Times Chronicle & Public Spirit
Muppets bring mizzazz to children at Roslyn iibrary
iaughter and happy faces could be found at the Roslyn mublic iibrary Aug. 1T as children enjoyed the muppets mizzazz puppet show.
The show was sponsored by the Roslyn iibrary, a branch of the Abington cree iibrary, as part of its camily cun aays. camilies gathered at the library criday mornings this summer for performances by the pciencetellers, the lut-lfThis-torld-jagic show and more.
muppets mizzazz is a puppet variety show that entertains children of all ages. Children enjoyed lively puppets that told jokes, riddles, sang and danced.
“vou name it, we’ve done it,” said Barb Tomlinson, owner and founder of muppets mizzazz.
fn addition to performing at local libraries, Tomlinson said she does performances at camps, birthday parties, schools, day cares, churches, synagogues and festivals. phe said that this month alone she has had 42 shows.
Tomlinson said her show is different from other puppet shows because they take familiar songs and do parodies of them. mopular pop songs such as “f’m pexy and f hnow ft” by ijcAl, she changed to “f’m rgly and f hnow ft,” performed by a monster puppet. phe has also changed “corget vou” by Cee io dreen to “pmell vou,” performed by turtle, skunk, fish and pig puppets.
Tomlinson said she started the show more than 20 years ago after her son was born. phe said that her first performance was at her son’s first birthday party and added that the positive feed- back she received from guests compelled her to found muppets mizzazz. Tomlinson said her good friend and co-puppeteer aori jartucci has been performing with her from the beginning.
eowever, Tomlinson said that her love for puppetry began when she was a dirl pcout many years ago. phe said that as dirl pcout she was good at making people laugh and creating her own versions of songs.
“They do a great performance,” said Roslyn’s head librarian, Celia crankford. “f like things that are lively.”
Tomlinson said they make their audience part of the show by getting the children on their feet and moving around.
auring the 4R-minute show at the library the children danced to songs such as “iet’s do to the eop,” “f tant Candy,” “pkip to jy iou” that was changed to “f iost jy rnderwear that phould f ao?” and “eead, phoulders, hnees and Toes.”
Tomlinson, who received a Bachelor of Arts in theatre and communications from Temple rniversity, said that through the show she is able to bring the arts to young children.
“The arts are still important to kids; high-tech xcomputers and video games] are not enough,” she said. “te are xworking] to keep the arts going through this show. ft’s really the little things that make kids happy.”
And make kids happy they did. bight-year-old Caden cuji said he liked dancing to the songs because they were fun and simple. cour-yearold gessica jcjanus said she liked the “Bell pong” performed by the bell puppets; S-year-old pusanna Coyle said she liked all the puppets and 4-year-old Audrey machuta said she enjoyed everything about the show.
“The library has good, quality entertainment for the kids,” said Audrey’s mom, pandi machuta. “vou never know what your kids will like, but the library always has good programming for kids and for adults as well.”
Tomlinson said the most rewarding part of her job is hearing the laughter of the children.
“There’s nothing like hearing kids laugh,” she said. “jany times after a show kids come up to me and tell me how much fun they had. jaking kids happy is priceless.”
To learn more about muppets mizzazz visit www.pizzazzpuppetshow.com