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 ZZ: When you talk about puppetry, you get this exuberant look on your face -- when did you develop this passion for puppets?
BT: I loved puppetry as a kid. My mother was an amateur puppeteer. I just was completely nuts over my mother's puppet shows that she did with some other moms. They had a little puppet theater, and I just remember tagging along. My mom carried me with her -- I was backstage and could touch the puppets and watch the shows. So part of the smile on my face is because I've realized a childhood dream.
There was a point in my life, it was really in high school, when I thought, "Oh, I have to leave that behind," that it was a childish thing. And I'm thrilled that that's not true, that I'm working and thriving as a puppeteer.
There's a hero of mine, a San Francisco puppeteer named Bob Hartman, who used to perform down in Fisherman's Wharf and at street fairs. I'd see his show all the time, and I spoke with him on the phone recently. It thrills me to be part of the puppetry community, because I so admired that when I was a kid.
ZZ: Who else do you admire, besides Bob Hartman?
BT: Walt Disney was a big hero of mine. And Jim Henson. Those are obvious people who went really far. And I have other heroes in the artistic community -- people like John Kelly, a performance artist, and Karen Kandel, an actress.
Also, the people at Mabou Mines, like Lee Breuer and Ruth Maleczech are real heroes of mine. Robert Wilson, the theatre director, is also someone I admire.
ZZ: Your grandfather, who was a big band leader, was also a puppeteer too, yes?
BT: Right. It was my mother's father. And he was a big band leader in the '30s and '40s. His name was Griff Williams. He actually worked here in San Francisco and used puppets as part of his nightclub act. It was a little special thing he did at the end. He was really known as a band leader, but he had this sort of hobby of these beautiful puppets that he had built and he also worked on them too. They were of other band leaders like Harry James and Cab Calloway -- they were string puppets. During the show, he would stand up on the piano and then put a spot light on it, and then the puppet would lead the orchestra in a well known Harry James tune or a Cab Calloway.
He died before I was born, but when I was ten my grandmother gave me those puppets as a gift. They were too big for me when I was that age. And they were even kind of spooky, like these old antique men in these little tuxedos. I had them in my room. I've used them very rarely because I know that they really work best with a band playing. They actually don't do a whole lot, other than conduct a band. But they are actually on display now at the theater in New York that is named after my grandmother [the Dorothy B. Williams Theater]. It's thrilling for me to have them and to share them with people. So, they're in New York now.
Next page | How to externalize an internal landscape
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In this video clip, Basil talks about how his family influenced his passion for puppets.
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Basil Twist
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