 In
the fall of 1988, at the invitation of director and best friend Edward
R. Cox, "Uncle" Wayne
Daigrepont helped to repaint and refurbish the
exhibits in Storyland in City Park.
It is here he met
Storyland's manager Bill Cangemi,
and a trio of lifelong friendships
was born. Taken with Wayne's theatrics, Cangemi eventually hires
him as park manager, which includes creating and performing puppet
shows in the Puppet Castle. It was his time at Storyland which
helps "Uncle" Wayne to develop his skills as a performer, program
developer, and producer of original puppet shows.
The popularity of "Uncle" Wayne's shows grew, earning listings in the
Times-Picayune (a first for the shows at City Park.) One year
later, Daigrepont (wanting to do a "summer musical") created Jacqueline and the
Beanstalk, an original puppet musical comedy. In order to
create the effect of the beanstalk, the New Orleans Fire
Department had to bring in a truck to attatch pulleys to the historic
oaks. The show was a hit; so popular that special night-time
performances were scheduled in the park. WWL-TV 4's Morning Show
featured the production, which boasted a star-studded cast.
Legendary director Stocker Fontelieu
provided the voice of the Jacqueline's Father, while actor/Carnival
icon Becky Allen supplied the
voice of The Giantess (a performance immortalized on "Queen of the
Kingdom", part of the Original Cast Recording "The Music of
Porta-Puppet Players.")
Though his shows are certified hits, a change in management at City
Park left "Uncle" Wayne unemployed, but only for a short while.
In 1990, the Esplanade Mall
(based on his successes in City Park) asked if he "could do a puppet
show!?" Seeing the opportunity, Wayne builds a portable
puppetorium and debuts the very first Porta-Puppet Players Original
Puppet Musical-Comedy, Louisiana Red Riding
Hood! The show abounds with local humor, paying homage to
the format created by Burr Tillstrom & Fran Allison on the "Kukla,
Fran, and Ollie" television programs from the 60's. The show is
written for Wayne's longtime friend, confidant, and vocalist Carmen Rose, who plays Red as a
40-year-old costarring with an all-puppet cast...complete with original
costume!
From the beginning, Porta-Puppet Players was a success. As word
got out, Daigrepont began to think "why limit our business to puppet
shows?" Always deeply involved in local theatre, Daigrepont was
soon able to create a stable of jugglers, clowns, facepainters,
Barbershop Quartets, stilt-walkers, a vast assortment of 'Toon
Favorites, and even a train! For over a decade Daigrepont
continued to produce original puppet musicals wherin all the music and
puppet voices and songs were prerecorded in the studio, then Daigrepont
or other members would be human in front (earning this position the
title of "The Fran!") In 1991, local comedian and
"super-thespian" Vatican Lokey joined the company, and the combination
proved to be riotously funny.
Among some of the highlights from Porta-Puppet's history:
Commissioned in 1995 by the New Orleans Museum
of Art to create In
the Garden of Monet with Reneé, a special puppet musical
commemorating their celebrated Monet exhibit. The show's Fran was
future Broadway actor Julie Tolivar
as "Reneé."
Five of Porta-Puppet's shows have been given
full-scale theatrical productions: Sammy the Sorceror's
Unsightly Halloween, The Bepuzzled Pilgrim, An Afternoon with Aesop (combining two Aesop shows into one
production), and The
Toymaker's Helper.
International opera stars Melissa Marshall and Sarah Jane McMahon both worked
extensively with Porta-Puppets in the 1990's.
Over the years, the puppetoriums underwent changes to accomodate the
growing roster of shows (like <>local thespian & engineer, Jeff
Riddick, in helping revive Jacqueline
devised an apparatus to "hoist" up the Beanstalk 50'
into the air....from the puppetorium! But regardless of
the show, the set-up time for erecting the puppetorium was 2+
hours...which, after 10 years, wore thin. Daigrepont hit upon the
idea of reworking his shows into a sleeker, more intimate, more
affordable format called Storytelling
with Puppets. The concept proves to be very popular; the
human, costumed character roams through the audience, and the puppets
are neatly veiled on a table behind the performer.
Today, in addition to Storytelling with Puppets, the ever-growing
roster of Porta-Puppet talents allows us to provide a wide selection of
entertainment commodities designed to suit every age at every
stage. We perform daily for conventions, parties, schools, camps,
malls, private parties, events, premieres, and more!
Now how many companies do you know that can entertain
2 & 3 year
olds in the same day as 80 & 90 year olds!? As our slogan
clearly states (staunchly .....since 1990) : "Our
entertainment comes to YOU!"
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