Puppet Shows

Fantasy Puppet Theater
fantasypuppettheater

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Marshall Katzman received his M.A. in Television and Radio production from the University of Michigan and was a Fellow at Princeton University. He is a member of Union Internationale De La Marionette, Puppeteers of America, The Puppetry Guild of Greater New York, The Garden State Puppetry Guild and is listed in the 2nd edition of Who's Who in Entertainment. Katzman is an Emeritus Professor ofmunications at Bergenmunity College, in Paramus, New Jersey. In 1956, at the age of eight, Marshall Katzman and his puppets first appeared in Zurich, Switzerland with a backyard performance of Sleeping Beauty . In the early sixties, while living in Closter, New Jersey, he was influenced by Russian puppeteer Sergei Obratsov as well as Frank Paris, creator of the original Howdy Doody and Larry Berthelson, creator of the Pickwick Puppet Theater. Katzman was mentored by Marcel Jovine, the award-winning toy designer, sculptor and designer of coins. Richard Hunt, the Muppeteer on Sesame Street, started his career in puppetry after purchasing a collection of puppets from Katzman. The New York World's Fair of 1965, saw Katzman perform a puppet production written by the world renown Sergei Obratsov. In the summer of 1973 Fantasy Puppet Theater made its debut with Rock-A-Day Johnny, a Rock and Roll puppet, at The Ark in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The one man troupe then began a tour of the United States, which included performances for museums, nightclubs, libraries, camps, major armed forces installations like Fort Knox as well as recreation departments in Charleston, Columbus, Miami, Nashville, and San Francisco. In 1986 Marshall Katzman produced a television documentary, Stars on Strings : a tribute to Frank Paris the creator of the first Howdy Doody. Stars on Strings , Not Just Puppets and An Evening of Puppetry have all been included in the Theater on Film and Tape Archives of the Billy Rose Theater Collection, Lincoln Center. The American Film Institute awarded his production of The Three Billy Goats Gruff finalist for fiction in their 1990 Visions of U.S. videopetition. On October 6th, 1990 Katzman performed Sergei Obratsov's short puppet play entitled, Mortal Danger at the Bruno Walter Theater, Lincoln Center. Fantasy Puppet Theater has received funding from the New York State Council on the Arts and Con Edison. The one man show has also made regular appearances at the nationally acclaimed Puppet Playhouse in New York City. Katzman's past puppet productions have included: Around the World in 8O Days , Jack and the Beanstalk , Rip Van Winkle , The Legend of Sleepy Hollow , The King's Stilts , Little Red Riding Hood , Aladdin's Lamp , Hansel and Gretel , The Frog Prince , Rumpelstiltskin and the Shoemaker and the Elves . Fantasy Puppet Theater performed Mortal Danger as part of the Rituals production at the Laboratory Theater in Paramus, New Jersey. View Marshall Katzman's profile on LinkedIn Fantasy Puppet Theater is a registered business with the State of New Jersey.
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Among other cities, Fantasy Puppet Theater may serve the following areas: New York, New York City, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Flushing, Bronx, Jamaica, Staten Island, Yonkers, Long Island City, Astoria, White Plains, Far Rockaway, New Rochelle, Bayside, Chestnut Ridge, East Elmhurst, Mount Vernon, Queens Village, Boulevard, Douglaston, Eastchester, Floral Park, Fresh Meadows, Kew Gardens, Little Neck, Middletown, Newburgh, Ozone Park, Riverdale, South Ozone Park

"Oh, boy, oh, boy, oh boy……. This enchanting production of the classic tale “Aladdin’s Lamp” held the rapt attention of a group of 15 or so children plus several accompanying adults for close to 45 minutes. Beginning with no introduction except a strain of eerie music coming from an unseen source, the velvet curtain of a small theater opens on a single character, Aladdin’s mother looking for her son, and at times as many as three characters are performing as simultaneously as possible given a two handed puppeteer. The show is interactive, with the characters including the audience in a discussion of the action. And the children respond in sometimes hilarious ways. They buy into the illusion and are literally on the edge of their seats for most of the production, giving advice and direction to the characters. Like most classic children’s tales, the story raises moral/ethical questions and resolves them with the elimination of the bad guy and the magical triumph of goodness and true love. The adults in attendance enjoyed the show as well, and everyone left happy. We would all recommend it."

Grace Mitchell
Assistant Director, Dennis P. McHugh

"Wow! Your own web site! We truly enjoyed your performance at the Camping Ceilidh and hope you return next year! "

Michael, Amy, Seamus, Claire, Christopher Conley
Milford, NH

"Rock-A-Day Johnny was the highlight of the concert. I loved all your stuff. It was not only humorous but gave the audience another look at what a true multimedia event can be.

I would really appreciate it if you would contribute another of your works to the next concert in March. The theme is "Rituals" and is open to many aspects of the theme.

Thanks, and hope we can do another together."

Dr. Ron Mazurek
Bergen Community College