Melchior Marionettes
The“ Slightly Haunted” show October, 2015. photos by Cindy Steele and weekends she appears as“ Gertrud the Witch” at Peewinkle’ s Puppet Studio.
It was a weekend drive in the early 1980s and a chance encounter with the redoubtable Alice Weaver that led to the Melchior Marionettes coming to Nashville. As the story goes, Alice was sitting in her rocking chair in what was then her antique store, The Ferguson House. Peggy complained to her that there was nothing for children to do in town. Alice replied, with characteristic brusqueness,“ So why don’ t you do something about it?!”
It was a galvanizing challenge. Peggy approached Andy Rogers, who had a little space at the end of an alley that he was willing to rent. As they finalized their agreement, Rogers cautioned her:“ Don’ t spend too
much money.” Peggy and her husband built benches with lumber from the Helmsburg sawmill, installed a canvas roof, and Peggy began doing two shows each Saturday in 1983.
Now there is an 11-year-old granddaughter who has some marionettes that Peggy helped her build. Who knows what the future will bring?
The Melchior Marionette Theater opens up with“ Comedy Cabaret on Strings” that runs through September( closed in August and some days in July for her son’ s wedding in California), and follows in October with“ The Slightly Haunted Puppet Theater.” Shows are on Saturdays at 1:00 and 3:00 p. m., with tickets on sale 15 minutes before show time. There are additional performances in the fall. Tickets are very inexpensive, and children under two are free. And to add to the magic, there is always free popcorn.
With advance notice, Melchior Marionettes can accommodate a variety of special performance and workshop requests, from weekday offerings to group tickets, to puppet making workshops, and more. To contact Melchior Marionettes, call 800-849-4853 or e-mail < melchiorpearson @ gmail. com >. •
May / June 2016 • Our Brown County 51