Welcome back to the Creventive Newsletter.
I recently got to visit the Swedish American Museum for their "The Puppets of Chicago's Kungsholm Miniature Grand Opera" exhibit.
The exhibit runs from September 27th, 2019 - December 1st, 2019, featuring an extensive collection of puppets, set pieces, photographs, and memorabilia from the 1930s.
You may be asking, what is Kungsholm?
Kungsholm was a famous sit-down restaurant theater in the late 1930s that's main attraction featured a miniature grand opera puppet theater.
So, how did this all come about? Enter Ernest Wolfff. Wolfff fell in love with opera as a child when one of his parents took him to see a production of "Carmen."
Wolfff began building a complete miniature opera theater in the basement of his home. His mother and a family friend helped devise puppets that would move on the tiny stage in slots and be operated from below by wires.
Their efforts improved under the sponsorship of the Victor Recording Company for an opportunity to present at the Worlds Fair in 1938.
After the fair, they began a mid-western tour of the puppet opera in the United States.
During the conclusion of their trip, Wolfff was discovered by a man named Fredrick Chramer. Chramer had purchased one of the McCormick mansions, located at Rush and Ontario streets, and converted it into a very successful restaurant called the Kungsholm.
Chramer proposed to bring Wolfff's puppet productions as a permanent installation, and the rest was history.
In November of 1941, Chramer, along with Mrs. Wolfff, opened what was to become the world-famous "KUNGSHOLM MINIATURE GRAND OPERA." Kungsholm employed many talented puppeteers, costumers, artists, and technicians who worked at the theater over the years.
Tragically, in February of 1947, a fire destroyed the Kungsholm puppet opera. Shortly after, Chramer began to re-build the puppet opera on the street level in the space once occupied by the carriage house.
One of the puppeteers who worked there over the years was a young man named Bill Fosser. He began working at Kungsholm first when he was 14 years old in 1943, then returned for a few years in 1950 and then later as artistic director in 1963.
In addition to Kungsholm, Fosser had a very successful career as a motion picture art director and set decorator.
In his free time, Fosser would work on designs to improve the puppets, props, and scenery. His most significant advancements were to the mechanisms of the puppets to help give them more articulation, expression, and life.
In 1971, Kungsholm closed. Some of the puppets and scenery were put on display at the Museum of Science and Industry for many years until they found their final home at the Swedish American Museum in 2018.
On December 3rd, 1993, Fosser founded "Opera In Focus" alongside Paul Guerrain in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. A labor of love to his admiration and passion towards puppet opera theater. Fosser's innovations brought the puppet opera to new heights focusing on creating elaborate, beautiful works of craftsmanship to life until his death in 2006.
Opera In Focus continues this tradition to this day with year-round performances at the Rolling Meadows park district ran by the Snyder brothers: Justin and Shayne. Each show features different scenes from various operas/plays/musicals followed by a backstage tour/Q&A/Demo on how the puppets are operated.
If you are fascinated by puppetry, opera, or have any appreciation for craftsmanship, I highly recommend checking out Opera In Focus. You won't be disappointed. : https://www.operainfocus.com/.
