The story was essentially the same, and the puppets looked exactly like the original stop motion animation characters. The puppet production really brings the characters to life, and perhaps gives them a little more dimension because you’re seeing them in person. Holiday songs, including some included in the original TV show, round out the production with additional merriment.
Of course, Bumbles the Abominable Snow Monster made his scary appearance in human-sized form. My daughter has a stuffed Bumble, so we had to explain to her that the one in her room is a good guy who had already worked out all his anger “issues.” It was also good to see the exuberant prospector Yukon Cornelius is still digging for gold, and to learn that Hermey the elf hasn’t given up on his dream to be a dentist. There was the adolescent romance between Rudolph and the doe-eyed Clarice, who stuck by her reindeer guy through thick and thin. Plus, the lonely misfit toys were delivered to happy new homes. And did I mention that snow-covered pine trees danced to the music? Who doesn’t love a dancing pine tree? I’m telling you, this story had everything. To top it all off, I got an actual tear in my eye when Santa finally asked Rudolph to pull his sleigh: “Rudolph, with your nose so bright, won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?”
After the show ended, the puppeteers demonstrated the different types of puppets they used and explained other elements of the production, which added a learning element to the family outing. All ingredients combined to make a yuletide memory-builder for the whole family and a key fixture on the Atlanta holiday scene.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer will be at the Center for Puppetry Arts through January 6. For more information on show times and ticket prices, visit www.puppet.org.
