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 In
March of ‘98, producer Vince Landay and director Spike Jonze searched
out Phillip Huber to provide serious puppetry for their film "Being
John Malkovich". After numerous discussions on creating and
manipulating marionettes for the movie, Phillip discovered that his
performance schedule (at the Lido in Paris) conflicted with the film’s
shooting schedule and subsequently turned down the film offer. The
producers went on to hire other puppeteers, after a major casting call.
Six months into production, Vince & Spike were not happy with the
filmed puppet performances & again called Phillip to ask his help.
They worked around Phillip’s schedule to allow him time to redesign
the marionettes for precision movements, build new controls, and
re-shoot all the marionette sequences. Audience feed back was so
positive during the test previews that the writer, Charlie Kaufman,
created a new scene, "Heloise & Abilard", for Phillip to
perform. (If you watch carefully, you might even see Phillip doing a
Hitchcock style cameo as a pedestrian passing by his own puppet show.)
The fruition of Phillip’s intense labor is what you see in the
completed film. This movie went on to claim international prizes and 3
Academy Award nominations. Critics were amazed by the puppetry, even
Disney animators thought the puppets were so good they must be computer
generated images. Read more about this film at our website by clicking
on the picture of "Being John Malkovich".
We
are making
an encore appearance |
Phillip had the opportunity this summer, working with Broadway director, Walter Bobby, to workshop a new musical show entitled "The Road to Hollywood" at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center in Connecticut. The play is inspired by the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby "Road" movies. This workshop production included some major talent from Broadway like Debbie Gravitte and Marc Kudisch, to name but two. There was a feature part written for a dog, so when Walter saw Taffy performing at a private New York event, he offered her the role. You can read about this show in the Fall. issue of SHOWmusic Magazine. There will be more developments in the future so check our site for updates. While on the web, read about other feature articles in our "In Print" section.
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with
Jim Nabors and the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra this Nov. 30, Dec 1 &
2 at the Hawaii Theater. This Christmas extravaganza is now a holiday
tradition in Honolulu. Our good friends Jim Nabors & the show’s
director, Tom Hansen, wanted a unique act to plug into the show, so
producer, Judy Murata, gave us a call. The exciting & challenging
part was coordinating the carefully timed marionette movements with live
orchestra accompaniment. Phillip proved to be a big hit with the
audiences and was promptly invited back for this season’s run.
You might say this is one symphony that has more than its usual share of
"stringed" instruments.
A
major event for Monaco was the arrival of Paris’ world famous
"Crazy Horse" revue at the Casino de Monte Carlo. Known for
his performances at Lowes Hotel, Phillip thought he might not be
returning to Monaco because the sale of the hotel had closed the famous
Folie Russe Showroom. When asked to be a part of "Crazy Horse"
inaugural season, Phillip was quick to gallop back to this Mediterranean
resort. Arriving for rehearsal he was given the opening variety spot on
the bill, & then premiered that evening. Upon returning for the
following day’s performance, Phillip was informed by the director that
he had been moved to the headliner variety spot. It seems that the first
night’s audience reaction to the marionettes was so exuberant that it
commanded the change. Phillip’s concentration is quite deep during a
show, & he is often unaware of audience reaction, so the director’s
comments were not only flattering but a pleasant surprise. During this
run, Phillip was also asked to interview for Italian Television, but we’ll
save that story for another time.