Bob Baker Marionette Theater Announces 'Bob Baker’s Celebration & Preservation Extravaganza,' 7/29

The Bob Baker Marionette Theater and The Academy of Puppetry & Allied Arts will present "Bob Baker's Celebration & Preservation Extravaganza," on Sunday, July 29, 2012 at 4:00 p.m. at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater in Downtown Los Angeles.The event has been created to guarantee a future for The Bob Baker Marionette Theater.
 
This event kicks off the non-profit Academy of Puppetry and Allied Art's fund-raising campaign to raise $2 million to adopt Bob's puppet family and help build a future for the marionette theater, with the addition of a museum and school for puppetry arts.
 
Charles Phoenix, a Los Angeles performer, humorist and self-proclaimed "retro daddy," will be the Master of Ceremonies.
   
"Bob Baker's Celebration & Preservation Extravaganza" will be held in the historic marionette theater with a special video tribute to Bob Baker followed by a musical revue featuring the most popular numbers and marionettes from Baker's repertoire, including clowns, skating Eskimos, and dancing mice, along with a sneak preview of the theater's latest show in development, "The Arabian Nights."
 
Following the performance, guests will have the opportunity to enjoy food and drink and meet Bob Baker and hear Hollywood puppet-lore in the theater's famous party room.  The fundraiser will feature a silent auction of rare marionettes, theater memorabilia and amazing one-of-a-kind items.
 
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."
 
Regarding the current state of affairs at the theatre, Bob Baker says, "I am hoping this fundrasier will raise public awareness and enough money to keep the theater in business."