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The Wizard of Oz
Champaign Public Library
200 West Green Street
Champaign, Illinois 61820
(217) 403-2000
Category
Hours
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Join us for a magical marionette puppet performance of The Wizard of Oz!
The Elsenpeter Marionettes, headed by Richard B. Elsenpeter, is a professional full-time performing marionette company who has entertained millions of children in live shows for over 140 years. This year will be their last year to perform before they retire.
Besides performing more than 200+ programs nationally each year, Mr. Elsenpeter will write, produce, create, and carve an entirely new program annually. The Elsenpeter Marionettes specialize in children’s classics and adapt stories with which most children are familiar.
The Elsenpeter Marionettes tradition of puppetry started in Elen, Germany, about 140 years ago, by Richard’s great grandfather. Their traditional form of puppetry has been handed down through four generations. Richard describes their approach as the “Old World style of puppetry.” It’s very nostalgic and is rarely seen any more in America because of its technical difficulties.