The Stonelion Puppet Theatre is not only one of the most eclectic forms of art Kansas City has to offer, it is also one of the most educational. Stonelion is a professional not-for-profit theatre company dedicated to expanding the horizons of the young and young-at-heart through the art of puppetry in an interdisciplinary community of ethnic and cultural diversity.

Managed by Artistic Director Heather Nisbett-Loewenstein, Stonelion provides a fun filled way for the whole family to gather for education and a laugh. Loewenstein spoke of her most embarrassing moment with Stonelion:

"I was doing a Christmas production where I was dressed as Mrs. Claus. I had to leave stage, run through the backstage corridor, and come out dressed as an elf with a marionette in my hand... all in about 45 seconds," she said. "No problem," Nisbett-Loewenstein continued, "except somebody decided after the show started to store a table saw in the corridor and turned off the blue light. [I] didn't see it, landed flat, crawled over it while changing costumes and sliced my leg up. It hurt. I said bad things. My microphone was still up. I ran back on stage still on cue except I was leaving a trail of blood behind me," she said.

Puppet

"Luckily two things happened. One, the audience had no idea who said those words. Most thought it was interference and one of the performers still on stage realized something was wrong and broke into song. And two, when I walked out dripping blood, my very well-trained cast saw, and re-blocked some puppet stuff to cover my leg as another bent down and bandaged me up. The show must go on. Isn't live theater fun?" said.

While this isn't the normal experience with Stonelion, it gives you a good look at the backstage involvement and hard work that goes into every show, which is done with hand-crafted puppets. The shows pull a large gathering. Usually around 500 audience members participate in the puppet shows, which occur across the United States.

Stonelion has an upcoming show that may top all of the rest. It will be happening on the Nelson Atkins lawn May 11 at 2pm. It is a free show that is open to the public, and is a culmination of a six-month-long community collaboration, building the giant puppets to be used in this environmental pageant celebrating Mother Earth on Mother's Day.

The giant puppets are something to be seen and beyond description. Those who are interested will have to visit the Nelson lawn on May 11 to see for themselves. Stonelion also has an online calendar of events at their website www.stonelionpuppets.org. The website also offers pictures of puppets and performances.

Loewenstein gave a good look at the experience of Stonelion Puppet Theater as she talked about her favorite Stonelion experience:

"We were performing The Snow Queen with marionettes and large puppets. The end sequence is when the little boy is revealed to have been frozen in a block of ice and his best friend Gerta cries over him. Her tears melt the block of ice and they are freed from the Snow Queen's grasp," she said. "A little boy in the front row wanted to know how we made the puppets cry like that. They didn't. It was all in the acting. The child could not be convinced he had not seen real tears melt the block of ice. I guess we did good that day."

May 11 promises to be yet another grand day for the Stonelion Puppet Theater. They hope you can be a part of it.

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