Puppetry students from the WVU School of Theatre and Dance recently collaborated with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra (WVSO) to bring Igor Stravinsky's “The Firebird Suite” to life.
The students were asked to create puppets to act out the piece, which is based on several folktales. Mary Mcclung, Professor of Costume Design and Puppetry, chose to base the puppets on traditional Russian costumes, with the designs abstracted.
“A big part of what I did was a formal breakdown of a non-scripted piece — the music of Stravinsky was the script,” McClung said. “The students learned how to breakdown a big performance piece into “scenes” to develop details in performance and character development. The process of creating the puppets, designing the show and months of rehearsal gave the students valuable industry experience.”
Students in McClung’s puppetry class began working on the Firebird Suite project at the start of the fall semester. The class met around three times a week for 13 two-hour rehearsals before traveling to Charleston, where they had two rehearsals with the WVSO before the performance.
“It was an honor to perform in a show as a first-semester freshman,” said Leah Reed, a Theatre student who came to WVU from Texas to study puppetry. “The rehearsal process went by very smoothly and before I knew it, we were on the road to Charleston. I would say the biggest challenge was finding time, for both rehearsals and construction.”
The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra began in Charleston, West Virginia, in1939, with the mission to “enrich and inspire everyone in our region.” Led by Music Director Maurice Cohn, the symphony hosts concerts throughout each season with different themes. The puppetry students performed as part of the orchestra’s “Soaring Melodies” concert on November 23.
“I was right hand and legs for Oksana, one of the demons, in certain scenes and I was the head of the big Firebird at the end,” Reed said. “During construction, I helped with small little things here and there on a wide variety of puppets — mostly a lot of painting and simple stitching. I haven’t taken puppet construction yet, so I’m glad I got to help with the puppets.”
While puppets are often part of children productions that tend to be more playful, the orchestra’s performance gave the students a look into using puppets for serious storytelling.
“It was really satisfying for them to feel the appreciation of a serious audience,” McClung said. “They received a standing ovation and many thanks from the musicians after the performance.”
“After the show we were getting the Firebird puppet out, and we kept getting stopped in the lobby,” Reed said. “People were coming up and asking about it and asking for pictures. We had people telling us how beautiful the show was, and it was a prime example that puppetry is a serious art form that isn’t just for kids. We had people ask what they could do to help our program thrive. It was really heartwarming.”
Reed is on track to graduate in 2028 and hopes to one day work for either Blink Industries’ “Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared” horror puppet show or work in Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.
“At one point during rehearsal, it hit me that this gets to be my job. I love doing this, and one day it’s what I’ll get to do for a living,” she said.
For more information about the Theatre program, visit theatre.wvu.edu.