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Drew Allison, Festival Director (Charlotte, North Carolina) director@puppetrampage2007.org drew@greysealpuppets.com Drew's love of puppetry began as a child when he found a box filled with rolls and rolls of yellowing cellophane tape. He tried to make a small figure out of the tape. His parents discovered him later, nearly asphyxiated. To this day he prefers a stapler. Since then Drew's performed a gazillion shows, built a gazillion puppets and written 2 books as the head of Grey Seal Puppets, while still searching for another cellophane high. |
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BOB Nathanson, Festival Director (Coconut Creek, Florida and Bayside, New York) Bob's parents thought his first words were "Goo, goo," but the words were actually "Glue gun." Seriously, Bob's love of puppetry came to him later in life, nearly two weeks ago. Very seriously, Bob has been a full-time puppeteer for 27 years. He has performed for tens of thousands of children and has made literally hundreds of dollars in this fast-paced, exciting career. Bob's secret ambition is to do some type of water puppet show, while kayaking the rapids. The audience would line the banks of the river, and catch a one or two second glimpse of the show, which would only last one or two seconds. He is currently seeking funding for this project. |
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NANCY Smith, Artistic Director (Phoenix, Arizona) Nancy's the co-founder of Great Arizona Puppet Theater in Phoenix where she writes shows, directs, performs, supervises activities and takes out the garbage. Following a creative fundraising plan ro raise money for theater renovation, she took a sabbatical in West Virginia where she roomed with Martha Stewart. The two pioneered new ways of making puppets with bedsprings and toilet paper. Nancy will stop at nothing to make Puppet Rampage a Festival you'll never forget. She's tougher than she looks. Just ask Martha. |
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JIM Hammond, Associate Artistic Director/Marketing Director Jim's been in the biz since he found out his mom had a hard core puppet phobia due to an incident involving a locked closet and a decaying Vaudeville vent dummy. He's designed the little critters for Florida Grand Opera, New World Symphony, and a slew of Regional Theaters and Museums. Currently, the UConn puppet grad is fixing the guts of Zazu, Timon and Pumbaa on the National Broadway Tour of The Lion King, but can't wait to get back to his performance artist roots burning puppets in the streets of South Florida. |
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LISA Rhodes, Business Manager, (Atlanta, Georgia) Lisa grew up performing with her mother’s puppet company (see Alice Rhodes-Adler, Co-Registrar) and was often amused to find puppet heads baking in the oven instead of dinner. After college graduation, Lisa wanted a brief stint of mindless fun and frolic so she headed to Atlanta for a 5-month tour with the Center for Puppetry Arts. After the tour, Lisa landed the job of Administrative Director and has been with the Center for 20+ years. She compiles and updates her own secret list of the Top Ten Best Puppetry Performances Ever. |
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SHARI Aronson, Workshop Director, (Minneapolis, Minnesota) workshops@puppetrampage2007.org Shari did not as a child crawl into a cardboard box and put on puppet shows. She is dedicating her adult life to making up for it. She is one half of Circus Minimus Puppetry, a Minneapolis duo that combines physical comedy with puppetry. Together, they strive to make children squeal with laughter and whatever it takes to make the cat happy. CHRIS Griffith, Workshop Director At age 7, Chris charged his family a dime admission for his living room puppet and magic shows. By 8, he was paying them a quarter to attend. Now, he is one half of Circus Minimus Puppetry, award-winning family entertainers and lets his family in for free most of the time. |
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ALAN Cook, "Legends of American Puppetry" Exhibit Director, (Pasadena, California ) alangregorycook@msn.com Alan got bitten early by the puppet bug (ouch, ouch, ouch!) and he has not yet found that can of RAID spray. He has learned belatedly that that portrait of him has stayed young, but that he hasn't, and that puppets left alone in a room have multiplied like crazy, now numbering over 3000. For the past half century (groan, creak) some of these puppets have been exhibited in neat places to educate the ignorant (you know the story about the guy destined to roll a puppet uphill for eternity?). The Conservatory of Puppetry Arts in Pasadena is the location of that mythical hill. |
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PHILLIP Huber, PoA National Exhibit Curator (CALIFORNIA/TENNESSEE)
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ALICE Rhodes-Adler, Registrar, (Atlanta, Georgia) Alice ran a very successful pre-school and kindergarten for 25 years that held a built-in audience for trying out new performances with her part-time puppetry business. After moving to Atlanta to be closer to her daughter (see Lisa Rhodes, Business Manager), she had a lovely career performing her one-person puppet shows as an outreach puppeteer with the Center for Puppetry Arts. Several years ago she met the love of her life (see Matt Adler, Co-Registrar). Now they spend their days madly in love and working as puppeteers since neither one can quite grasp the concept of retirement. |
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MATT Adler, Registrar, (Atlanta, Georgia) Matt’s life has included fighting at the Battle of the Bulge, building a 5-bedroom house by himself, a distinguished career at Oscar Meyer, and raising four talented and artistic children. After moving to Atlanta to be closer to his son Jeff, he met the love of his life (see Alice Rhodes-Adler, Co-Registrar) who taught him how much fun working with puppets could be. Now they spend their days madly in love and working as puppeteers since neither one can quite grasp the concept of retirement. |
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KURT Hunter, On Site Coordinator, (Minneapolis, Minnesota) huntermarionettes@earthlink.net After a successful festival in 2005 as Festival Director, Kurt is doing it again. As On Site Coordinator, he's the chief of logistics for Puppet Rampage keeping everything running smoothly and introducing Minnesota to the PoA event. |
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CATHY Shappell, Puppetry Store Coordinator, (Phoenix, Arizona) If you wish to place anything in the store on consignment, or volunteer to work a few hours in the store, contact Cathy at: The Puppetry Store, 302 West Latham Street, Phoenix AZ 85003, 602-262-2050, FAX 602-262-2330 |
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PETER Allen, Potpourri Coordinator, (Trenton, Missouri) Peter, known by many as "WHO?", began puppeteering at an early age. Friends remind him that although he has been performing for over 40 years, unlike a fine wine, he has not improved at all. Attendees at this gathering will not be disappointed to know that he will once again not be performing at this national festival (so much for his chances at a PoA Award or an UNIMA Citation) but his charm, wit, intelligence, modesty and many divisive talents will be fully used as first major co-host along with minor help from a Pix Smith of Potpourri. This is a job he used to be able to do without any help, all by himself, in his youth. |
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PIX Smith, Potpourri Coordinator, (Dallas, Texas) Pix (Short for pixel, due to his lightning use of brainpower and fast and sticky fingers, or perhaps a failed murder attempt -- ask him) will co-host Potpourri (along with the excellent and talented Mr. Peter Allen). Pix's great talent lies in his ability to seem to do so much while actually doing nothing at all. This is a talent at which he excels. He has gotten a lot out of life with his lugubrious gift. Long periods of silence while he looks blankly at an audience, or gazes to the heavens, bring gales of laughter from an unaware audience, who do not realize that he has just forgotten what he was going to say or has lost his place completely. This he judicially calls timing. |
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JEAN MARIE Keevins, Puppet Slam Coordinator, (New York, New York) jnmree@yahoo.com JEAN MARIE is a NY based puppeteer, puppet builder, producer and milliner. Active with the O'Neill Puppetry Conference, she went on to become the Conference Manager. As a member of The Cat's Paw Collective, Jean Marie has participated in the Carnegie Hall “Family Concert Series” in collaboration with Martin P. Robinson numerous times. Also, with Cat's Paw she has also puppeteered and stage managed for Nosferatu at the well-known Cherry Lane Theater as part of the NY International Fringe Festival in 2003 and the National Puppetry Festival in 2005. Jean Marie has built puppets and masks for Broadway's Lestat, Avenue Q, Omar's Mother, Baby Einstein, ChucheQhalin (O'Neill), and Disney on Ice's “Finding Nemo”. |
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PAUL Eide, Web Master/Workshop Manual Editor, Photographer, (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Paul Eide has been around the Puppeteers of America and doing stuff for a number of years. |
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KATHY Bolch, Graphics/Program Book Editor, (Savannah, Georgia) skipnstones@earthlink.net Bio in the Works |
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LYON Forrest Hill, Logo/Blog Design, (Columbia, South Carolina) Lyon never thought he would become a puppeteer. As a child, he dreamt of becoming a world reknown comic book artist, or a jet setting illustrator. The evolution is clear in retrospect: his drawings became sculptures and his sculptures began to move. One thing has remained unchanged, however: lyon is a world reknown jetsetter. See his work at noyl.com. |
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ROSE Sage Barone, Blog Master (Redwood City, California) rosesage@sagecraft.com Rampage Connection Web Site Bio in the works |
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NICK Barone, Blog Master (Redwood City, California) nick@puppetbuilder.com Rampage Connection Web Site Bio in the works |
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JOHN Bell, Master of Ceremonies (Boston, Massachusetts) john_bell@emerson.edu Rampage Connection Web Site JOHN is a performer, writer, and teacher who started making theater seriously with Bread and Puppet Theater; he was a company member of that troupe for over a decade. While studying for his Ph.D. in theater history at Columbia University he began to create shows with the group of friends who became Great Small Works. |
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VALERIE Nelson, Master of Ceremonies (Yountville, California) mail@magicalmoonshine.org Rampage Connection Web Site Bio In Progress |
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MICHAEL Nelson, Master of Ceremonies (Yountville, California) mail@magicalmoonshine.org Rampage Connection Web Site Bio In Progress |
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LESLEY Smith, Master of Ceremonies (New Hampshire) lsmithnh@aol.com Rampage Connection Web Site Lesley is a renowned ventriloquist, puppeteer and singer/songwriter employing the vehicles of humor, dynamic vocals and puppetry to entertain corporations, festivals, school children and their families across the country. As a New England Foundation for the Arts touring artist, the Theatre of Life Puppets has become a premier educational entertainment troupe. Leslie will have help from her delightful friend Sammy the Snail. |
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JENNY ROMAINE, Master of Ceremonies Rampage Connection Web Site Bio In Progress |
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SUSAN Vanderweghe, Office Manager (Cedar Mountain, North Carolina) vanpuppet@citcom.net Rampage Connection Web Site Bio in progress |
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WAYNE Krefting, Public Events Coordinator, PoA President wayne@otisrabbit.com, kreftingfamily@msn.com Rampage Connection Web Site Wayne brings a unique blend of family and community building, history and theological education, and community service to the art of puppetry. Professionally, he holds two Master's degrees and spent over 15 years working in human services before turning to puppetry and television full time. |
| Uptown Tix (Twin Cities, Minnesota) Box Office Public Events Web Site |
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CHRISTOPHER Hudert, Update Editor (Richmond, Virginia) heyhoot@mindspring.com, christopher@applauseunlimited.com Rampage Connection Web Site Christopher is a versatile artist whose skills include script writing, sculpting, set and puppet construction, puppetry, clowning, stilt walking, juggling and much more. A 9 year veteran of Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey Circus, Christopher has performed live for millions and appeared in TV shows, commercials, magazines and newspapers in both countries. He was Boss Clown for Ringling Bros. before leaving the show to join Master Puppeteer Terry Snyder in the creation of Applause Unlimited. |
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ARETTA Baumgartner, Volunteer Coordinator (Cincinnati, Ohio) Having worked with over two dozen Cincinnati area theatre groups, Aretta is an award winning mask artist and puppeteer and actor and teacher. She also serves on multiple PoA Committees. |
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TBA, Swag Bag/Merchandise Coordinator |
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CLAIRE Uldrich and KAREN Backes, Traffle Fund Coordinators CLAIRE: Claire Uldrich is a tired retired elementary school media specialist who worked most of her career in some Cleveland, Ohio suburbs. She had puppet clubs with children and tried her hand at all kinds of puppetry. Her favorite was shadow puppets and in the summer of 2006 she created a small shadow show with some Sunday school kids entitled "The Creation" which was a child's version of the Bible's Genesis. Never again! She could'nt ever be sure how many would show up each Sunday.Very unpredictible! Claire is looking forward to winding down her puppetry days. Co-chairing the Traffle is a way to help the P of A raise money for the travel fund. KAREN: Karen Backes performed her first hand puppet show with a friend in 5th grade, and later it was performed for the whole school. Over 30 years ago, Karen joined the Twin Cities Puppeteers guild. She was secretary and is at present Treasurer. She made different styles of puppets, but found hand puppets to work best for her and her husband, who perform shows as the Backes Puppeteers. For ten summers, they were out at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival selling their puppets and patterns with the help of their four children. |
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PETER Effaldana, Traffle Fund Assistant (Orlando, Florida) puppets2@cfl.rr.com Rampage Connection Web Site Bio In Progress |
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Kathee Foran (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Public Relations Coordinator |
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| Anne Ulseth/AQUA Public Relations (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Public Relations Coordinator annequlseth@earthlink.net Bio in the Works |
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ME'L Reum, First Time Coordinator (DENVER, COLORADO)
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WAYNE Hampton, Official Photographer, uane@aol.com Wayne's interest in photography began at an early age. He took his first picture at the age of eighteen months of his bedtime partner, a teddy bear he named Nikonette. He continued to document their often volatile relationship until he was twenty seven. Wayne attended college at FNU (Film Negative University) at Whittier, Iowa and earned a PhD degree in viewfinder composition. Perhaps Wayne’s greatest accomplishment to date has been winning the coveted PPPP (Pulitzer Prize for Puppetry Pictures) for which he was awarded 1.2MB |
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SARAH Bourne, Technical Director, (St. Paul, Minnesota) Puppet Rampage marks Sarah's third national puppet festival as T.D. When she's not working in theatre, she coaches women's lacrosse, which is a lot like rod puppetry and dodge ball mixed together. After she knows her players can pass and catch, Sarah builds and performs puppets with vigilante styling. (Watch out, you may be next.) Sarah has worked for Vee Corp, Heart of the Beast, Hartford Stage, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Underground Railway Theatre, Utah Lyric Opera, Utah Opera, Connecticut Rep, Beale Street Puppets and Preston Foerder at the Contemporary American Theatre Festival. She overstayed her welcome at UConn and left with a BFA and an MA. Sarah resides in Minnesota with her loving husband and two cats who put up with her puppetry mess. |
| Becky EYRE, Technical Staff (Naugatuck, Connecticut) qbec99@gmail.com Bio in the Works |
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| Eric BROOKS, Technical Staff (Lanham, Maryland) broeric@gmail.com Bio in the Works |
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| Cedan BORNE, Technical Staff (Chanhassen, Minnesota) cedanasher@yahoo.com Bio in the Works |
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CEILI Clemens, Late Night Technical Director, Late Night Lounge, Ceili Clemens is a Brooklyn based puppeteer/super villainess who can be seen performing with "Uncle Jimmy's Dirty Basement", "The Adventures of Charcoal Boy", "Maya the Bee":," Animal Farm; A Musical with puppets", "LoneRunner", Cats Paw Collective's "Nosforatu", "Butterfly Dreams", as well as performing in various puppet slams throughout the NorthEast. She has built for "Little Shop of Horrors", "Avenue Q", "Blue's Room" and for David Shiner. She is a puppet wrangler for "Between the Lions" and "Blue's Room". When she's not performing or building she is running around pushing everyone's buttons....well in a technical theater sense, working as a theater tech or as a costumer. |
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LUCINDA Anderson, Closing Party/Banquet/Catering Coordinator, (St. Paul, Minnesota) landerson@lakecountyschool.org, luroympls@yahoo.com Bio in the works |
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| KAMELA Kruszka, PoA Scholarship Coordinator (Bakersfield, California) Rampage Connection Web Site Bio In Progress |
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MILKY WAY Floyd, Rampage Girlz & Rampage Boyz Coordinator (HONOLULU, HAWAII) Milky Way Floyd, kidnapped and raised by heathens, escaped by age 15. She traveled with a carnival, working her first puppet job as Princess Uraina, from the urinal canal. As an almost adult, she continues her gypsy life traveling back and forth between North Carolina and Hawaii while trying deperately to maintain some semblence of sanity. |
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RHONDA Maas, Transportation Coordinator (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Bio in Progress |
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MARGO McCreary. Kids Coordinator (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Margo, a former Heart of the Beast staffer with decades of experience teaching kids puppetry, has awesome plans for the kids’ workshops all week |
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TBA, Stage Manager, Pearson Theater |
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TBA, Stage Manager, Music Auditorium |
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LIZ Evans, House Manager Coordinator (Norristown, Pennsylvania) Liz is the Founder, Artistic Director and President of Renaissance Artist Puppet Company. The company is an extension of her theatrical vision. She comes from a long line of teachers and so,values education. She is also a veteran of classical theatre, 3-D design, and music. All of these elements came together to bring Liz to the Puppet theatre world. She was enthralled when she discovered she could combine all of her artistic loves with education in one art form, Puppet Theatre. |
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TBA, Stage Manager, Late Night Lounge |
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TBA, House Manager Late Night Lounge |
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TBA, Registration Staff |
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TBA, Puppetry Exchange Staff |
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ELISE Handelman, Registration Assistant (Bayside, New York) notelsie@aol.com Rampage Connection Web site Elise was born in Brooklyn, New York. At first, it was thought that Elise's mother was having twins, until it was discovered that Elise was holding a hand puppet. As a young girl, Elise played accordian. At about this same time, a mass exodus out of Brooklyn to the New York suburbs began. Coincidence??? Hmmm! Elise graduated from Queens College (the same university that Jerry Seinfeld graduated from), In fact, Jerry proposed to Elise, but she was dating Bob Nathanson at the time, and she thought she would be more financially secure with Bob. |
| STEVE Abrams, EBlast Coordinator (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) sapuppets@ucwphilly.rr.com Rampage Connection Bio in progress |
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STEVE Mark, Signage Coordinator, (Minnetonka, Minnesota) Steve, fairly new to puppetry, is still finding his way through puppetland. So in a symbolic sense Steve is perfect to be in charge of signage. Plus, he likes the idea of being the guiding light to lost souls, without having to tithe. And... he did the signs last time. Steve is founder of Village Idiot Puppets. (And the Great Plains Regional Director of the P of A.) Steve also is a freelance illustrator (stevemark.com) where he has been Employee of the Month for 309 consecutive months. |
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Chad Williams/PBC Productions (Astoria, New York), Official Videographer |
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Brett Vanderbrook/PBC Productions (Astoria, New York), Assistant Videographer |
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TBA, Van/International Artist Drivers |
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TBA, International Artist Translators |
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CONCORDIA Staff, Stage Crew, All Venues (SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA) After a great job in 2005, the Concordia Stage Crew is going to keep the behind the scene production artistry top notch. Load ins, outs and runs will be smooth as silk due to their professionalism and devotion to the arts. |
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JOHN Scollon, Late Night Events Tech (Columbia, South Carolina) John Scollon is a second generation puppeteer. Rumor has it that he first came to life on a table in his mother's puppet workshop. Whether he was created or conceived there remains a matter of debate for many. He now runs the Columbia Marionette Theatre with a neoprene fist... |
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JENNIFER Sila, Concordia Conference Director (SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA) Jennifer and Concordia University are thrilled to have the Puppeteers of America National Festival on their campus for a second time. If there is anything our staff can do to make your time here more comfortable, please notify your Festival Directors and we'll work with them to make Puppet Rampage 2007 one of the best festivals you've ever experienced. |
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CHAD Horman, Concordia Technical Director (SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA) Chad's goal is to keep the performances running smoothly, and as illustrated in 2005, the man knows how to get it done. He and his technical crew are looking forward to working with the performers, festival staff and registrants to present a spectacular line up of events. For more information on the venues, check out the Technical Specs/Rider Page.
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