Fox Folk Marionette Troupe

The Fox Folk  Marionettes offer FVL students the opportunity to artistically express their talents through the medium of puppetry. The ultimate goal is offer this unique performing art to the FVL Family & the Fox River Valley community while honoring the storied history of this puppet collection. The Fox Folk repertoire focuses on folk tales that provide unique insights into the great teachings of Christianity.

What's coming in 2011-12?

he holiday season will be busy for the Fox Folk Marionette Troupe this year. The Apple Creek YMCA will again be hosting a pair of shows on Dec. 3rd.  The next weekend we will be performing a pair of shows at St. Paul Lutheran School/Church in Green Bay. In January, we will be performing a pair of shows at FVL's Winterfest. We are also looking forward to being part of the first ever Kinderfest event in February!  Senior showcases are also in the works and several area schools have made inquiries about possible shows. Stay tuned for updates!  Director Dave Payne is in the research phase of creating a book to capture the history of these special puppets who have now performed for over 30,000 people.

2010-11 Highlights

The Fox Folk Marionette Troupe opened their season with a pair of performances December 4 at the Apple Creek YMCA. "Baboushka and the Christmas Visitors" was well received. Segments of the program were videotaped for an upcoming edition of Kids Connection - a Wisconsin Synod video newmagazine for school-age children. At FVL's Winterfest on January 30, the puppeteers presented "Princess Glorianna & the Jewel Trees" and "The Miracle of the Candles." Both shows were presented in the open stage format - a first for the Fox Folk Marionette Troupe. "Princess Glorianna" brought back last year's popular fairy tale program, while "The Miracle of the Candles" was a new show based on a folklore legend about a poor widower and his two girls whose celebration of Christmas is aided by miraculous means. We received sad news in March as we were notified of the death of Barbara Purdy, one of the leading inspirations behind the creation of the marionettes. Spring saw a visit to Trinity Lutheran School in Brillion and May found the troupe traveling to St. Mark School in Green Bay for a "Grand People's Day" performance - two cities where the puppets had never been seen before.

Click here for an article from the County Post East highlighting our show!

2009-10 Highlights

FFM debuted its new portable stage (created/built by Director Dave Payne) with a pair of shows at the new Apple Creek YMCA.  Especially exciting was the opportunity to perform an updated version of "The Search," one of the first shows ever performed by our team and one that goes back to the original shows the puppets were built to perform. It is  adapted from the famous story "The Other Wiseman" by Henry Van Dyke. It also was a chance to pay tribute to the Purdy family who donated their marionette collection to FVL and were instrumental in the evolution of the new YMCA as well.

This season also marked the debut of our first fairy tale show: "Princess Glorianna & the Jewel Trees" created by Directors Dave & Cassie Payne and featuring our brand new dragon marionette. Our "Senior Showcases" took us on the road to schools in Mt. Olive-Appleton and St. Peter-Freedom. We were also privileged to perform for Bethany Lutheran Church's Christian Education Sunday at FVL. A special treat was the opportunity to take the puppeteers back stage after an Oshkosh performance by the Mermaid Theatre, a professional troupe from Nova Scotia, Canada.

2008-09 Highlights

This season marked the debut of the "Piccolo: The Stubborn Little Donkey," a tale adapted from the famous Charles Tazewell story. Our "Senior Showcases" took us on the road to Emanuel, New London and Martin Luther, Neenah. We were also privileged to perform at Martin Luther School in Oshkosh after attending a professional puppetry performance at Oshkosh's Grand Opera House - complete with a backstage tour

Also coming for Winterfest (January 31st) is a new fairy tale show entitled "Princess Gloriana & the Jewel Trees."  Watch out for our new scary dragon!

Our "Senior Showcases" will also take our show on the road to the elementary schools of our senior puppeteers attended to introduce these youngsters to puppetry.

The photo below depicts the nativity scene with Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus -- a scene from many FFM performances.

 

The directors of the troupe also partnered with the Fox Cities PAC to visit area elementary schools to share puppetry workshops tied to "Swimmy" show that was performed at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in early October.

2007-08 Highlights

The troupe debuted its new script "A Lamb's Tale" while tells the Christmas story from the perspective of the sheep in the fields of Bethlehem. The team also began its "Senior Showcase" program by visiting St. John School in East Bloomfield and St. Peter School in Appleton. The Senior Showcase program features the Russian folktale of "Baboushka." Directors Dave & Cassie Payne also worked with the Fox Cities PAC to visit area elementary schools and share a short introduction to puppetry program.

Click here to view slides of "Baboushka" show

2006-07 Highlights

2006-07 was an important year for the troupe. Many new, young puppeteers joined the team. Also, Cassie Payne, director of Hands 2 Grow Puppet Productions, volunteered as Assistant Director. The team reprised "Darko's Song" -- FFM's adaptation of an old Serbian folktale that tells the story of a blind shepherd boy who miraculously teaches the people of his village to see what is truly important in life.

FFM also presented two special performances at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in conjunction with the opening of Disney's Lion King in May 2007. The performances highlighted the different types of puppetry -- shadow, rod, mask, hand, and moving mouth puppets -- performed in The Lion King.

LION KING SHOW PPT - click here

In addition to our traditional performances at FVL Winterfest, the troupe also performed for the Christian Education Sunday of Bethany Lutheran Church of Appleton. Also for the first time in its FVL history, the puppets made a road trip to perform for FVL Schools Week at Trinity Lutheran School in Neenah. The Russian folktale "Baboushka" was the feature presentation that afternoon.

Photo of the presentation of "Baboushka" at Trinity School in Neenah in March 2007.