Frequently Asked Questions

How long is each show?

Each of our in-theatre performances is between 30 to 45 minutes long. The lengths of our traveling shows vary. You can get the times from our traveling troupe page.

How much are tickets?

Tickets for family performances are $4 per person and children under two are free. Please visit the birthday parties, field trips, and traveling shows sections of this website for information on their specific costs.

Will my 2/3/4/etc.-year-old enjoy this?

We get this question often and our answer is always the same, "It depends on the child." Only you know your child well enough to know what they may or may not enjoy. If you're not sure, try bringing them to a performance and see. You may find a new fun activity for you and your child. If they don't like it, try again when they're older! Being exposed to performing arts is a very important step in a child's cultural and artistic growth. If you're not sure how to introduce them to the performing arts, read Katherine Kopp's Six Steps to Teaching a Child to Appreciate Performing Arts for ideas.

What does all ages mean?

All ages means each of our family productions is designed to entertain everyone from the smallest of children to the eldest of adults. We want the grown ups to have just as much fun as the kids!.

Do I need advance tickets?

No. You can get your tickets at the door just like going to the movie theatre. Please keep in mind, however, we are not a movie theatre. The performances you are seeing are live theatrical performances with real people behind the scenes.

Is your building accessible to people with disabilities?

Yes.

Where do you get the puppets, props, etc. from?

Lyon Forrest Hill , our artistic director, constructs nearly all of the puppets you see on the CMT stage. Karri Roper Scollon, one of our board members, sews the costumes and helps construct hand puppets. Some of our older puppets were made by our founder, Allie Scollon. The backdrops and props are created by Kimi Maeda. To sum up, just about everything you see in one of our productions is made in-house.

How do you make the puppets talk?

If you look closely, you'll notice that our marionettes' mouths don't move! Instead, through body movement and pre-recorded CD, we give the illusion that they are talking. Before each production opens, our staff spends time with John Scollon, our Executive Director, at his home studio creating the voices that bring our puppets to life. The voices and music are then put on a CD (much like you would play in your home stereo) for playback during performances. Performing to pre-recorded voices allow our puppeteers to fully concentrate on their puppetry.

Why wasn't Jimminy Cricket in Pinocchio? Where's the singing teapot from Beauty & the Beast? Why didn't Baloo sing "The Bare Necessities?" Where's (insert Disney character name here) from (insert favorite fairy tale name here)?

Like Disney, we bring a number of children's favorite fairly tales and stories to life. And like Disney, we have what is called artistic license. Artistic license means we may opt to change a story a bit -- we may add a character, remove a character, make a character a girl instead of a boy. Characters such as Jimminy Cricket and the singing teapot, are Disney characters; they did not exist in the original stories. To use characters such as these, would be a copyright infringement. Instead, we go back to the ordinal stories and find new ways to tell an old story.

Why don't your puppets look like Muppets?

Muppets are a specific type of puppet developed by Jim Henson. There are many types of puppets around the world. Some things you may not think of as puppetry, got their beginning and are based out of the long-standing puppetry tradition. A short list of different types of puppets: animatronics, automata, bunraku, computer animation, object manipulation, marionettes, rod puppets, shadow puppets, stop motion, toy theatre, ventriloquism. Most of our shows are based on the art of marionette puppetry, but every now and then, you may see a hand puppet or a shadow puppet. We try to use the best type of puppet for the job!

Why do you only perform on Saturdays?

Our public performances are each Saturday at 11am and 3pm and the third Monday of each month at 10am. We are a small non-profit organization with only five full-time staff members. Often, during the week our puppeteers are performing at schools or we may have school groups in the theatre for field trips. Also, we all wear many hats the theatre. Not only do we perform, but we also make everything you see and maintain the building. There's simply not enough time in the day!

Why doesn't anyone ever answer the phone?

Our business manager is responsible for all phone calls, e-mail, mail, promotions, publicity and a myriad of other tasks! However, we do have voice mail. Every message that is left is returned as quickly as possible. Or you may e-mail the theater at PuppetGnomes@msn.com for a quicker response.