Puppet Theater: What the Arts Enthusiast Ordered

The weather is slowly drifting into that unstable, weird stage of the year where the best thing to be is flexible. Having both indoor and outdoor activities at hand helps to make the difference between a great day-trip and one where the weather ruins everything.

First Avenue in Atlantic Highlands offers many offbeat and interesting attractions, but few are as engaging as the Paper Moon Puppet Theater on West Garfield, immediately off First Avenue. Once in the First Avenue Playhouse, the company is now in its own location, putting together its next production. And it's a stone's throw from Middletown borders.

The theater's exterior, momentarily non-descript due to the recent move, will be getting a sign soon, according to administrative director John McAllister.

“We have someone designing the sign right now, and will have it painted and back to us in a week or so," he said.

The artistic director for Paper Moon, James Racioppi, invites the audience to come inside and see what it has to offer.

“The shows are complete theatrical productions in miniature," he said. "They are elaborate in scope and design and in addition to the entertainment and educational value for youngsters the shows provide an opportunity for children and adults to witness the art of the marionette, a highly skillful and eloquent form of expression.”

Paper Moon Puppet Theater offers a highly specialized and individual experience for those who come to check it out. That's why we’ve chosen it for this installment of Day Tripper, a weekly look at destinations that are out of town but in reach, and worth the trip.

James Racioppi said this of how the Paper Moon Puppet Theater came about: “I had worked in puppetry for over 35 years for other puppet companies and on television and films and it has always been a dream of mine to have my own theatre. Paper Moon was located at several venues for a total of about 20 years sharing space with other entities until we were able to move into our own space.”

“We maintain a staff of three puppeteers through our training program at Paper Moon and John McAllister is the administrative head of the company while I am responsible for the artistic end of the productions: puppets, sets costuming and lighting,” he said.

Paper Moon is a full production company, so the presentations are of a limited run each.

“'Beauty and the Beast' will be playing till April,” Racioppi said. “'Puss In Boots' will follow and in the summer we will be doing 'Aladdin.' For the upcoming holiday season we will be doing our version of 'The Nutcracker.' We go to the original source material for the versions of the stories we feature and we try our utmost to preserve the integrity of each story," McAllister said.

Paper Moon also offers classes in puppet-making for children 6 to 12. The workshop program consists of four sessions of one-and-a-half hours each. Because of the winter weather, the program had been on hiatus, but Racioppi said it will return.

“Puppetry classes will commence in the spring. Interested parties can access our website for exact dates when they are posted and all other information regarding our scheduled shows as well as pictures from our productions," he said.

Those interested can also call 732.787.0400 for more information.