Celebrating the Puppet Master: The 3rd Annual Bob Baker Day

"The 3rd Annual Bob Baker Day No. 1" 2017

It was a pleasure to attend the 3rd annual celebration of Puppet Master Bob Baker in front of his Marionette theater last month. His 50+ years of entertaining children of all ages with his amazing hand crafted marionettes continues to delight and capture the imaginations of those who watch them perform. The celebration saw many marionettes wandering around interacting with the crowd as well as street performances, games and a very intuitive fortune teller!

I had the honor to meet Mr. Baker several times before he passed away in 2014 and blogged about his many, many wonderful anecdotes and stories he shared of Hollywood and puppetry throughout his career in "Bob Baker and His Magical Marionettes" and got a peep into his puppet warehouse in "Bob Baker: The Making of His Magical Marionettes". 

I spoke with Theater Director Alex Evans during the celebration and was happy to hear that their continued existence, which had been hanging in the balance since their lease was up, was going to endure. I was thrilled to find out this Historical-Cultural Landmark #958 was going to be integrated in a new development complex. 

The Bob Baker Marionette Theater will be moving into a new building in their adjacent parking lot starting at the end of 2017 and will retain its original facade, preserving many of the theaters original decorations, and of course continue to feature the thousands of hand made marionettes in future performances. Their upcoming presentation of "LA Olé", a which has not been staged for 25 years, returns April 1st. Be sure to grab your tickets here!

The celebration of someone so creative and passionate about the art of puppetry, who has brought so much magic into the lives of so many surely deserves to be celebrated. I'm heartened to know that his legacy will live on at the new location and that future generations will be able to experience the very magic puppet plays can only provide.

Julie Green
March 25, 2017

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