At least one person in my life has nicknamed me (against my will) Patrushka, and therefore it was entirely appropriate that today I went to see Basil Twist's Petrushka at Lincoln Center. It's Igor Stravinsky's ballet about puppets who come to life, but in a neat twist (ha! get it? Twist?), it's actually performed by puppets -- and it's incredible, whimsical and ethereal and gorgeous. Watch out for this Basil Twist guy; he's pretty amazing.
You can rest assured, however, that this ballet will never be made into an animated Disney movie. It concerns a love triangle of three magical puppets: the sensitive Petrushka, the lovely Ballerina, and the macho Moor. Petrushka is in love with the Ballerina, but after he hits on her passionately, she freaks out and rejects him, running out of the room to go put the moves on the Moor. The Ballerina and the Moor are about to get it on when Petrushka bursts in on them in a jealous rage, after which the Moor pursues, attacks and kills Petrushka with his scimitar.
So what's the message here? Don't be yourself? Nice guys finish last, and women dig jerks with muscles? Oh, those Russians -- they sure do tell it like it is. But the production isn't depressing in the least, as the puppets are delightfully expressive, and there are tons of droll touches. For example, in the first act, before we actually meet the puppets, we see beautiful flowers, Moorish buildings, and ... a bunch of chickens. Everyone laughed, every single time the chickens appeared. The real lesson of Petrushka? Chickens are funny. Every time.
Speaking of chickens, in an unrelated impulse, I was searching today for video of Jim Henson's memorial service, and it turns out that a number of wonderful clips were uploaded just a couple months ago, even though Henson died in 1990. Jim Henson was the first celebrity whose death really affected me -- it still does. Most of us grew up with him, after all, and were profoundly influenced by his world view. That sounds a little grandiose, but you know what I mean. We all felt as though we knew him, because he was an adult, yet he was also one of us.
Anyway, please enjoy/cry over these videos from his memorial. (It's the kind of memorial, by the way, I would love to have, if you're taking notes. Except I never wrote any songs you could sing, or made any puppets you could have perform, so maybe you could read a couple of my best blog posts, and set them to music? I dunno, be creative. I trust you.)
The first one, of Muppets performers doing some of Henson's favorite songs, starts with a little number immortalized by chickens (a-ha!); it features Dave Goelz (guy in glasses to the farthest left; Gonzo, Zoot, Bunsen Honeydew), Frank Oz (seated; if you don't know whom he voices, get off this blog), Kevin Clash (Elmo), Steve Whitmire (he's in the green suit; Rizzo the Rat, Wembley Fraggle, and he's voiced Kermit and Ernie since Henson's death), Jerry Nelson (bearded guy who isn't Frank Oz; Robin the Frog, the original Snuffleupagus, the Count, Floyd Pepper), and Richard Hunt (Scooter, Janice, Beaker; died in 1992).
This second part ends with the Muppeteers pulling out their Muppets (FOZZIE!) for a grand singalong. Ah, so many old friends. For a full list of the songs in those videos and of the sixteen puppeteers onstage with their Muppets, click here.
And this last video is of Big Bird, singing "It's Not Easy Being Green," which, waaaaaaaaah. Thank you Kermit, indeed. On behalf of puppets, kids, and former kids everywhere.