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The Mermaid Times - Artist Highlight: Emilie-Claire Barlow
Emilie-Claire is an accomplished, award-winning jazz singer, arranger, record producer, and voice actress – she is everything. Emilie-Claire has won two Junos and nominated for six in recent years. She combines pop and jazz to create her unique and recognizable sound.
Not only can Emilie-Claire sing, but she has done voice acting for Total Drama, Almost Naked Animals, and 6teen. Voice acting has allowed Emilie-Claire to stretch her muscles in new ways, finding new parts of her voice that translate well to singing.
Learn more: http://emilieclairebarlow.com/about/#more
The Mermaid Times: Puppet History - From Mermaid Theatre to the Canadian Museum of History
There’s a unique puppet in the Canadian Museum of History that was created here at Mermaid Theatre. Tom Miller (co-founder of Mermaid Theatre) created a "mouth and rod" puppet for the production of Glooscap's People, Madoonak the Stormmaker (remounted as The Wabenaki).
A mouth puppet has a distinguishable mouth that uses flexible materials which allow for manipulation of the puppet’s mouth.
The rod puppet is a puppet that has a rod attached to the limbs and can be manipulated by the puppeteer to move its arms.
If you want to move the other limbs on the puppet, it will require the help of another puppeteer.
Learn more information: https://www.historymuseum.ca/collections/artifact/231833/?media_irn=326260
Pictures retrieved from: https://www.historymuseum.ca/collections/artifact/231833/?media_irn=326260
The Mermaid Times - Blacklight Puppetry
Pictured: scene from Mermaid Theatre’s production of Goodnight Moon, 2012
Blacklight puppetry is one of our favourite forms of theatre. The fluorescent glow on stage beams from the puppets while puppeteers hidden in the darkness manipulates the object which adds an element of magic and life-like movement to the story.
This creates and immersive world; easy to get lost in a dream-like wonderland.
Innovative blacklight theatre is a delicate process and requires a trained fluorescent painter. The fluorescent painter paints the puppets under blacklight to ensure proper colour pigmentation. If you were to paint fluorescent paint in regular lighting, it will impact the desired colour outcome when used under blacklight theatre. To ensure the quality and integrity of the colour, it must be painted under the special UV-blacklight.
At Mermaid Theatre, we have a studio space dedicated to painting under blacklight - which is unique. Did you ever think Mermaid’s process was so complex? Immense amount of design and detail goes into a single puppet or prop used in our blacklight live stage adaptations.
Have you seen another blacklight theatre production? Let us know!
The Mermaid Times - Origin of Puppets
There is a vibrant and rich culture about the origins of puppets, but conflicting theories still persist. It is hard to pinpoint the exact geneses of puppets and puppeteering due to many influences from several different cultures.
German Richard Pischel (1849-1908) an Indologist, believes they originate from India. The Sanskrit names “sutradhara” meaning he who holds the strings, and “sutraprota” meaning puppet (Union Internationle de La Marrionette - UNIMA).
Another theory suggested by researchers Hermann Reich (1868-1934) and Berthold Laufer (1874-1934), believe there is a dominant Greek culture influence (UNIMA).
Originally puppets were not used as entertainment pieces as they are in some performances seen today, however they were more commonly used for religious/ceremonious purposes, or as ancient idols.
Learn more information (click here) : https://wepa.unima.org/en/origins-of-the-puppet/
Know any other origin stories of puppets? Let us know!
The Mermaid Times - Jenny Rogers
Jenny Rogers - Sophie’s Choice; www.sophiepress.com
Artist in Residence - Jenny Rogers
We are thrilled to have had the pleasure of hosting artist and creative powerhouse, Jenny Rogers - Mermaid Theatre Artist in Residence at Mermaid’s Loft space for her upcoming project, “Sophie’s Gift” - an exploratory puppetry piece based on Roger’s written and illustrated work. After Jenny’s experience as a “Mermaid Lofter”, she assessed her project with beautiful drawings and articulated her process in a clever and approachable way. Click here to read her full project experience at Mermaid.
Jenny is a recent MFA graduate from the University of Michigan. Roger’s whimsical book can be purchased here https://www.sophiepress.com
About Mermaid’s Loft Residency Program
The primary goal of the Mermaid Theatre Loft Residency is to create a professional development opportunity for emerging and established professionals that is considered unique in Canadian theatre. Participants, with an interest in developing new work, or improve existing work, rooted in object and visual theatre, are encouraged to apply. Mermaid Theatre will provide access to all our facilities including the Loft Space, as well as, access to all Mermaid Theatre personnel who will engage in relevant discussions regarding the specifics of each project. Mentoring will be provided in puppetry manipulation and construction, set and prop design and construction, play development, dramaturgy, organizational planning, administration, and touring.
If you are interested in this program please send us a project proposal and residency dates by clicking here: Contact Us.
The Mermaid Times - Janie Geiser
Image of Janie Geiser - www.janiegeiser.com
Artist Spotlight - Janie Geiser
The Mermaid Times - We realize how important it is to connect with our community and fans even when Mermaid’s puppet factory and theatre are on pause. This is a place for sharing. An outlet for creative speech, puppet chat, working artists, emerging talent, rising stars, mentees, mentors, puppet masters, hopefuls, interested folks, company spotlights, artist features, professionals, and community members both at home and abroad. Most importantly, we’d love to hear from you.
Today, I’d like to feature one of my professors and puppet mentors, Janie Geiser. Janie Geiser is an active puppetry performance artist and filmmaker. She was recently recognized by the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. Visit Janie’s amazing creations at www.janiegeiser.com/
-Danny Everson, Executive Director - Mermaid Theatre
From the National Gallery of Art - “A multidisciplinary artist whose practice includes performance, film, installation, puppetry, and painting, Janie Geiser, from the School of Theater, CalArts, and internationally recognized films are known for their recontextualization of abandoned images and objects, their embrace of artifice, and sense of suspended time. In this illustrated talk delivered on May 11, 2019, Geiser explores her most recent films and performances with an emphasis on her collaborative processes and methodologies.”
Learn about Janie Geiser’s Work: “‘Ghost Algebra”;