For the last four months, I’ve shared my home with 53 puppets, originally the property of Jeanne Charlton and the Lakewood Puppeteers. Now, as they get ready for their move to fame revisited at the Lakewood History Museum. Like any good Mom, I’m washing faces and sewing a couple of torn coats. Originally, we had planned to repair and renew all of the puppets but advice from Dmitri Carter of the Northwest Puppet Center in Seattle cautioned that be done very sparingly, if at all.
When the puppets are repaired, they are changed. They are no longer the same work of art that performed in Lakewood for 40 years. So visitors will see the puppets just as they were on stage, and if there are scuffs and nicks, and there are, that shows those puppets were real performers.
Do you know who this is?
Today I repaired the ruff on this white rabbit. Can you help identify her? Well, we think it’s a her. We’re not sure. We have a picture from one of the original theater posters, the rabbit is wearing a watch, so it might be the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. And that was a definite “he”. We’re hoping someone among the readers of this fine publication, might remember seeing this rabbit in a show, and can help us identify it. Can you help?
You’ll be able to see this rabbit and all of the other puppets at the Lakewood History Museum beginning with the gala afternoon reception on May 9 at 2:00. If you can identify this puppet or share other memories of the Lakewood Puppeteers, email Dorothy and you will win a copy of Dorothy Wilhelm’s teeny, tiny book – No Assembly Required.
