mills, not far from Ottawa—home of the Puppets Up! International Puppet Festival. Ten troupes from around Canada, the US, Europe and Iceland spent two days putting on shows in the theme, “Telling Stories” in tented and storefront theatres on the main thoroughfare. This was the fifth annual event and as already the largest show of its kind in North America.
We spent a lovely couple of hours checking out the shows (just two—they’re long!), the street performers and the do-it-yourself kids’ puppet theatres set up along the route. Sam loved it. And we loved Sam loving it, and really enjoyed walking the town besides. The gorgeous huge post office halfway up the hill is so old that it features a special entrance for Customs Canada and Inland Revenue, which I happen to know was abolished in 1921. Plus, the quaint craft stores, bakeries and the like remind me of my retirement life as though I’ve already lived it. Recognizable somehow.
Anyways, we arrived just in time to get back row seats to what would prove to be a show in itself worth the price of admission . “The Legend of the Banana Kid: The Good, the Bad, and the Chucky” was put on by the Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers from Bar Harbor, Maine, whose reputation preceeded them given that the crowd went wild when they were introduced. They must have come up last year. From the moment the puppet TV comes on way up there on the raised stage until the last goodbyes 45 minutes later, Sam was entranced (and I giggled like kid myself).
For posterity, I’m typing out a good chunk of a review I found as a memory aid for grown-up Sam. (This is the sort of thing I can see you writing sooner or later, Sam)
My, my, how times have changed! This past weekend, we took Sam out to the charming community of Almonte, part of the town of Mississippi Mills, not far from Ottawa—home of the Puppets Up! International Puppet Festival. Ten troupes from around Canada, the US, Europe and Iceland spent two days putting on shows in the theme, “Telling Stories” in tented and storefront theatres on the main thoroughfare. This was the fifth annual event and as already the largest show of its kind in North America.
We spent a lovely couple of hours checking out the shows (just two—they’re long!), the street performers and the do-it-yourself kids’ puppet theatres set up along the route. Sam loved it. And we loved Sam loving it, and really enjoyed walking the town besides. The gorgeous huge post office halfway up the hill is so old that it features a special entrance for Customs Canada and Inland Revenue, which I happen to know was abolished in 1921. Plus, the quaint craft stores, bakeries and the like remind me of my retirement life as though I’ve already lived it. Recognizable somehow.
Anyways, we arrived just in time to get back row seats to what would prove to be a show in itself worth the price of admission . “The Legend of the Banana Kid: The Good, the Bad, and the Chucky” was put on by the Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers from Bar Harbor, Maine, whose reputation preceeded them given that the crowd went wild when they were introduced. They must have come up last year. From the moment the puppet TV comes on way up there on the raised stage until the last goodbyes 45 minutes later, Sam was entranced (and I giggled like kid myself).
For posterity, I’m typing out a good chunk of a review I found as a memory aid for grown-up Sam. (This is the sort of thing I can see you writing sooner or later, Sam)
“We first encounter Chucky happily watching an old ‘Girl on the Railroad Tracks’ melodrama on TV from the comfort of his couch, when his little sister switches the channels on him at crucial moments to watch a thoroughly annoying trio of teletubby-type characters bounce and sing "happy, happy, fun, fun." The irate Chucky is sent outside as his mother threatens to sell the tv set. Chucky decides to play cowboy using a banana as a gun and promptly falls asleep, only to “wake up” on the outskirts of Sueno, which is being plagued by local bad guy, Bad Bart and his henchmen.
A mysterious rider, The Man with No Name, takes little Chucky under his wing, gives him the cu
test little tail-wagging, fluffy goat to ride, and inducts him into his new identity as the dreaded Banana Kid.
During the Kid’s adventures, we encounter all sorts of colourful characters. There’s loqaucious Tootsie, the saloon keeper; her permanent customer, Cleatus; a man named Sue, who finds happiness when he changes his name (to Linda); a beef-jerky loving bear; Bad Bart and his nefarious crew; and an excitable little kid who is always delivering ominous news—like “The train is a-comin!” and “Snakeskin Sam is in town!” (all 12 characters are played by 3 puppeteers)
A mysterious rider, The Man with No Name, takes little Chucky under his wing, gives him the cu
test little tail-wagging, fluffy goat to ride, and inducts him into his new identity as the dreaded Banana Kid.During the Kid’s adventures, we encounter all sorts of colourful characters. There’s loqaucious Tootsie, the saloon keeper; her permanent customer, Cleatus; a man named Sue, who finds happiness when he changes his name (to Linda); a beef-jerky loving bear; Bad Bart and his nefarious crew; and an excitable little kid who is always delivering ominous news—like “The train is a-comin!” and “Snakeskin Sam is in town!” (all 12 characters are played by 3 puppeteers)
Of course, in the end, our hero, with the help of his trusty Goatie, manages to thwart all the bad guys with his boomerang bananas; we learn the secret identity of The Man with No Name; and Cleatus gets up from his barstool.
From start to finish, the “The Legend of the Banana Kid: The Good, the Bad, and the Chucky” is just gol’ darn fun. And the finish is
one of the “funnest” parts, with the puppets all taking their bows while lip-synching to Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots are Made for Walking” as the bad guys are hauled off harmonzing “Happy Trails.””Awesome.
We also took in a crazy retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk, which was clever enough but no match for Frogtown’s talents. Then Sam joined groups of kids in two different small theatres and put on his own shows for a while before we all enjoyed a BBQ picnic alongside the waterfalls of the Mississippi River.
(Yes, I wondered about that whole Mississippi River thing, too. So I looked it up. Unlike the other Mi-SS-i-SS-i-PP-i river, whose name means “great river”—and this lil’ tributary hardly qualifies—it’s possible that ours is a corruption of another native word, Mazinaa—ziibi, which means “painted image river” in Algonquin and may refer to the native pictographs found at Mazinaw Lake on the upper Mississippi. These are the things that interest me.)
We beat it out of Mississippi Mills a little after lunch, as we were picking up Tracey & fam at the airport, but I’ll bet we’ll be back to Almonte, which describes itself as “a small town with a big commitment to the arts, and a soft spot for puppets.” Who knows? We may even move there someday.. :)
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