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One of the showgirls from Summer Follies, courtesy of Bob Kramer's Marionnettes.
These puppets’ strings aren’t tying them down—they’re lifting Bob Kramer’s Marionnettes to life. Tucked away in the Central West End on Laclede Avenue, Bob Kramer and his partner Doug Feltch host five homespun productions every year, including the current show, Summer Follies.
“When you’re watching the performances, I feel like you’re just using a different part of your brain,” says Feltch. “Puppetry kind of brings back a time where things were less complicated.”
The puppet theatre is draped in black fabrics and lined with Christmas lights, and audiences sit on an assortment of mismatched chairs. Under the big top, the puppeteers assist the marionettes in gliding across the stage on unicycles, dancing on tightropes and balancing juggling balls on their noses. Not only are these puppets talented—they’re stylish too: They sport hand-beaded costumes, detailed faces, colorful wigs and sparkling Austrian or Swarovski crystals.
“What I love about the puppets is that you can’t say ‘that’s wrong,’” explains Feltch. “Stringing or something technical can be wrong, but it’s you’re creation. It can have three eyes if you want it to, and that’s so liberating.”
From the first sketch to the final stitches in the skirt hems, some puppets require up to 1,500 hours of intricate work. During the pre-show demonstration, Feltch condenses the construction process to a mere hour. In the process, he still manages to crack jokes and slip in bizarre Tool Time, Little House on the Prairie and Rachel Ray references for the grown-ups' amusement. But Feltch is playing primarily to the kids, egging them into participating as easily as if tugging on a marionette’s string. “I promise you,” Feltch says, “The puppets won’t come until I call them.” He springs back in shock when his eyes glimpse a yellow wig a rowdy puppet tosses from backstage, and the kids laugh. With a grin, he introduces the culprit, Sam the Monster—a hand puppet and “cousin of Cookie Monster.” The furry orange beast bats his eyes and keeps the kids smiling during Feltch’s explanation of the culture and history of puppetry. While his script rarely wavers, each audience brings new life to every performance. “Every day, some little thing happens that just makes you laugh,” he says. “That’s a good thing. We think laughing is good.”
Bob Kramer’s Marionnettes have delighted St. Louis audiences for over 40 years, and the magic is nowhere near its finale. While the puppet showgirls dance onstage in the mornings, Kramer and Feltch are hard at work behind the scenes in the late afternoons and evenings. Currently, the team is gathering music, writing a script and building marionettes for their version of the Elves and the Shoemaker.
“We’re making shoes like crazy,” he says. “Eventually, the shop is going to be filled with nothing but shoes.”
After Summer Follies ends in September, there will be a Halloween and Christmas show before the potential premiere of The Elves and the Shoemaker next spring. For more information on Bob Kramer’s Marionnettes, visit www.kramersmarionnettes.com. For reservations call 314-531-3313. —Maggie Menderski
