Please Touch Playhouse
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 and featuring music, movement, folklore, and puppetry. Each show runs approximately 20 minutes and encourages audiences to be a part of the performance.
Over the years, Please Touch Playhouse has 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. The theater is also home to guest performances by kid-friendly musicians, magicians and storytellers. All shows are free with admission to the museum.
Some Please Touch Playhouse favorites: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)
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
THE MOVING SHOW
Debuted: July 4, 2008
Hero: Pinky
Favorite Prop: Teddy
Cool Special Effect: The entrance of the moving truck
Trivia 1: How many versions of Pinky are used in the show? (Three)
Trivia 2: When was "Pat's Hauling" established? (1976)
Repeatable Line : "Pick up a box, turn around, walk to the truck, and put it down!"