(November 2009) Two-Time Tony Award
Winning legend Geoffrey Holder joined the Rainbow Puppets for our production of
"Amazon Adventures." Mr. Holder is a true renaissance man. As a
director, he's earned two Tony Awards for his direction of "The Wiz" and costume
design for "Timbuktu!" As a film actor, he's worked on Annie, Live and
Let Die, Dr. Doolittle, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
On television, he provided his booming voice for Bear in the Big Blue House.
And, of course, he's remembered for his "simply marvelous" work on countless
7-Up commercials. He is also a noted painter, composer and choreographer.
Mr. Holder is married to dancer Carmen De Lavallade.
"I remember hearing Mr. Holder's voice back
when I was in Middle School. What a booming, powerful, deep voice. I
knew that one day we would find a way to include that voice in one our shows...
and we're certainly grateful to Mr. Holder for working with us," said show
creator David Messick. "How unnerving to hear that terrific voice booming
out of a tiny little tree frog!"
"When we entered the studio, Mr. Holder was
listening to his own project, a musical version of 'Job' which he is currently
revising. As to his work habits, Mr. Holder treats each and every line
like a piece of music... working to find the perfect cadence and rhythm.
He frequently makes marks on his script to notate exactly how to deliver his
part for the ultimate effect. You'll want to hear and feel it in
performance! Yes, his voice really does rumble!"
Mr. Holder was born in Port-of-Spain,
Trinidad and later made his way to New York where he made his stage debut in
1954. A more detailed biography was written by the
National Visionary
Leadership Project.
We recorded Mr. Holder at Phantom Audio in
New York City and thank our friends there for their kindness and excellent work.
Mickey Rooney and Jan Rooney Visit Virginia!
(July 2009) Our friends Mickey and Jan Rooney visited Williamsburg
Virginia for five performances of "Let's Put On a Show!" They
performed at the beautiful and historic Kimball Theater where we premiered our
production of "Toyland!" in 2003. That was our first production
with Mickey and Jan. Once again, Mickey and Jan agreed to help us with
some upcoming performances and we have quite number of surprises lined
up. Best of all, they recorded parts for "The Marvelous Land of
Oz," a production we started work on in March when we recorded Meinhardt
Raabe, an original movie munchkin, for the program. Below is a shot of
David, Mickey, Jan, and Craig T. Adams. Craig co-starred with Mickey in
"A Pirate Party" and will have a role in the Oz show as well.
Munchkin Joins the Rainbow Puppets
(March 2009) Rainbow founder David Messick and musical producer Steve
Scheffler just visited movie legend Meinhardt Raabe in Florida. You may
not immediately recognize the name but you know his work. Meinhardt was
the coroner munchkin in the 1939 classic MGM movie "The Wizard of
Oz." David presented Meinhardt with an award courtesy of the Daily
Press in Newport News, Virginia. He also presented Meinhardt a copy of
Rainbow's "Toyland" CD starring Mickey Rooney. Mickey was on the
set in 1939 while Oz was being filmed. Mickey also wrote the introduction
to Meinhardt's book "Memories of a Munchkin." The book offers
great insight into the film and features many never before seen photos.
Meinhardt has the distinction of the being the last surviving member of the
Oz cast to have a speaking role in the film. At 93 years old, Meinhardt
still shares many great memories of the production and the rest of his
fascinating life. Not one to let his size deter his ambitions, he worked
hard to get his MBA, was a pilot for the Civil Air Patrol, and worked for many
years as a spokesperson for Oscar Mayer. During the visit, Rainbow took
the opportunity to have Meinhardt record a few lines for some upcoming
productions. How appropriate to have someone from Oz doing voices for
Rainbow Productions!
You can hear him now in this summer's production, "Amazon
Adventures." Plus he will be making an appearance in another
upcoming production... but you'll have to wait to hear the details!
Below is an interview David Messick and Steve Scheffler did with Meinhardt:
Big
Mouth Puppet Making with Laura Huff
(February 28, 2009) She has created amazing
characters for the Rainbow Puppets, including life-like foam impressions of the
Wright Brothers, Abraham Lincoln and Patrick Henry.She’s created a clever Mickey Rooney character for
“Toyland.”She has created
impressive animal puppets including the dinosaurs pictured above.On February 28, 2009, she taught a dozen folks how to construct big mouth
puppets at First United Methodist of Hilton.
On the right is an example constructed by Ann "Tuttles"
Saunders of Toano. Great job Laura! Great job Ann! And thank
you to Jerry and Martha Dodson for opening up their church for this event.
Carol Channing joins
the Rainbow Puppets!
(August 2007) Carol Channing has just joined the Rainbow Puppets,
adding her voice to the long-anticipated follow up to "The Amazing
Adventures of Chessie the Manatee." Above, she is seen at the end of
the recording session with show creator David Messick, musical director John
Wyatt, and engineer Frank Imbessi. Carol sang a new song for the show and
recorded all the dialogue. As a special treat, her character will
"crash in" on Mickey Rooney's new Pirate show to plug her own
performance. Mickey and Carol appeared on film together in the 1960's and
were in productions of "Sugar Babies in the 1980's. We'll share more
later!
Mickey
and Jan Rooney Return to the Rainbow Puppets for a Pirate Party
(June 2007) Movie legend Mickey Rooney and his wife Jan have just added
their voices to the brand new Rainbow Puppet Production musical
“A Pirate Party” that premiered at the Blackbeard Pirate Festival on
June 2, 2007.
Mickey Rooney is fresh off the success of his role in
the December blockbuster “A Night at the Museum” starring Ben Stiller.Rainbow Puppet Productions caught up with Mickey and his wife in Winston
Salem, North Carolina where they are filming a new movie.
This is not the first time Mickey and Jan have worked with
Rainbow Puppets.They starred in
the company’s 100th Anniversary Production of “Toyland!”According to show creator David Messick, “I called Mickey and his wife
the day ‘Museum’ opened to tell them how much we enjoyed it.We then discussed future projects and they agreed to participate.We recorded their part for ‘A Pirate Party’ and for two more projects
that will come out in the future.”
“Mickey plays Captain Mick and joyously pokes fun
at his image as a multi-award winning legend.His wife Jan plays Polly the Parrott who even more joyously eggs Mickey
on.Mickey and Jan own two parrots
and Jan told a wonderful story of how Mickey will be downstairs while she’s
upstairs.Mickey calls, ‘Hey,
Jan!” and the parrot replies, ‘What do you want?’Jan, of course, never hearing Mickey and Mickey trying to carry on a
conversation with the parrot!”
The show is a happy salute to beach movies of the
1960’s.There are villains (this
time pirates), surfer boys, a beautiful mermaid, a talking octopus, and a
legendary movie star.It doesn’t
make a lot of sense but it will be a lot of fun with the audience joining in on
a pirate shout-out contest and a big dance at the finale.
Additional voices are provided by longtime Dr.
Madblood cast member Craig T. Adams, anime vocal artist Kara Dennison and
Rainbow vocal artists Tim Tharrington and Steve Scheffler.Scheffler also served as audio producer for the show, leaving for the
Rooney session with about five minute’s notice.
Settings are created by Rainbow Puppeteer Kathie
Davis.The highlight is four-foot
high talking Blackbeard head that tells the story of one of history’s most
infamous pirates.Puppets are by
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s Jill Harrington and the Prince Puppets.She has created a surfer and mermaid puppet that will swim into the
audience as part of the performance.The
be-jeweled octopus puppet is by Hampton Master Puppet Maker Laura Huff.Costumes are by Regina Smith.
The score by David Messick includes new song “A
Pirate Party” and several “lost” songs from his 30 years of writing
children’s musicals.There’s
“The Pirate Song” that features a Victor Herbert melody that’s over 100
years old with all- new lyrics.The
song was intended for “Toyland” but was not included in the final
performance.There are two beach
songs from a 1985 project he co-wrote with Larry Barker.
(December 2006) Tiffany Haas (Miss Muffet in "Toyland!")
appeared on Goodmorning America Christmas day 2006. She was there between performances
of "Wicked" on
Broadway. Congratulations Tiffany!
Mickey Rooney
and Pearl Bailey Re-unite (Sort of!)
On December 14, 2006, Rainbow puppets presented "Toyland!
starring Mickey Rooney" at the Pearl Bailey Library in Newport News,
Virginia. Mickey and Pearl co-starred together in the movie "The Fox
and the Hound" for Walt Disney. The film has just been re-released in
a special 25th Anniversary edition. So check it out while you can.
Pearl was born in Newport News, Virginia and later starred on
Broadway and in feature films. She is featured in Rainbow's new
production, "From the Sea to the Sky."
Gene
Simmons and Tiffany Haas?
(December 2006) Here's something you probably weren't expecting on the Rainbow
Puppets site! Gene Simmons with our friend and voice artist Tiffany Haas.
They met backstage at the Barbara Streisand concert and enjoyed the show
together. Tiffany's uncle, Bill McManus designed the lighting and effects
for the original Kiss tours in the 1970's and 80's. We actually learned a
few tricks from their most recent tour and use those effects in
"Toyland."
Bruce Hornsby joins the
Rainbow Puppets
(December 2006) The Virginia Peninsula's own Bruce Hornsby joined the Rainbow
Puppets in telling the story of the Virginia Peninsula. At the end
of a tour promoting his new CD Box set "Intersections," Bruce recorded
narration for us at his home studio. The audio was engineered by his
long time co-producer Wayne Pooley. "Song H" from the new box
set has just been nominated for a Grammy... and it's worth the entire cost of
the set! You can get an autographed copy, along with some other great
stuff from Bruce's website.
Rainbow's program, "From
the Sea to the Sky," opened on December 9 and is now touring schools,
libraries and theaters across the state.
Tiffany Haas is on Broadway!
Tiffany Haas, the voice of Little Miss Muffet in Rainbow Productions
"Toyland!" joined the Broadway cast of "Wicked" in early December of
2005. Tiffany grew up in Yorktown, Virginia. Her parents own and operate the
Academy of Dance studios in Hampton and Newport News, Virginia (where Rainbow frequently
rehearses). Tiffany was a student at Cincinnati Conservatory. She has
appeared on a PBS musical special with Denyce Graves, Tom Wopat, and John Schneider.
She won the Miss Ohio pageant and later competed in the Miss America contest.
During that time, she caught the eye of legendary musical composer and conductor
Marvin Hamlish. In Wicked, Tiffany is appearing onstage with legendary performer Ben
Vereen.
Mickey Rooney Joins the Rainbow Team!
(July 2003) In Rainbow's production of "Chessie the Manatee," Seemore the
Seagull sings a song where he dreams of putting on "a musical show like Mickey
Rooney." Who would have ever guessed that six years later, the Rainbow
team would put on a musical show WITH Mickey Rooney? Well,
it really happened!
Mickey Rooney will star as the Master Toymaker in Rainbow Puppet's 100th
anniversary production of Victor Herbert's "Babes in Toyland." Mr. Rooney
recorded his part in June while on tour with his wife. As an added treat, his wife
Jan agreed to appear as Mother Goose! They're pictured above, after the session with
engineer Steve Scheffler and show director David Messick.
Mickey has starred in so many classic MGM movies, many with his good
friend Judy Garland. He won a juvenile Oscar in 1939 and more recently received a
lifetime achievement Oscar. He won an Emmy as "Bill" and starred with Ann
Miller in Broadway's "Sugar Babies."
Younger audience members will recognize him as the voice of Santa in
"Santa Claus is Coming to Town" with Fred Astaire and for his starring role in
"Pete's Dragon." He most recently appeared in "The Phantom of
the Megaplex" for the Disney Channel and provided a voice in Disney's "The Lady
and the Tramp 2."
His wife is a truly gifted singer who has appeared with him on "Love
Boat" and now costars with him in their two person, "One Man, One Wife"
show. Earlier in her career, she was an artist for the Hanna Barbera animation
studio.
Rainbow's connection to "Toyland" goes back almost 30 years.
Company founder David Messick was a principal dancer in "Babes in
Toyland" back in the 1970's. He soon graduated to choreographer and later
director of several productions. His last edition was produced in 1983 and featured
a cast of 100!
"I promised myself that I'd produce another tour on the 100th
anniversary of the show. It's scary how quickly the 20 years have passed."
"I still can't believe Mr. Rooney said yes," says Messick.
"The two happiest memories I have in the theater are seeing Mickey in 'Sugar
Babies' and later in the tour of 'The Wizard of Oz.' He IS the Master
Toymaker!"
"Babes in Toyland" opened at the Kimball Theater in
Williamsburg on December 22, 2003.
Rainbow Returns to the Grand Opera!
In May of 2002, a T-Rex, Stegosaurus, and a team of other Dinosaurs
took over the historic Grand Opera stage in Wilmington, Delaware for two sold out
performances. Rainbow will now return to the Grand Opera with their "Creatures
Great and Small" program. In a new twist for the Grand Opera performance, David
Messick will perform the role of Grandpa live onstage. He's been providing the voice
for Grandpa in shows dating back to 1977, but this is the first time he'll perform the
role live. "It's such a huge facility, we decided having Grandpa perform live
would add a lot to the production," says Messick. "Now if I can remember
all of the lyrics to all of the songs! You'd think the guy who wrote the songs would
remember the words!"
"Without a doubt, the
Grand Opera is one of the most beautiful performance spaces in the country... certainly a
high point for Rainbow Puppets. Our thanks to everyone who came to see us. We hope
to visit again!" Don't believe it? Take a look at their web site: www.grandopera.org. There's a virtual tour that
that takes you throughout the facility.
Here's the Rainbow team outside the
Opera house after our second and final performance last year. It's "Dino
Days" in Delaware and there were decorated dinosaurs throughout the downtown
area. Look closely and you'll see one beside Jason and Stan Stegosaurus.
Rainbow At Virginia Zoo Grand Opening
(May 2002) Rainbow Puppets were
featured performers at the grand opening of the new Africa section of the Virginia Zoo.
The storm clouds held off just long enough for us to perform "Chessie
and Manatee" and "Wanda." Thanks to those of you who joined us.
Simply
Marvelous!
Carol Channing joins
the Rainbow Puppets!
M
Tiffany
Haas on Goodmorning America
Mickey Rooney
and Pearl Bailey Re-unite (Sort of!)
Gene
Simmons and Tiffany Haas?
Bruce Hornsby joins the
Rainbow Puppets
Mickey Rooney Joins the Rainbow Team!
Rainbow Returns to the Grand Opera!
"Without a doubt, the
Grand Opera is one of the most beautiful performance spaces in the country... certainly a
high point for Rainbow Puppets. Our thanks to everyone who came to see us. We hope
to visit again!" Don't believe it? Take a look at their web site: 
Here's the Rainbow team outside the
Opera house after our second and final performance last year. It's "Dino
Days" in Delaware and there were decorated dinosaurs throughout the downtown
area. Look closely and you'll see one beside Jason and Stan Stegosaurus.
(May 2002) Rainbow Puppets were
featured performers at the grand opening of the new Africa section of the Virginia Zoo.
The storm clouds held off just long enough for us to perform "Chessie
and Manatee" and "Wanda." Thanks to those of you who joined us.