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Puppetolio! Reviews
Los Angeles Times
Thursday, September 21.2000
Lively Puppets
By LYNNE HEFFLEY
TIMES STAFF WRITER
Steve Meltzer is a puppeteer, a puppet builder and most of all--as is abundantly clear when you see his show--a puppetry fan His one-man show "Puppetolio" at the Santa Monica Puppet & Magic Center, just a block from the beach is as much a way for Meltzer to share his passion for puppets and puppeteers of the past as it is an entertainment for families.
Attesting to that are the 500 puppets on loving display in the small, hospitable combination shop-museum-theater-work-shop; including automated marionette store displays--and the photos and posters of Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Paul Winchell, Topo Gigio and others.
A big, gentle-spoken man with a toothy grin, Meltzer comfortably ignores any possibility of TV-generated attention span limitations with his ease-into-it, casual and conversational style. He enters the theater, greets the audience calls for his new stage manager, Nigel, goes out again. There’s a long pause, then a wooden shutter opens high up on one wall and Nigel, a hand puppet, pops his head out and jokes around, pretending to be a flight attendent, unrepentant when Meltzer catches him at it.
Another pause and Steve reenters and cranks up an ancient Victrola, clearly a treasure he’s sharing, and puts on an ancient record, delighted to show children how music used to be played, without electricity, CD players or the Internet.
After a disappearing scarf trick, Meltzer introduces his longtime partner Fred, a smart-aleck ventriloquist’s dummy who’s inside a suitcase. It seems they’ve had an argument—Fred says he can work solo—so Steve puts the suitcase on a small, raised stage and exits again, leaving Fred to work his way out and sing the "Puppetolio" theme song.
So it goes. Nothing dramatic, just little bits of this and that in Meltzer's "olio" puppet miscellany. A guitar-playing dummy, Woodrow, invites the audience to join him in singing "On Top of Spaghetti"; there are performances by marionettes Too Loose, a clown with a balancing act, and Calvin, an English music hall-style cockney dancer; and there’s a new cast member, Ida, a dummy with her own dummy, Ned. Meltzer also demonstrates sketching a design for a new puppet, and the drawing itself turns into a puppet with ideas of its own.
The modest show, with Meltzer's low-key comic patter, is as relaxed and disarming as it was when he began three years ago. There's not quite enough of it, though. A few more magic tricks would be welcome, and so would the addition of a other puppets into the show itself, starting with an expanded role for hand-puppet Karen, who makes a very nifty, comic appearance in Meltzer's brief but interesting"how things work" post-show demonstration.
The Malibu Times - 7/15/99
Who's on Second?
By Saria Kraft
Unless your kids were just sprung from boarding school in Boise, summer afternoons in Santa Monica have a been-there-done that feel. Not to mention the sensory overload. By sundown on the Promenade, parents are ready to punch the next manic mime that passes a hat. Families often overlook a stroll down Second Street. But the stretch from Arizona to Colorado provides a sunnier and more serene side to the Promenade..............For kids ages 3 to 10, the real news on the street is "Puppetolio" at the Santa Monica Puppet and Magic Center. This spring, puppeteer Steven Meltzer moved his museum, workshop and theater of wooden marvels from the Promenade to the heart of the Farmers Market.
In suede shoes the shade of gentle moss and with a mop of endearing curls, Meltzer is the uncle of a child's dreams. As little ones snuggle into their seats, he begins the variety show by cranking up an old Victrola. Not that kids know a 33 from a 78, but by the time he's tickled them with a few silk scarf nicks, they're ready to meet his "puppet partner." Thankfully, Meltzer doesn't take Hollywood's "get 'em in the first five minutes or there's no script deal" approach. His is soft sell and wonderfully so.
We meet the irreverent Fred Mingo. a dummy who's no dummy. Marionettes include a vaudevillian who performs a nostalgic soft-shoe and a couple of independent clowns whose balancing and juggling acts don't quite coincide with what Meltzer has in mind. This. of course, puts kids in stitches.
There’s a pokey-Oakie hobo named Woodrow, a shy little lass named Karen and a two-dimensional sketchbook that comes very much to life. Meltzer does rope tricks, tells silly stories and sings even sillier songs.
At the end of the show, he answers questions about the an of puppetry and puppet-making (these days, puppets are likely to be fashioned from neoprene or rigid urethane). Sometimes, when there are school groups or private parties, he answers them seven times a day. And you thought you had patience.
L.A. Parent Magazine
January 1999
Meet L.A.’s Puppet Masters
Local Puppeteers Have Kids Entertainment Well In Hand
Steve Meltzer
Steven Meltzer, a Puppeteer for the past decade, runs The Puppet and Magic Center in Santa Monica. The only Shop of its kind, the center sells puppet and magic paraphernalia and boasts a 40-seat theater, a workshop, and a museum that's home to more than 500 puppets.
Meltzer works with Ventriloquist's figures (the preferred term rather than the politically incorrect "dummies") and marionettes, which can require more than 20 strings to operate.
His shows include puppets, some ventriloqism and bits of magic. He performs in his own theater and across Southern California. His characters include Fred, his "second in command ";Calvin, who does song and dance routines: Toulouse, a puppet who is literally strung "too loose"(to great effect!) and Elmer, the juggler. The highlight of his show is a drawing board that comes to life.
Los Angeles Times
Thursday June 11, 1998
Hands-In Performance
Puppeteer Steven Meltzer's solo show, 'Puppetolio,' is involving family fun.
OUT AND ABOUT BY LYNNE HEFFLEY
Ed plays guitar, Fred sings. Toulouse performs feats of balance. Elmer juggles--reluctantly. A drawing comes to obstreperous life. And making it all happen with gentle charm and magic tricks is puppeteer, puppet builder and puppet enthusiast Steven Meltzer. His solo show, "Puppetolio," is at the Santa Monica Puppet and Magic Center in the Third Street Promenade. The modest center, with its brown-latticed patio entrance in the Promenade alley, its tiny lobby and magic store and its comfortable small theater decorated with puppet and music memorabilia, is just right for Meltzer's cozy, informal variety show.
He begins by cranking up an ancient Victrola to demonstrate how music was played in the "olden days." a puppet-unrelated moment that sets a nostalgic, light mood and reveals Meltzer's affection for the past. Meltzer then engages the temperamental Fred in ventriloquist banter, a giggly crowd-pleaser, judging by the response to the mild insults and malapropisms at a recent performance. One comic highlight, featuring lively repartee, involves a "drawing," a face on paper that comes to life and threatens to take over the show. In another popular bit, Meltzer's magic rope tricks are part of a tall tale about a magician's hat, jump ropes and a giant.
After a silly sing-along comes a guided tour of the small workshop-museum, with Meltzer, whose interest in puppet history and puppeteers is infectious, relating interesting bits of puppet lore. Smoother transitions between puppet bits are needed, as is some assistance with setups and sound operation, but it's nonetheless a beguiling way to spend some enjoyable family time.