Saint John’s University: Puppeteer Blair Thomas presents ‘The Hard Headed Heart’
Preview of Hard Headed Heart, from www.csbsju.edu
High art meets low when the words of 20th century writers are given voice in puppeteer Blair Thomas’ production of “The Hard Headed Heart,” a cabaret that features wooden puppets, rolling paper scrolls and a one-man band.
The CSB/SJU Fine Arts Series presents Thomas’ production at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, in the Stephen B. Humphrey Theater, Saint John’s University. Using a variety of traditional puppetry techniques, this solo performance presents a trio of interconnected solo shows:
The Puppet Show of Don Cristobal: Based on the bawdy script by Federico Garcia Lorca, this play, performed with wooden hand puppets and a drum kit, is a humorous retelling of the traditional trickster Don Cristobal’s wooing and marriage to the delectable Dona Rosita.
St. James Infirmary: Based on the traditional New Orleans folksong, this is a clever, romantic show whose main character is faced with the death of his lover. This piece is performed with rod marionettes, a motorized paper scroll and a one-man pit band.
The Blackbird: Based on the Wallace Stevens poem “13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” this play is an inventive shadow puppet show that examines what happens when doubt inexplicitly finds its way in between the love of a man and a woman. This piece is performed on a set of four rolling scrolls, lit entirely by lamplight.
As founder of the highly successful Redmoon Theater in Chicago, Thomas spent a decade leading a vision to create large-scale spectacle theater. He was the principal creator behind productions such as “Frankenstein,” the Winter Pageant, and All Hallow’s Eve Halloween parade until he left in 1998. Blair then served as co-curator for both of Chicago’s International Puppet Festivals in 2000 and 2001 and became an associate adjunct professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
In 2002, Blair founded Blair Thomas & Co., which has built a repertoire of work for adults and for children. He was awarded the Illinois Arts Council Fellowship for New Performance in 2002 and 2004, and was hand-picked to serve in the inaugural position of Jim Henson Artist-in-Residence at the University of Maryland in College Park for the 2006-07 academic year.
Tickets to “The Hard Headed Heart” are $30, Senior $27, and Student $10. Contact the Box Office at 320-363-5777 or online atwww.csbsju.edu/fine-arts. Please note: this performance contains adult themes.
Related Event: Thomas, an ordained Buddhist monk, will lead a Buddhist meditation workshop from 9:30-11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Oratory of Saint Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph. This workshop will be an introduction to Buddhist meditation in collaboration with the Saint Benedict’s Monastery Spirituality Center. The workshop is free and open to all. Contact 320-363-7112 to register.
via Puppeteer Blair Thomas presents ‘The Hard Headed Heart’ at SJU – CSB/SJU.
Michael Zerang
Shoshanna Utchenik is director of 
Michael Peter Smith was born in South Orange, New Jersey in September of 1941 and raised in the area, attending Catholic schools later referenced in a few of his songs. He bought his first guitar at age fifteen (for $5) and was soon playing in a group called The Kalypso Kids, whose first and only recording is lost in antiquity. College in Florida brought a quartet dubbed the Wanderers, with gigs on the beach and at local coffeehouses, then touring in The Talismen, a duet. It was Folk Music, and Folk Music was happening. Three years at The Flick in Miami followed, six nights a week. There he met Barbara Barrow, who would become his wife, and they traveled with a quartet called the Baker Street Irregulars, signed a contract with Decca under the group name Juarez, and produced an eponymous vinyl recording that you can still sometimes find in the ‘used’ bins of obscure record stores. The couple’s next recording was called Mickey and Babs Get Hot, followed by an acoustic recording of an evening at The Raven Gallery in Detroit (where they briefly resided), called Zen. Steve Goodman had recorded “The Dutchman,” and Chicago music lovers were discovering other of Smith’s songs. Michael and Barbara relocated to the windy city and became regulars at venues such as The Earl of Old Town, Somebody Else’s Troubles, Holstein’s, No Exit and Orphan’s. They played the Philadelphia Folk Festival, worked with Corky Siegel and John Prine, taught at the Old Town School of Folk Music, organized a benefit in commemoration of their friend Gamble Rogers, and separately and together continued to record. In the late 1980’s Michael was asked to write the music for the Steppenwolf production of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, and he toured with that production for two years: Chicago, La Jolla, London, England, finally Broadway, (the Cort Theatre— where the Marx Brothers played) and was thrilled by two Antoinette Perry awards (Tonys) for that production. Michael began to record for Flying Fish, initially produced by Anne Hills, whom he had met when he was playing bass for Bob Gibson. He began to tour more frequently doing exclusively his own material and continued to write songs, now increasingly being recorded by other artists. He created essentially a one-man show entitled Michael, Margaret, Pat & Kate, which played at the Victory Gardens in 1994 and garnered four Joseph Jefferson awards, Chicago’s equivalent of the Antoinette Perry. This was Michael’s musical autobiography, and it won every Jeff it could but one. With Jamie O’Reilly, Michael created, performed and recorded Pasiones: Songs of the Spanish Civil War, followed by Hello Dali (songs about art), Scarlet Confessions (with Anne Hills), and years later, a holiday CD/show collaboration of The Gift of the Magi. All enjoyed runs at various theatres. Michael self-produced an album of his songs called There in 2000 with the able assistance of Pat Fleming, then, with spouse Barbara Barrow, created Weavermania, celebrating the works of the Weavers. A highlight, if not the pinnacle of the Weavermania experience was a concert where Pete Seeger played onstage with them. More albums followed, including Live at Dark Thirty, Such Things Are Finely Done, Just Plain Folk (recorded with John McDermott), Michael Peter Smith-Anthology One, Love Letter on a Fish, and, in 2008, the soundtrack to a childrens’ production he wrote and performed in called The Selfish Giant, which featured the puppet wizardry of Blair Thomas. Amidst all of that, he composed the score for a production of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen, in which both he and Barbara performed beginning in 2006 and enjoying additional runs in subsequent years at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, under the direction of Frank Galati. Michael Smith continues to travel, playing concert halls house concerts, clubs and festivals, and his prolific songwriting has never waned, with now close to 500 original tunes in his impressive catalog. Shows with BT&Co: The Selfish Giant, Snow Queen, Moby-Dick.
Jesse Mooney-Bullock has an interdisciplinary approach to art-making. Fusing his abilities in woodworking, sculpting, painting, engineering, performance and sound; puppetry is the perfect medium for combining these skills and interests. He works in wood primarily because of its versatility and beauty, allowing fine art carving and structural construction, balancing form and function. His figures maintain a rough sense of realism, as he draws his inspiration from the natural world and the living machines that inhabit it. His formal artistic training occured at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA 2001), where he made and performed puppetry collaboratively. During and after his schooling, he worked in the studio of Blair Thomas, building sets, props and puppets. He still works with Thomas as a member of his company designing puppets. He also has done work commissioned by Redmoon Theater, his puppets appearing in a number of their productions. After college, Jesse worked at a small cabinetry shop in New Hampshire, an experience he refers to as his graduate education. Shows with BT&Co: Buster Keaton and The Buddha, Hard Headed Heart, A Kite’s Tale, Selfish Giant, Moby-Dick.
Andrea Everman has been making puppets and other tedious items since 2006. She splits time between her company “Owly Shadow Puppets” and designing for Redmoon Theater, Blair Thomas & Co, and Chicago Children’s Theater. Andrea graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2001 with a BFA and Art Education Certification. She teaches teaches workshops in shadow puppetry. In her spare time she screenprints at Spudnik Press and makes teacups at Penguin Foot Pottery. Shows with BT&Co: A Kite’s Tale, Selfish Giant, The Houdini Box Workshop, Moby-Dick.