The economy has claimed another victim among Austin’s creative class: Geppetto Dreams Puppet Company. The troupe that introduced our town to puppet burlesque, launched a puppet film festival, made puppeteers of scores of local kids through camps and workshops, and just won a “Best of Austin” Critics Pick (Best Friend to Fluffy Dreams) is closing its Puppetry Arts Center Sept. 27. Each loss of this kind is sad in its own way; making this one uniquely poignant is that Artistic Director Ricki Vincent wasn’t even living in Austin during his troupe’s two-year run here. He lives outside of Dallas and, as he explained in an e-mail of farewell, has been “making that long three-hour trek through the hills to share my dreams with this incredible city.” He added, “You were worth every mile … even the summer the air conditioning went out in my truck.”
The company won’t slip away silently, however. Two final shows are planned between now and January: a puppet operetta created in collaboration with That Damned Band and a show based on the last hours of Hunter S. Thompson, which Vincent says will be his farewell performance as a puppeteer. The shows will be funded through selling off the company’s equipment. Drop by this weekend, and you might be able to snag puppets from the productions A Night at Miss Mimi’s, The Dead Pirate Society, and Tales From the Nauseous Fairy; doll wigs; glass eyes; foam; paints; fabrics; puppet theatres; reference books; cameras; a video-editing computer; work tables; folding chairs; and even a barbecue smoker. And you can thank Vincent for making that long drive.
Geppetto Dreams Puppet Company will hold its garage sale Friday-Saturday, Sept. 25-26, 8am-8pm, at the Geppettto Dreams Puppetry Arts Center, 1715 E. Seventh. For more information, call 358-4632 or visit www.geppettodreams.com.
This article appears in September 25 • 2009.