Show Requirements
Cleared, level cube of space measuring 20 feet wide, by 20 feet deep, with 9 feet of unobstructed ceiling height
An electrical outlet within 50 feet of the stage
2 hours to arrive, unload and set up before a performance; 1 hour to break down after the show
A maximum of 300 people in the audience for optimal viewing
The Stinky Cheese Man
Bully For The Three Big Pigs
In No Strings Marionette Company’s upbeat version of the classic tale a prolific painter, a sensational singer, and an industrious architect are faced with the non-stop taunting of a puffed-up bully. As each big pig deals with the pushy tactics of the Big Bad Wolf, Pablo Pigcasso, Beverly Swills and I.M. Pig each develop a more successful strategy to effectively deal with bullying behavior. Tactics that audience members can use in their own lives.
The cast of hand-crafted marionettes takes us on a journey through an artist’s studio, an opera house, and the problem solving mind of a builder of buildings as the pigs do their best to live rewarding lives that will make their mother proud.
Wasabi, A Dragon’s Tale
In this modern-minded fairy tale, Princess Aja happily contemplates her upcoming marriage to Prince Olaf. Aja's perceptions promptly vanish when fire-breathing Wasabi swoops from the sky, reduces the palace to ashes and carries off her betrothed! You will be delighted as the spunky Princess, with a little help from her wise fairy friends, outwits Wasabi to save the kingdom and the day.
Exquisitely crafted marionettes perform amidst sumptuous story-book scenery. A transforming sprite, a fashionable knight, and a seven foot dragon partake in this newfangled fable, where both your imagination and the stage have no boundaries.
The event begins with an interactive sing along where kids get to be part of the show. Following Wasabi's adventure, No Strings' Dan Baginski and Barbara Paulson host an intimate question and answer session where everyone gets a closer look at the puppeteers trade.
Handsome and Gretel
With Handsome and Gretel No Strings Marionette Company serves up a scrumptious rendition of the fairy tale classic. A poor woodcutter and his family live at the edge of a deep forest. Sister Gretel works hard to help the family while brother Handsome has come to believe he can breeze through life on his good looks alone.
Eventually lost in the forest, the children are sweetly lured to the candy cottage of a witch who has very poor eyesight. She is blind to Handsome's charms and places Gretel's life in mortal danger.
A cast of fourteen hand-crafted whimsical marionettes lead this journey of never ending action, where the unexpected frolics in the familiar from the opening scene right on through to the last beat of music. While 'Hansel and Gretel' was originally told to criticize those who would abandon children during times of hardship, this marionette version sparkles with the notion of children learning to speak for themselves in their own voice.
Will Handsome discover his true potential in time to rescue his sister? Find out as you savor the tale of Handsome and Gretel.
Nick of Time
Join us on a fun-filled adventure that is truly out of this world! On a special mission to explore a mysterious dark object nearing planet Earth, the rocket ship carrying Astronaut Nick Eastman and his hoverbot Glitch attracts the attention of a deep space alien.
Investigating, Nick is sucked into a time-warp and lands millions of years in Earth's dinosaur-riddled past. Snatched as a pterodactyl snack, Nick escapes only to be warped into a bizarre future where creatures have mutated to survive on a barely recognizable Earth. Get hooked on science and science fiction as you experience this rollicking original show.
This heart-pounding marionette extravaganza probes many unexplored and intriguing dimensions of puppetry. See if our time travelers decode the gravity of their situation and save the Earth in the Nick of Time!
Jack and the Beanstalk
Revisit this well-loved tale from Britain, told with all the magic and mischief our marionettes can muster!
Marmalade the cow's appetite drives the action from Jack's humble cottage to the magnificent castle high above in the clouds. With a nod to an ancient telling of the tale, we discover if Jack, by taking gold and geese from the giant's castle, is a thief, or simply reclaiming his family's heritage. A sense of adventure, optimism and three magic beans catapult Jack high into the sky where his destiny awaits.
The stage is hardly big enough to contain the one of a kind hand-crafted marionettes, let alone the ravenous, rummaging Giant Blunderbore. You'll thrill to the unexpected twists in this exciting production, which is tremendously suitable for people of all ages.
The Snowmaiden
The Snowmaiden’s story has been told in Russia for many hundreds of years. Long ago, people invented legends and characters to explain natural phenomena. Mythical marionettes are on hand here to help us understand phenomena such as how the seasons change and how snow -called sneg in Russian- falls to the ground.
While Father Frost spreads Winter's cold throughout the land, he comes across a most amazing sight. A perfect little maiden sculpted entirely of snow and ice! A breath of life from Mother Spring awakens the frozen figure, and the snow girl's kind, fun-filled nature delights everyone she meets.
Dreams come true for a childless couple who embrace the Snowmaiden as their own daughter with a love as deep and wide as Old Mother Russia herself.
But can love sustain this child of winter upon the arrival of Spring?
The characters from one of Russia’s most beloved folk tales help audience members tune into our universal deep-rooted human need to craft meaning through story.
Treasure Hunt
All aboard this swashbuckling hunt for treasure, where Jim is lured out to sea in search of adventure and excitement. Little does he realize the unusual experience about to unfold. Jim sets sail aboard the Golden Nugget with Captain Timbershin. A wild ocean storm throws Jim overboard, where his underwater odyssey begins.
With an enchanted kiss from Jewel, a young mermaid, Jim is able to breathe under water. In no time this dry-lander is faced with peculiar difficulties. These include a giant clam, a fish that swallows him whole, an electric eel and an angry octopus guarding his treasure. Jewel and Jim encounter King Neptune and discover that his domain, and all its underwater inhabitants are threatened by pollution poured into the water from above. Jim must find what is lost and convince his people to take better care of their lakes and oceans so that creatures above and below the water can live in harmony.
Scrooge, A Christmas Carol
Come experience this timeless story, told through the magical artistry of puppets! Eighteen large-scale marionettes whisk you through the Good Ole Streets of Charles Dickens' London.
If the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future can awaken the forgotten love and joy within Scrooge's miserly heart, just think what the brilliant blend of inspiring music, stunning sets and exquisite marionettes can do to encourage the everlasting Spirit of Christmas in us all.
Sharp Ears
Join No Strings Marionette Company in the Czechoslovakian countryside where a young fox is busy finding her way in the wide world.
On a stroll in the woods on a sultry spring morning, forester Bartos encounters a fox kit, who he brings home as a gift for his grandson. The family dog Catcher shows Sharp Ears how to live within the constraints of human rules. But will a full belly and safe surroundings entice the fox to compromise her wild ways?
A cast of hand crafted marionettes, both wild and tame, populate the forests and farmyard of the puppet stage in this tribute to a 1920 novel by Rudolf Tesnohlidek.
The Hobbit
Bilbo Baggins is a Hobbit who wants to be left alone in quiet comfort in his home in The Shire. But the Wizard Gandalf comes along with a band of Dwarves and draws Bilbo into their quest to reclaim treasure stolen by the Dragon Smaug! Based on the book by J.R.R. Tolkien, in No Strings Marionette Company's adaptation of this stirring adventure fantasy, puppeteers adeptly animate marionettes, life-size body puppets and amazing puppet hybrids.
Bilbo shows through trials to his stamina and tests of his spirit that anyone, no matter how small, can be a hero.