MARIONETTES ON TOUR

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 109, 1 February 1935, Page 5

MARIONETTES ON TOUR

Enterprising Owners MARK TWAIN UP TO DATE The whimsical and stirring tale of Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyers and Huckleberry Linn will be re-lived for all the world to see, if the ambitions of a young American couple are realised. For Mr. and Mrs. Everett Burgess Baker, of Milwaukee, have motorised their marionette show containing the lively characters of Tom, Huck, Injun Joe, Aunt Polly and the rest, and in fact, this travelling show has been their means of livelihood, a motor-car trailer their home, for nearly a year now.

So far the couple have been touring ihe United States presenting their marionettes at schools, clubs, churches, camps, theatres, etc. This year they hope to acquaint foreign countries with the buffoonery of lovable Tom and Huck. With their automobile and trailer-home, they plan to tour Europe extensively, putting their show on in the more country districts, where Mark Twain’s famous characters have probably never been heard of.

As Mr. Baker put it, “we intend to see the world by ‘pulling strings.’ ” As proof of their international aspirations, they have painted on the truck-end of their marionette van advertisements of the show in many languages, including Greek, Jewish, Russian, French, German, Chinese and Spanish. Everett Burgess Baker’s marionettes are the result of a youthful ambition —an ambition which began when he was 14 years old. I.ike most boys, the antics of Tom and Huck and the villain Injun Joe, were favourite stories with the young marionetter, and while the rest of the Raker family had their plans for Everett along the line of his father’s and brothers’ in a professional career, his own ideas were different. Workshop in Cellar. His was to be an artistic career. No one could sway him from such a course. This he vowed. And so the cellar was his first workshop, first “theatre.” Parental objections kept him from other parts of the bouse. After school he worked to get enough pennies to buy equipment to make his marionettes and to build his stages. From his after-school work he realised enough funds to put, on a first-class show, sometimes in the cellar, sometimes in the garage, sometimes up in the attic. His marionettes began to be known. In the neighbourhood, at school, the Baker boy’s show was popular. Everett was a stickler for detail. He followed the marionette shows when they came to town, hut it seemed to him that they all lacked the finish of a real stage production. So he gathered all the books he could find on the subject, and made an earnest study of the art.

The result is that he has built one of the finest collapsible stages for marionette presentations In the country. He has • arranged unique lighting effects, with switches and controls that enable him to dim or brighten the surroundings as the scene requires. The Bakers like to look back to their first shows, when the entire equipment was carried on a cart to the various destinations. He first “went on the road” with an SOO pound , load of trunks. Later, by newer devices, he reduced this to about 600 pounds. '

Amplifying System.

Perhaps the most unusual part of

the Baker marionettes is their “voice amplifying” system. Mr Baker not crily manipulates the strings of his characters, but also uses a microphone in speaking the parts' He feels that be can gain better effects by the use of a microphone, and at the same time make himself heard distinctly to those farthest away from the stage. But behind the scenes Everett is not the only worker. The show couldn’t go on without the valuable assistance of his wife. She is the electrician, the stage manager, the scipt-girl—the general “overseer” of backstage activities. Apart front the fun they get out of their marionettes, Mr. and Mrs. Bakeare enjoying the. experience of “living on wheels.” They are as comfortable in their trailer-home as in a Cape Cod bungalow. And they have the modern conveniences of a city apartment, including box-spring beds, electric lights, tunning water, bath, shower, telephone, radio, gas-stove, combination library and living room, and kitchen. A telephone, you say—in an automobile? Yes, indeed. You see the trailer is a separate part of the marionette van. Frequently Everett is

alone at the wheel, while Mrs. Baker stays behind in the trailer, finishing up 'he bookkeeping, making a pie for supper, or resting. If they should desire to speak to each other, all they have to do is to ring up on the telephone. The Bakers are brushing up their German, French and Greek. Of course they must have a knowledge of many foreign tongues when they make their European tour. And so the first step is to translate their Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn script into the language of the countries which they are flrst planning to visit.—C.G M„ in the “Christian Science Monitor.”

Princess Youssoupoff's parrot, which she smuggled out of the revolution, is 140 years old, and belonged to the famous Empress Catherine of Russia. He lives in a warm blanket, is completely bald, has only two tail feathers left, feeds on milk and brandy, and supports his beak on a rest.