Please Touch Playhouse
The Theater
What do Minnie the Moo-cher, Gram’ Adele and Big Blue have in common? They’re all inhabitants of Please Touch Playhouse, our year-round theater program that presents original, one-person shows specially designed for our young audience featuring music, movement, folklore, and puppetry.
The theater is home to performances by kid-friendly musical acts, magicians and storytellers as well as a thriving series of original productions. All shows are free with admission to the museum. Over the years, Playhouse performers have created a number of beloved theater shows that children come to see again and again and again. A visit to Please Touch would not be complete without seeing one of these interactive shows that complement our exhibits and gallery programs. New in 2008 will be The Moving Show, a program designed to prepare our young audience for the museum’s relocation from 21st Street to Memorial Hall. Performances are made possible by PNC Financial Services Group.
NORTH WIND
Debuted: 2002
Hero: Diamond
Setting: Diamond’s bedroom and his dreams
Favorite Prop: The cloud box where
Diamond and North Wind are seen flying
Cool special effect: It snows!!
Trivia: How many Diamonds are used in the show?
(Six)
Blooper moment: When Diamond fell
out of the revolving magic window
SCAT CAT’S JUNIOR JAZZ
JAMBOREE
Debuted: 2003
Hero: Scat, a hep Cat
Characters: Stingray Charles, Minnie the Moo-cher, Piggy Lee, Max Roach, Louie
Armandhammerstrong
Setting: A jazzy jazz club and environs
Favorite Prop: Jazzy shades (sunglasses)
Song: "Hi-de-hi-de-hi-de-hi" (Minnie the Moo-cher)
Trivia: How long does it take Alice to put on her cat make-up & costume?
(30 minutes)
THERE’S SOMETHING UNDER MY BED
Debuted: 2000
Hero: Sam, a 3 1/2 year old boy
Sam’s problem: He can’t sleep
Why: A monster in his room?
Favorite Prop: Clown nose for Sam’s head
Song: "The Bed Ballet"
Trivia: How often has Sam’s head come off in performance?
(Four)
Fun Fact: This is the show kids have
reproduced the most in their own homes
THE BUILDING SHOW!
Debuted: 2003
Hero: Big Blue and his hearty band of
understudies
Problem: The Three Little Pigs got a
better gig and ain’t gonna show
Favorite Prop: The "I Don’t Think So" Talking Box and Blue’s Sandwich
Song: "I Am Building A Word"
Trivia 1: How many puppets and props
appear in the show?
(More than 20)
Trivia 2: How many puppeteers does it take to do the show?
(One)
Fun Fact: The letters used to build words were originally on the theater marquee
Blooper moment: When Blue’s eyebrows blew off during a show
GRAM ADELE
Debuted: 2001
Setting: Gram Adele’s farm and
surrounding town
Hero: Gram Adele
Comic Foil: Silly D, Gram’s helper
Prop: A magic soup pot
Trivia 1: One of Gram’s friends comes from this country that no longer exists (Siam)
Trivia 2: What did David do when Gram Adele’s arm fell off one show?
Said, "She’s an old puppet, what can I do?" and kept going
Silly D’s motto: "I can do that, I can do that!"
Fun Fact: Most puppets and props are Collection pieces
PINCH BEAR
Debuted: August 2005 (or DID it?)
Hero: Tiny Pinch Bear
Favorite prop: The ferris wheel. No...the canoe. No...the giant balloon!
Pinch Bear’s Motto: "Well, you don’t know me very well then, do ya?"
Trivia 1: How does Pinch Bear do her high dive act?
(Magnets)
Trivia 2: What inflates the giant balloon?
(An old vacuum cleaner)
Fun Fact: This was the first show to open on the road (May 2005) before debuting at the museum
EAT LIKE A PIRATE
Debuted: October, 2007
Hero: Brave pirate Captain Cook and his crew, the Low-Sodium Dogs
Lesson: Before a pirate says, "No thank you" he’ll always say, "I’m a pirate, ‘course I’ll try it!"
Challenge: Our storyteller is wearing a baby in an infant carrier
Setting: The kitchen of a pirate ship.
Props: Anything in your own kitchen.
Song: "The Sails on the Boat Go Up and Down"
Best Pirate Joke: What’s a pirate’s favorite vegetable?
ARR-tichoke!
Fun Fact: The set for this show was built from wooden crates once used to store the Enchanted Colonial Village.
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