
Here's another event I probably won't make it to, though I thought many of my readers and some of my relatives might enjoy. I gather there is a real history behind the paper theater. The write up on Bruce's website talks about how all the stages have mirrored great city locations, such as London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna and Copenhagen.
"The exhibition A Child's View: 19th-Century Paper Theaters, opening on Saturday, October 30, 2010, and on view through January 30, 2011, showcases approximately 35 colorful, antique paper theaters plus related materials from the personal collection of Eric G. Bernard of New York City. The plays, adapted into small playbooks for the paper theater from which the children recited, could hardly be considered children's stories. They were melodramas or stories from history or pantomimes, or even the great works of the celebrated writers of each country, including: - Shakespeare- Sir Walter Scott
- Goethe
- Schiller
- Cervantes
- Hans Christian Anderson. For all of its wide-ranging manufacture and influence, the paper theater was primarily a 19th-century phenomenon, with occasional minor resurgences in popularity in the 20th century. Fortunately, the wonder of paper theater has been preserved through collectors and a very few, but fine, players performing with traditional paper theaters and in contemporary interpretations of miniature theaters made of paper. To this day, there remain organizations in England, Germany, and Denmark dedicated to the study and performance of paper theater."
For more information please go to:
http://brucemuseum.org/site/exhibitions_detail/a_childs_view_19th-century_paper_theaters/