It is no secret that I believe Jim Henson to be the greatest artist of all time. He was a brilliant man who we lost too soon, but were lucky enough to catch what I believe to be only a glimpse of what he was capable of contributing to the world. So when I saw a poster on a walk down Lexington Ave. saying that Jim Henson's daughter was going to be speaking at the Asheville Puppetry Center's tenth birthday celebration, I had to go. (And bonus: Telly Monster from Sesame Street Talk was going to be there with puppeteer Marty Robinson) Talk about the universe lining up for you! So I bought a ticket and got all gussied up for the gala last weekend; what a FABULOUS event it was! (One of the best parts: the "adult" Sesame Street blooper reel! That was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness!)
This is Jim Henson's youngest daughter, Heather. What an honor it was to meet her! I expressed how dear her father's work has been to me since I was young and she told me all about working with her father on puppets, sets, and being surrounded by such creativity. We talked about what kind of tools Jim used to cut out the sets on the Muppet Show. I was shaking with excitement by this point in the conversation. And then I got to meet Marty and Telly (this was one of the originals, who is not in production anymore)...
Marty Robinson (such a fun guy!) also has played Mr. Snuffleupagus, Slimey the Worm, Buster the Horse, Oscar the Grouch's neice and mother. He also played the Farmer in (one of my all-time favorites) The Tale of the Bunny Picnic and the face of Leonardo in the original movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
I know Telly is just fake fur and ping pong ball eyes. But he really does come to life in a way that made me want to talk to him. Marty is such a brilliant puppeteer (you should see his "puppet muscles")! And when I saw this tag...well, I had an actual momentary loss of breath.
1 comment:
That's very cool! :)
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