Lively History Lessons About Culture, Puppets

Some things that are free aren’t worth giving away. Free “educational” children’s theater may sound ho-hum enough to fit that category, but sometimes a bargain really is a bargain. That’s especially true of “Latino!,” a lively celebration of Latino history at the Stella Adler Theatre.

Four ace adult theater professionals present this free Educational Theatre Co. show, and it’s a blast for the whole family.

Performed on a long stage with props and costume pieces casually scattered about, the show traces the emergence of Latinos as a people, arcing from the Mayas’ sophisticated knowledge of astronomy and mathematics to the story of physicist-astronaut Ellen Ochoa, the first Latina in space.

Actors Benito Martinez--who also provides dynamic guitar accompaniment--Sol Castillo, Carmen Serano and Ken Castillo play multiple roles: Columbus, Cortez, Montezuma, Ponce de Leon, Mexican revolutionary hero Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla; Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna; Alamo defenders Lorenzo de Zavala and Davy Crockett, and many others. (Ernie Sanchez replaces Castillo this Saturday.)

They expertly mime the action, bounce dialogue back and forth with high energy, and display comic timing that is crisp and sure.

Conceived by Ann Greer, the production was staged by Deborah Walley without a flagging moment. Walley wrote most of the show and keeps things light, while still acknowledging dark and tragic chunks of history. The inspiring Ochoa story, which emphasizes her delight in science, was written by Greer and Cynthia Santos DeCure.

No, you’re not going to get an in-depth history lesson in 40 minutes, particularly not when humor so liberally spices up the presentation, but the cast, while a hoot with the funny stuff, also does a credible job shifting gears to underscore the somber significance of conquest and war and to deliver the show’s theme: “We are strong, we are proud, we are resilient.”

* “Latino!,” Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Blvd., 2nd Floor, Hollywood, Saturday at 11 and noon. Free. (323) 465-4446. Running time: 40 minutes.

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Steve Meltzer is a puppeteer, a puppet-builder and, most of all--as is abundantly clear when you see his show--a puppetry fan. His one-man show “Puppetolio” at the Santa Monica Puppet & Magic Center, just a block from the beach, is as much a way for Meltzer to share his passion for puppets and puppeteers of the past as it is an entertainment for families.

Attesting to that are the 500 puppets on loving display in the small, hospitable combination shop-museum-theater-workshop--including automated marionette store displays--and the photos and posters of Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Paul Winchell, Topo Gigio and others.

A big, gentle-spoken man with a toothy grin, Meltzer comfortably ignores any possibility of TV-generated attention-span limitations with his ease-into-it, casual and conversational style. He enters the theater, greets the audience, calls for his new stage manager, Nigel, goes out again. There’s a long pause, then a wooden shutter opens high up on one wall, and Nigel, a hand-puppet, pops his head out and jokes around, pretending to be a flight attendant, unrepentant when Meltzer catches him at it.

Another pause, and Steve reenters and cranks up an ancient Victrola, clearly a treasure he’s sharing, and puts on an ancient record, delighted to show children how music used to be played, without electricity, CD players or the Internet.

After a disappearing scarf trick, Meltzer introduces his longtime partner Fred, a smart-aleck ventriloquist’s dummy who’s inside a suitcase. It seems they’ve had an argument--Fred says he can work solo--so Steve puts the suitcase on a small, raised stage and exits again, leaving Fred to work his way out and sing the “Puppetolio” theme song.

So it goes. Nothing dramatic, just little bits of this and that in Meltzer’s “olio” puppet miscellany. A guitar-playing dummy, Woodrow, invites the audience to join him in singing “On Top of Spaghetti”; there are performances by marionettes Too Loose, a clown with a balancing act, and Calvin, an English music hall-style cockney dancer; and there’s a new cast member, Ida, a dummy with her own dummy, Ned. Meltzer also demonstrates sketching a design for a new puppet, and the drawing itself turns into a puppet with ideas of its own.

The modest show, with Meltzer’s low-key comic patter, is as relaxed and disarming as it was when he began three years ago. There’s not quite enough of it, though, and there’s slack time between the acts as Meltzer works lights and sound and makes several exits. A few more magic tricks would be welcome, and so would the addition of a couple of other puppets into the show itself, starting with an expanded role for hand-puppet Karen, who makes a very nifty, comic appearance in Meltzer’s brief but interesting “how things work” post-show demonstration.

* “Puppetolio,” Santa Monica Puppet & Magic Center, 1255 2nd St., Santa Monica, Saturdays, 1, 3 and some 8 p.m. shows; Sundays, 1 and 3 p.m.; Wednesdays, 1 p.m. $6.50. (310) 656-0483. Running time: 40 minutes.