Peggy Dover

Imagine a 6-year-old boy, an only child, trying to amuse himself in the dead of a Michigan winter. Someone gives the boy a marionette, but not just any marionette.

This one was handmade by a proud group of dedicated toymakers in Marlborough, England. It was a Pelham puppet — a farmer by character. The boy’s father built a small stage for him, and the youngster put on shows for the neighboring children.

Recently, I had the opportunity to meet the man the boy had become — a professional marionettist producing and performing stories under the name of Fratello Marionettes. His name is Kevin Menegus, and his production partner is Jesse Vail. The two, along with a colorful cast of characters from the story of “Aladdin,” came to the Gold Hill library to display their passion and entertain us.

There were children present in the room, and I was among them. Oh, I resembled an adult sitting on a chair at the rear, while the shorter types got to sit on the floor and become one with the puppets on stage.

The Fratello Marionettes are making appearances at local libraries. Menegus and Vail are from the Bay Area. They travel all over the world playing with puppets and putting on fanciful shows for kids like me.

When founder Menegus and I started visiting, he must have seen a look of incredulity on my face.

“This is our job. It’s how we make a living. We travel all the time doing puppet shows,” he said.

Performing on cruise ships takes them all over the world. He didn’t need to convince me he was serious about the business of delighting audiences, young and old. I could see that these men knew their business, which extends to making the puppets. Each puppet character takes about two to three months to come to life from conception to finished product.

Menegus holds a Bachelor of Music degree in percussion performance from the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music. This knowledge comes in handy when choosing accompaniment for the shows.

“Every year or two, we do collaborations with symphony orchestras,” Menegus explained. “We do ‘Carnival of the Animals,’ ‘Peter and the Wolf,’ and ‘The Three Little Pigs,’ among others. It’s all done with classical music.”

I asked if puppetry was a bigger deal than most realize.

“Marionettes, not as much,” Menegus offered, “but puppets are everywhere in Broadway musicals nowadays.”

“There are a fair amount of puppet shows happening, but we don’t compete with one another. It’s a friendly business,” Vail added.

I settled in for the 30-minute show. Menegus and Vail were visible above the stage, and it’s fascinating to watch them maneuver the strings with such finesse. Kevin trained with some of the leading puppeteers in the country before starting his own company.

Of course, the issue with writing a column like this is that when I begin to research, I dive down rabbit trails lickety-split and become curious about the history and people involved. Puppets date back to Greek antiquity. They are believed to have preceded human actors onstage. Marionettes were used to tell Bible stories in France, with the Virgin Mary a popular character. Marionnette in French means “little Mary,” which accounts for their name.

Then, there’s the story of Pelham Puppets, the type Menegus received as a child that sparked his desire and which he still collects to this day. Their production dates back to 1947, though Bob Pelham, the original creator, is gone. Pelham puppets are still made to order in England. The story of their beginning and how they thrived, then recovered from a devastating fire in the 1960s when caring employees pulled together, is the stuff of cinema.

We looked on as Aladdin rubbed the magic lamp and met the powerful genie. The evil sorcerer and his lust for power were vanquished, the genie was set free, and Aladdin and Princess Alia climbed a hill to witness a meteor streak across the sky.

When it was time for questions, one particularly adorable audience member asked in a befuddled tone, “How do the puppets talk?” Childhood is a magical place.

There is one Fratello Marionette performance remaining, if you would like to attend:

• At 10:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 9, at the Applegate library, 18485 N. Applegate Road, Grants Pass.

For further details see jcls.libcal.com or call 541-560-3668 or 541-846-7346 respectively.