BOB BAKER'S FUN WITH STRINGS! Opens Today at Bob Baker Marionette Theater

The Bob Baker Marionette Theater will kick off its 54th season with "Bob Baker's Fun With Strings!" beginning performances today, January 11, 2014.

Come join the world famous Bob Baker Marionettes as they whisk you away to "The place where Imagination dwells." Join Jack Frost, The Snow Queen, Chili Dog, The Balloon Clown, and over 100 of Bob Baker's whimsical creations as they lead you on a wondrous journey with many a magical stop along the way.

With a day at the Monkey Circus, a journey through the Snow Queen's Winter Wonderland, and even a visit to Paris (Puppet style of course,) "Bob Baker's Fun With Strings!" is a show you will never forget. "Bob Baker's Fun With Strings!" is an hour-long production. After the performance, guests are invited to visit with the Puppeteers and have refreshments in the famous Party Room.

The Bob Baker Marionette Theater in downtown Los Angeles is the oldest of its kind in the United States and has been entertaining children of all ages since its inception in 1960. At that time, Bob Baker and his business partner Alton Wood turned a scene shop in Los Angeles into the family entertainment landmark that it is today.

The theater has an inventory of nearly three thousand puppets with just about everything from robots that light up, to dancing frogs, to egg laying chickens. Baker's marionettes have entertained nearly seven hundred thousand people since the theater's opening.

Jennifer Steinhauer of The New York Times has described Baker's shows as "a staple of a Los Angeleno childhood. It is the cultural equivalent of the annual march by the nation's third graders to the neighborhood firehouse." On June 3, 2009, The Bob Baker Marionette Theater was declared an historic cultural monument by the city of Los Angeles.

More About Bob Baker: Bob Baker first became interested in puppetry at the age of five, and has since become an innovator, artist, puppet master, and top-notch animator with credits in television and film.

His marionettes have entertained thousands of children and adults worldwide over the years. Mr. Baker has a current inventory of over three thousand puppets, with just about everything from robots that light up, to dancing frogs, to egg laying chickens.

Bob began to learn the magic of puppetry at the early age of eight. He trained with several different local companies and put his skills to work with his first professional performance for director Mervyn LeRoy. After graduating from Hollywood High School, he began his extensive career in animation at the George Pal Studios. He began as an apprentice and soon became a top animator of "Puppetoons" a year later.

After WWII, Bob began manufacturing toy marionettes that sold both in Europe and the United States. Fifty of the finest department stores in the country carried his line including Bullocks Wilshire, Saks Fifth Avenue, Niemen Marcus, FAO Schwarz, and Marshall Fields.

Bob also served as an animation advisor at many film studios including Walt Disney. As a puppeteer his prestigious credits include the films: "A Star Is Born", "G.I. Blues," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "Escape to Witch Mountain," and "Bedknobs and Broomsticks", as well as work on countless television series and projects. Baker has performed with the likes of Judy Garland, Elvis Presley, and Angela Lansbury.

Aside from running the theater, Baker maintains an active role in the company's traveling shows. Bob has taken his marionettes to countless fairs, puppet festivals, and of course, birthday parties. The Bob Baker Marionettes have entertained audiences in Las Vegas, Toronto, New York, Germany, and have even performed on Navy ships and submarines.

Mr. Baker is the former president of the Los Angeles Puppet Guild and Governor of the Television Arts & Sciences Animation Branch and currently sits on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Bob's dream of establishing a school began with the formation of the Academy of Puppetry and Allied Arts, a non-profit organization. The Academy's mission is to educate the public about puppet arts and to encourage and foster puppetry presentations. The Academy of Puppetry provides funding to subsidize tickets for students from local area schools to attend performances at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater and distributes literacy and language development resources that bring the experiences at the Theater back to the classrooms.

The Academy of Puppetry provides students and teachers in the Los Angeles area the opportunity to attend puppetry presentations and learn about the integration of puppetry arts with language arts, music, art, sculpture and crafts. The program also fulfills the Academy of Puppetry and Allied Arts' mission of preserving puppetry arts and creative live entertainment for future generations of children and adults. Bob's goal of a refurbished theater complex complete with training facilities is still a long way off. However, Bob Hopes that, with the aid of civic leaders and corporate sponsors, his Academy will one day be a reality and housed in buildings adjacent to the historic Theater.

The Bob Baker Marionette Theater is located at 1345 West First Street, Los Angeles, 90026. Performances begin January 11, 2014 and run Tuesdays through Fridays at 10:30am; Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30pm. Tickets: Children and Adults $15.00; Children under Age 2 Free. Call the Box Office For Required Reservations or visit In Person or online at www.bobbakermarionettes.com. Call (213) 250-9995. Groups: Birthdays celebrated at all Performances -- call (213) 250-9995 for details.