Halloween show

 Watch out for flying broomsticks in…. 

“The Revenge of the Crashing Witches”

Witch Hazel Green’s sisters keep crashing into utility poles and doorways and getting stuck! Could it be that Hazel’s nasty neighbor, Dottie Splinterbottom, has cast an evil spell? 

Our Halloween show features all of our Halloween favorites — Frankie, Sally, the Pumpkin Head Ghost, Mr. Bones Jangle, the Dancing Broom and Momo, the black cat, as well as some strange characters that were once part of Dottie’s “garden art.”

11 a.m. & 2 p.m. Sat. Oct. 17

2 p.m. Sun. Oct. 18

11 a.m. & 2 p.m. Sat. Oct. 24

2 p.m. Sun, Oct. 25

Problems With Mr. Google

 Dear people who actually read this:

I may have to stop posting on this blog since Google is not allowing me to access the photos I need to post here. I suspect it’s because I do not have a gmail address but one generated from Apple. It continues to want me to use an old Centurylink address that we had to abandon years ago after it was hacked and the folks at Centurylink refused to help us, having been bought out by Brightspeed. We no longer have Brightspeed as an internet provider. I have repeatedly tried to change my email address. It does not work.

So, if you are interested in following us further, please look for the Hazelgreenoperahouse Facebook page.

Or, email me at voight1970@me.com. I will be looking into establishing a new website.

Thank you!

Easter puppet show

 It’s spring and we are getting ready to perform 

The Easter Bunny’s Tale

11 am & 2 pm Saturday March 28

2 pm Sunday March 29

And 11 am & 2 pm Saturday April 4

Tickets are still only $5, only available at the door and payable only by cash or check.

Ever wonder why a rabbit delivers colored eggs for Easter? We’ll tell you all about it!

Bunny Cotton-tail tries to bring home some hot cross buns for his wife, Honey Cotton-tail and their six little bunnies. The story includes a badger who runs the country store, a hypochondriac mother goose, some hyper squirrels and a wolf who’s escaped from the state prison.

Spoiler alert: Bossy the cow makes an appearance.

Halloween puppet shows

 Where did Hazel’s big green adopted son come from, anyway? Find out in

“Frankie’s Story”

11 a.m. & 2 p.m. Saturday October 18

2 p.m. Sunday, October 19

11 a.m. & 2 p.m. Saturday October 25

2 p.m. Sunday, October 26

At the Hazel Green Opera House 

“The Lead Miner’s Daughter”

 This is the show that launched our puppet adventure more than 30 years ago. (Updated and, we hope, much improved from those early days!)

“The Lead Miner’s Daughter”

It’s the story of Jake, who finds himself trapped underground by an evil goblin, and his valiant daughter, Adeline, who vows to save him. There’s a hapless young farmer, his wayward cow, a badger and the vision of a wise Native American girl.

11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturdays 

2 p.m. Sundays 

April 26-27

May 3-4

Also available weekdays for school groups.

Call Sandye at 608-732-7129

 

“Jack and the Beanstalk”

 Climb up the beanstalk with us as Jack foolishly (?) trades old Bossy for a handful of beans. There’s a goose that lays golden eggs, a feisty singing harp and a humongous giant, as well as a pretty little maid named Jill in our production of

“Jack and the Beanstalk”

11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, March 1

2 p.m. Sunday, March 2

11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, March 8

2 p.m. Sunday, March 9

Tickets still only $5 and only at the door; cash or checks only, please

December events

 It will be another super busy December at the Hazel Green Opera House!

First up is the 

3rd annual Gingerbread House Fundraiser 

to Benefit Family Promise of Grant County 

Preregister to enter by Nov. 30 — email me at voight1970@me.com for applications.

$250 worth of prizes this year! The event will be 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8, coinciding with the Hazel Green Craft Fair. Watch for the Family Promise booth at the high school.

Stop by to view the buildings for free. Vote for your favorites with an arm’s length of tickets for $20. Bid on a building via silent and online auction. See gingerbread demonstrations and buy a gingerbread boy or girl personalized with names on the spot.

Next up: 

“Singalong Nativity”

11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday Dec. 14

2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 15

11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday Dec. 21

2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 22

11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday Dec. 30

This is Sandye’s absolute favorite show. It is a show we have performed many Christmas seasons for nearly 30 years. The story unfolds as we turn the pages of a giant book, from Herod’s palace, to the streets of Bethlehem, the fields nearby, the stable and the desert sands. Angels fly in from the balcony, if they don’t get stuck! Shepherds quake. Wise men place their gifts. And the animals provide a bit of comic relief. 

We call it a singalong because we noticed, a few years ago, that people often joined in on their favorite carols. So feel free to sing or not. Every audience is different. We can’t wait to see what this season will bring. Plus, you don’t want to miss the beauty of our opera house all decked out. And we will have the 2025 flyers ready to go.

Halloween shows

 We are bringing back one of our favorite shows this Halloween season:

“The Phantom of the Hazel Green Opera House”

11 am & 2 pm Sat Oct 19

2 pm Sun Oct 20

11 am & 2 pm Sat Oct 26

2 pm Sun Oct 27

Something mysterious is going on in the Hazel Green Opera House and Witch Hazel Green and her son, Frankie, are trying to figure out who is responsible. Your favorite characters are part of the fun — Hazel’s Six Dancing Sisters, Scarecrow Sally, Mr. Bones Jangle. And our beautiful historic building is sort of a character in its own right, as the drama takes you from room to room. 

Tickets are still only $5 and sold only at the door. Don’t worry. There’s plenty of room if you don’t dawdle. Doors open a half hour before each performance.

While you are here, check out the new burgundy velvet curtains that Sandye sewed for the windows in the lobby and performance hall. They are a better match for the faux painted drop-down curtain of Venice, which we will be showing off at the beginning of each show.

“River Critters”

 Celebrate spring and Mother’s Day with the show that’s been called our very best:

“River Critters”

Weekends of May 4-5 and 11-12

11 a.m. & 2 p.m. Saturdays

2 p.m. Sundays

When Buddy goes fishing with his grandpa on the Mississippi River for the first time, he has no idea what will happen when he loses his shoe in the water. Without knowing it, he’s sharing a sunny day with a playful otter and his friend, a patient turtle, as well as a heron, an eagle, a raccoon, a catfish, a frog, a duckling and even a couple of fish flies.

“River Critters” is a hand, rod and shadow puppet show.

Kids is past audiences have been known to ask us about the “tank of water” they assume is backstage!

 

March show and a summer preview

 Spring is coming and with it our first production of 2024! Our 20th season at the Hazel Green Opera House!

“3 Bears, 3 Pigs, 3 Billy Goats Gruff”

In this marionette mashup of three favorite fairy tales, Goldilocks skips along blithely past shabbily built cottages, over a troll bridge and right into a seemingly abandoned log cabin.

Showtimes are at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays

March 2-3 and 9-10

This show will also be available during the week between for school tours and other groups. 

Meanwhile, we are working on our summer library touring production of

“Fido’s Flea Circus”

This tabletop marionette show starts with an itchy dog who has not only fleas but an entire flea circus, complete with clowns, death-defying acts and exotic performers! Coming to a library near you (we hope) beginning in June. Check with your local library and ask them to book us.

Christmastime events

 There’s a lot going on at the Hazel Green Opera House and beyond this December.

Much of it has to do with gingerbread! First up: The second annual 

Gingerbread House Fundraiser for Grant County, Wis.

2-4 p.m. Saturday Dec. 2

Come and see gingerbread houses built in competition and auctioned off for charity at the end of the afternoon. It’s free, but bring your $$ for cookie concessions and tickets to vote for your favorites, as well as the auction.

On Sunday, Dec. 3, catch our booth at the Hazel Green Craft Fair, 10-3. Then,

In keeping with the gingerbread theme, we will present a brand-new Christmas production,

“The Gingerbread Chronicles”

11 am & 2 pm Saturday Dec. 9

2 pm Sunday Dec. 10

11 am & 2 pm Saturday Dec. 16

2 pm Sunday Dec. 17

11 am & 2 pm Wednesday Dec. 27

What happens when the Gingerbread Man gets mixed up with Hansel and Gretel? Here’s a clue: There’s a hungry fox, an oven, a magical cauldron, a helpful broom and a village full of people who make all the ingredients necessary for our favorite Christmas bakery.

But wait. There’s more! It all happens against a moving panorama scenery, known as a “crankie.”

Halloween Show

 After a bump on her green noggin, Witch Hazel Green finds herself off on 

                  “A Halloween Adventure” 

In the 45-minute, family-friendly show, Hazel and her little black cat make friends with a scarecrow girl, a skeleton and a cowardly cow as they travel the blacktop road to find The Big Cheese.

Performances will be 

11 am and 2 pm Saturday Oct. 21

2 pm Sunday Oct. 22

11 am and 2 pm Saturday Oct.  28

2 pm Sunday Oct. 29

Tickets are $5 per person and sold only at the door — cash or check only. Doors open a half hour before each performance.

Summertime

 We have had a wonderful spring season at the opera house, with great audiences for “Rapunzel” and “Rumpelstiltskin,” including mid-week school tours. 

Our summer will find us busy touring “Ivanushka and the Magic Horse” to area libraries. Please check with your local library to see if we are on their schedule. And if not, ask why not!

Have a great summer. When we are not “on tour,” we will be in our garden or swimming at Gov. Dodge State Park. We will also be working on our first new Christmas show in many years. It is going to be a mashup of “Hansel and Gretel” and “The Gingerbread Man,” with a working title of “The Gingerbread Chronicles.”  

It has a lot of working parts and Chuck is a little worried we won’t get it all done, but if it’s not ready for prime-time by November, we will go to Plan B (one of our other existing Christmas shows).

Stay tuned!

Rumpelstiltskin

 Following our hit production of “Rapunzel,” we’re mounting another fairytale that starts with “R.”

“Rumpelstiltskin”

11 a.m. & 2 p.m. Saturday April 29

2 p.m. Sunday April 30

11 a.m. & 2 p.m Saturday May 6

2 p.m. Sunday, May 7

As usual, we put the Fever River Puppeteers’ spin on a classic fairytale. So, besides the boastful miller and his poor daughter (the victim of his boasting), as well as the greedy and powerful king and Rumpelstiltskin himself, you’ll find our own Witch Hazel Green as well as a cameo performance by everyone’s favorite — Bossy the Cow! 

If you’ve ever been bothered by the fact that the miller’s daughter has to marry a king who seems particularly odious, then we think you will like our version in which the king eventually learns the error of his ways.

This show will also be available for mid-week touring, such as school groups after the first weekend. Please contact Sandye (608-732-7129) for more information.

‘Be 

Rapunzel

It gets expensive to buy enough hair care products for a girl with VERY long hair. That’s what Witch Hazel Green discovers in our production of

 “Rapunzel”

The marionette show will run the weekends of 

March 11-12 and 18-19

 at the historic 1891 Hazel Green Opera House, 2130 Main St. 

The Saturday shows are at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. The Sunday shows are at 2 p.m.

The story begins with a forbidden garden inhabited by a scarecrow and a very unusual caretaker. Next door lives a pregnant queen who simply must have lettuce from the witch’s garden. Little does she know that the witch has been waiting for someone to activate a spell that will give her a child of her own to raise. By the time the witch figures out how difficult it is to keep a teenage girl in a tower, a handsome prince has made an appearance. And the rest is fairy tale history.

Tickets for the 45-minute marionette show are $5 per person. Tickets are not sold in advance. The doors open a half hour before each performance. 

For information, please call 608-732-7129 or email voight1970@me.com

Happy 2023!

 After a wonderful 2022 season of puppet shows, we are settling in to the quiet time of January and February. It’s a good time to make puppets and plan other projects. We are looking forward to an equally fun year of puppetry ahead. 

This spring, we are bringing back two fairy tales that start with R! We haven’t performed “Rumpelstiltskin” or “Rapunzel” for many years and thought it was time to bring back these old chestnuts.

They will be available to school and other audiences during the week.

This summer, we will dust off “Ivanushka and the Magic Horse.” This is a handpuppet show based on an old Slavic fairy tale. We were set to perform it for libraries during the first summer of Covid shutdown. We made a YouTube video of it available for libraries and 2 did generously take us up on that offer. But now, we have decided to bring it back live. It is a rollicking tale of 3 brothers, the youngest of whom is a kind of male Cinderella. Meanwhile, there is a Rapunzel-like princess in a tower and a horse that serves as a fairy godmother.

Our “Halloween Adventure” is a spoof of the “Wizard of Oz,” which finds Hazel and her little cat, Momo, trying to find their way to the Big Cheese. 

And finally, we are going to spend this quiet winter time working on NEXT December’s Christmas show, which will be a new production, “The Gingerbread Chronicles.” Inspired by a non-puppet production — the Gingerbread House Fundraiser we hosted for Family Promise of Grant County in 2022, we plan to create a show that’s a mash-up of “Hansel and Gretel” and “The Gingerbread Man.” Wish me luck! 

December is busy!

First, a quick note that our email is no longer centurylink. Please use: voight1970@me.com. 

Besides making gingerbread and puppets, we have been rehearsing one of our favorite shows:

“Singalong Nativity”

11 am & 2 pm Saturday, Dec. 10

2 pm Sunday, Dec. 11

11 am & 2 pm Saturday, Dec. 17

2 pm Sunday, Dec. 18

11 am & 2 pm Wednesday, Dec. 28

Saturday, Dec. 3, come to the opera house between 2 and 4 p.m. for the first-ever Gingerbread House Fundraiser. It’s a benefit for Family Promise of Grant County, which helps and houses homeless families in the area. There will be gorgeous gingerbread buildings to view, vote for and bid on. There will also be yummy cookies and hot beverages to purchase.

Then, on Sunday, Dec. 4, come to the Hazel Green Craft Fair at Southwestern HS, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. We will be there with the new 2023 schedules as well as puppets for sale.

After all that, we will rest up! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year and enjoy your holiday traditions. And be healthy.

Happy Halloween!

Witch Hazel Green always hosts a magic contest on her birthday, which happens to be Halloween.  Her nemesis, the Goblin who lives in the lead mines, knows that Hazel needs her black cat, Momo, to do any magic. 

What will happen if Momo disappears? What is a witch to do? Will her son Frankie help? Find out in 

“Hazel’s Halloween Birthday” 

11 am & 2 pm Saturday, Oct. 22

2 pm Sunday, Oct. 23

11 am & 2 pm Saturday, Oct. 29

2 pm Sunday, Oct. 30

“Sleeping Beauty”

We are pleased to bring back this spring favorite.

We first built this show with an eye to springtime and it will definitely be spring by the time we perform it, during the last weekend in April, May Day and Mother’s Day weekend.

Our version of  this beloved fairy tale includes a gaggle of witches (familiar to our audiences!) who bestow gifts on a baby princess, an overprotective father, a mean witch-turned-snow monster, a princess who loves to garden and a cloud of colorful butterflies. Butterflies, of course, are a metaphor for life after death.

Side note: The spinning wheel was one of my mother’s “tchotchkes.” One day, I noticed that it was puppet-size and blatantly asked for it. It’s perfect for Sleeping Beauty as well as Rumpelstiltskin.

Also, we are making this show available through the end of May for mid-week school (and other) groups. The opera house can seat 80. This is a perfect show for end-of-the-year school trips.

 

“Sleeping Beauty”

11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sat. April 30

2 p.m. Sun. May 

11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sat. May 7

2 p.m. Sun. May 8

Spring shows!

 Hi! We will be offering two marionette shows at the opera house this spring — in a departure from our usual scheduling.

First up:

“Irish Cinderella”

11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sat. March 12

2 p.m. Sun. March 13

11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sat. March 19

2 p.m. Sun. March 20

Liam the leprechaun steps in for the fairy godmother in this St. Patrick Day-ish take on the classic fairy tale. Poor Colleen wants to go to the king’s Irish step dancing contest but she hasn’t a thing to wear, among other problems. 

This approximately 50-minute show is fun for all ages. No reservations necessary, however, we will be taking reservations for any school groups who might want to visit during the week days in between. Call me: 608-732-7129. 

After “Irish Cinderella,” we will be doing a quick turnaround to offer 

“Sleeping Beauty”

11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sat. April 30

2 p.m. Sun. May 1

11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sat. May 7

2 p.m. Sun. May 8