Saturday, November 13, 2021

Puppets With Promise

 St. Tammany Parish has been home to many artists and performers over the years, even those who work with puppets. Click on the image to make it larger. 

Here is the text from the above article from the mid-1950's:
 
Local Puppeteer Makes Plans for Shows

Betsy Kimbrell of Covington is a polished puppeteer who moved to the community last October from New Orleans.

A 1951 graduate of Newcomb Art School with a major in painting and drawing, Mrs. Kimbrell makes all of her own puppets for use in the numerous sequences she had devised.

However, manipulating puppets isn't her only activity, although she specializes in it professionally. She has exhibited her paintings at the state art show in Baton Rouge and at a number of galleries in the Crescent City.

Art came first. It was not until 1954 that she started working with puppets.

Her shows are conducted solo, and she admits she often could use an extra arm or town. Some are done in silhouette, such as the Nativity scene, which is a Christmas special.

Mrs. Kimbrell's shows are especially geared for children from the ages of four to nine, though there are some playlets in the repertoire that might be enjoyed by older children and even by adults. The Nativity show is one such offering.

The newcomer to Covington, wife of Joseph A. Kimbrell of Baldwin Motors, is the mother of three sons, the youngest one and a half years and the oldest ten and a half.

She hopes to professionally present her shows to children's parties and gatherings, and is presenting attempting to line up a public service spot for the St. Tammany Parish Library System.

She has had wide experience at birthday and holiday parties in New Orleans, and has made appearances on three television stations in the city.

In New Orleans, she presented a series of show at the public library, for which she wrote the script and made the figures.

She knows the background of puppetry and is qualified to lecture on the ancient history of the art.

See also:

Puppet Shows

Libraries and Puppet Shows Go Together