Photo Essay: Bob Baker Marionettes' Choo Choo Revue Pulls Into the Station

Bob Baker Marionette Theater has been around for over 60 years—but it's been more than 40 years since it debuted an entirely new production. The last new show was Hooray LA from 1981.

 

That all changed this past weekend with the premiere of Choo Choo Revue. 

Photo Essay: Celebrating a Diamond Jubilee Year Backstage at Bob Baker Marionette Theater (Updated—The Neon Is Lit!)

[Last updated 10/13/24 5:33 PM PT—Photos of new neon sign added to bottom of post.]

The renowned Bob Baker Marionette Theater is celebrating its 60th anniversary...

 

...and upon this momentous occasion, it's currently putting together its first brand-new show in 40 years, Choo Choo Revue.

Photo Essay: L.A. Circus, A Prop House Providing Everything Under the Big Top to Hollywood and Beyond

It takes a lot to surprise me. Especially after living in LA for 13 years and seriously exploring Southern California for about 16 years. 

 So I was thrilled to be introduced to a place I'd never heard of—LA Circus in Riverside, California—and have the chance to tour it with the Los Angeles Railroad Heritage Foundation. 

The Most Fun I've Had in California

I've just passed my "lucky" 13-year anniversary of moving to Los Angeles in January 2011—and when people hear where I'm from, they most commonly ask two questions:

1. Do I miss New York?
2. Which do I like better, New York City or LA?

Truth is, the two cities are so different, they're hard to compare. But in terms of where I'm at in my life right now, I find LA much better to live in.

But still, I had a lot of fun during my 14 years of 5 a.m. nights and boozy brunches in New York City. It was a different kind of fun than Southern California typically has to offer. 

When I have a good time nowadays, it feels more like the kind of fun I missed out on having as a little kid—before adult beverages would've come into play. 

So maybe my time in NYC was more about making up for a crazy adolescence I never had; and my time in Los Angeles is more about making up for a childhood I was never given, one that was bereft of playdates and playgrounds and playing in the mud. 

You'll see what I mean when you see my Top 13 list of the most fun I've had in California so far (in no particular order):

1. Swimming with otters
2. Riding a Jeepney
3. Riding the Warner-Carrillo Ranch Stagecoach
4. Riding the Ghost Train of Griffith Park
5. Going to Disneyland
6. Going to Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights
7. Goat yoga (especially with baby goats in Halloween costumes)
8. Climbing onto the Wienermobile
9. Attending Bob Baker Marionette Theatre puppet shows (especially Halloween)
10. Attending Rose Parade-related events
11. Singing with the Magical Holiday Parade in Toluca Lake
12. Touring Garner Holt Productions' animatronic factory
13. Anything having to do with Krampus.

Honorable mention goes to paragliding at Torrey Pines, which I did in 2009—almost a couple of years before I moved here. 

And this doesn't, of course, include any trips I've taken out of state (like to Vegas, which is pretty fun for me).

So happy anniversary to me, no matter how long I may stay in this city, or in this state. I have no plans to leave—but life can change pretty quickly. 

After all, after 10 years in NYC I thought I'd be there the rest of my life. By the 12th year, I couldn't wait to leave. And by the 14th year, I ran screaming... all the way to LA.

Related Posts:

Not What I Moved to California For

A Year in LA

Approaching Three Years

Four More Years?

An LA Decade

Long Live the King, P-22 the Hollywood Mountain Lion

I don't really remember living in an LA without P-22, the Griffith Park mountain lion. 

Mural by Corie Mattie at Hype Fitness, Silverlake

Photo Essay: Monte Carlo Deli & Pinocchio Restaurant, A Red-Sauce Reverie Inspired By A Fairy-Tale Boy Puppet

Walt Disney once considered building Disneyland in Burbank, California instead of Anaheim—on the lot that now houses Walt Disney Animation Studios and ABC, across from Walt Disney Studios. 

But today, the only place in Burbank where the public can get a taste of Disney—since there's no studio tour offered—is at the Monte Carlo Deli and Pinocchio Restaurant on Magnolia Boulevard, in Magnolia Park. 

Photo Essay: How Macy's Lake Avenue Preserves the History of Bullock's Pasadena, 'The Store of Tomorrow'

Most people wouldn't give a Macy's department store a second glance—but I'm not most people. 

Besides, even  though it happened long before I arrived in California, I know how Macy's took over some of the historic Robinson's department stores (like in Woodland Hills and Newport Beach).

I can only assume there are more historic treasures hiding behind a Macy's logo elsewhere in SoCal.

Which brings me to the Macy's on Lake Avenue in Pasadena, California.

Every time I'd drive past it, I'd marvel at what I assumed—but didn't really know—to be a landmark shopping destination. It dominates Lake Avenue, with its wide, low profile—and its Streamline Moderne elements on the north wing catching the eyes of passerby drivers like me.

I'd always wondered what it was like inside, but I'd always be on my way to something else—and wouldn't make time to stop and go in. 

That changed when Pasadena Heritage recently offered a tour of Macy's Lake Avenue—which turns out to be the former Pasadena location of Bullock's department store. 

Photo: "Dick" Whittington Photography Collection, USC Digital Library

 

Photo Essay: Top Posts of 2021

I know I post a lot.

And even posting half as much as I used to, it can get overwhelming. 

So at the end of each year, I do this little roundup of the most popular posts of the prior 12 months. They're not necessarily the ones people liked the most. They're just the ones that got the most views. 

Which is I guess a measure of popularity (if not quality). 

I have my own favorites that didn't make this Top 10 list—but if you're looking for a good place to start, or maybe catch up on what you've missed, the following should be a good primer. 

So, in more or less descending order from the most popular post, here's a recap of 2021:

1. Photo Essay: Paying Tribute Aboard A Restored Navy Swift Boat, the Only Vietnam Memorial You Can Ride

Bob Baker Marionette Theater Brings Enchantment Back In Its Grand Re-Re-Opening (After A 16-Month Closure)

The year 2020 was a rollercoaster for everybody, but I can only imagine the panic felt by the fine folks at Bob Baker Marionette Theater...

 circa 2019

...who'd just managed to reopen in a new space (the former York Theatre in Highland Park, Los Angeles) in December 2019 after getting pushed out of their home for 55 years. 

Photo Essay: The Wonder of Bob Baker Marionette Theater's Window Displays at the Santa Monica Pier Carousel (Updated)

Last updated 3/1/21 9:24 PM PT—video embed from Bob Baker Day added at bottom.

Updated 1/31/21 7:39 PM PT—nighttime photos added at bottom. 

Because of the pandemic, I haven't been able to get inside the circa 1916 Looff's Hippodrome, the building that houses the Santa Monica Pier Carousel. 

In fact, it's been pretty hard just to get outside of it, with the Pier closed to the public on certain weekends and holidays to prevent overcrowding and infection-spreading.

    

But last week, I finally got to check out the "Windows of Wonderment" exhibit in the carousel building's windows—a retrospective of a handful of Bob Baker Marionette Theater's stringed spectaculars. 

Photo Essay: Driving Through the Anaheim Halloween Parade

This is exactly what I had wished for the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. Instead of being canceled for COVID-19, could it still go on—as a drive-by experience?

Well, it didn't work out that way for the Rose Parade this coming New Year's Day. 

But the city of Anaheim in Orange County, California wasn't going to let anything interrupt its nearly 100-year tradition—and made its annual Halloween Parade a drive-thru. 

 

I'd gone down to Anaheim to see its Halloween parade once, back in 2016—but I'd been frustrated watching it pass me by without really being able to see it. It's always scheduled after sunset—and so it was plenty dark by the time the floats reached where I'd stationed myself along the parade route.  

    

This year, I showed up early to get an advance peek of the action while the floats were still being set up, where—in a coronavirus switcheroo—they'd be stationed while cars drove past them. 

 

Anaheim is known for its parade floats—which are created by locals, many of whom have a Disney pedigree, and often hearken back to vintage 1950s designs. 

 

In the 1950s and '60s, the parade was so popular that it was televised locally. 

Grumpy Trees

Its popularity waned until it was revived and revitalized in 2012—harnessing local artistic talent and volunteer manpower to bring dozens of floats to life. 

 

There's never a shortage of good ol' fashioned whimsey...

  

    

...and always a good dose of spookiness, too. 

 Photo: circa 1953 (Anaheim Public Library Photograph Collection on Anaheim Local History)

And although this year's parade was massively scaled down from prior years, like in 1953 when the "Flying Sasser" made its debut...

...it was clear as I was driving through that the energy and passion was just as strong this year as it's ever been. 

 

The Rocket Witch was once again ready to take flight, as she first did in 1951. 

 

The Anaheim Short Line rode the rails as it first did in 1948—this time with puppeteers from the Bob Baker Marionette Theatre front and center.  

The Candy Box Haunted House

This year's parade, in fact, was like a "greatest hits" of classic floats that have made their triumphant returns (in replica form) in the last 8 years. 

 

One of the more recent additions is the "Haunted House" float, whose current version debuted in 2016. 

For years, I've been tempted to just peep the floats at the daytime Anaheim Fall Festival rather than attending the actual parade...

But then I'd miss the animatronics, smoke effects, and personalities like the Pumpkin Man. 

 

And I wouldn't get my own trick or treat bag, either. It's the little things. 

I hear that some drivers had to wait a couple of hours to get their cars through the line and past the floats later in the evening—something I'd been wary of myself, and something that almost kept me away from the parade altogether this year. 

But I was more determined than ever this year to get a dose of Halloween—any semblance of Halloween normalcy—wherever, whenever, however I could. 

And now I'm wondering why I ever missed so many parades of past years. 

Related Posts:

Knott's Berry Farm Taste of Fall-O-Ween Whets the Appetite for the Full Park Experience

Photo Essay: Pasadena Doo Dah Parade 2014

Photo Essay: Bob Baker Marionette Theater's Grand Opening in the Former York Theatre [Updated for 2026]

[Last updated 4/13/26 7:20 PM PT—Bob Baker Marionette Theatre announced today that it was on track to buy the former York Theatre, rather than just leasing it. A letter from the co-executive directors announced that the puppet theater company has already raised 90% of its building purchase goal in just over a year, further stating: "...We know from experience that the key to the continuity of BBMT is ensuring that we can continue to operate from our physical space—and that true security can only be had through ownership." Another fundraising push aims to take them across the finish line, so they can truly be—as their neon marquee promises—"In LA to Stay."

The day after Thanksgiving this year, Bob Baker Marionette Theater celebrated its grand opening at its new location.



It was 56 years ago to the day—the day after Thanksgiving, that is—that Bob Baker himself opened his puppet theater in its old location on First Street in 1963.



Despite being designated a Historic-Cultural Monument in 2009, the old theater building—which wasn't a theater at all, but a studio/special effects workshop—got slated for condo development.



And it turned out to be just the kick in the pants that the puppet theater company needed to find a new home: the former York Theatre in the Northeast Los Angeles community of Highland Park.



Originally built in 1923 by Richard R.F. Lehman (a.k.a. R.R.F. Lehman) as a vaudeville house—and operated by the John Sugar Amusement Company/Vox Theatres— it most recently housed a Korean church, which had carpeted over the terrazzo flooring.



Once the congregation vacated, it was only a couple of months later—in February of this year—that the Bob Baker folks announced their lease of the York.



They got to work right away at tearing up the carpet and painting floors, walls, and doors. They were already performing preview shows by June of this year.



Although the seating capacity has been dramatically reduced from the original 700—now with a max occupancy of 476 people and 2219 puppets—original 1920s-era theater seats are still bolted to the floor.



Two chandeliers have been hung (a third is on its way) in front of a false proscenium, with those calling card red curtains hanging once again.



The clowns have returned to the sides of the "stage," too.



But an exciting new addition to the new location is a digital theatre organ, whose console is a Wurlitzer replica. It's all too fitting that this little toy-sized organ perform the preamble for puppet shows—and maybe even step into the spotlight for some future organ-oriented programming, too.



The L.A. Times reports that the York Theatre did, at one point, operate as Artisan Organ Hall for organ sales and repairs! And a 1923 edition of the L.A. Times also reports that the original theater operation housed a Wurlitzer for its vaudeville performances.



The auditorium is bigger and wider than it used to be—and that's a good thing. The sightlines have dramatically improved, especially with the raked floor.



But the upgrade to 10,000 square feet—from 7,000 sq. ft.—doesn't take away any of the intimacy of the performances.



If nothing else, it provides some extra room for puppet storage.



And while many of the puppets used in the theater company's shows date back several decades, there are new puppets still being created by the staff and volunteers who now run the show.

They've even resurrected some shows—and puppets—that haven't been seen in decades.

What they've already accomplished is incredible. And while they've still got more to do, there's no doubt that they will settle into their new home quite nicely.

For historic photos, visit the York Theatre page on Los Angeles Theatres.

Related Posts:
Photo Essay: Bob Baker Marionette Theater Company Bids Farewell to Their Home of 55 Years

The Art of Master Puppeteer Bob Baker, Upon His Passing

Photo Essay: Bob Baker Marionette Theater Company Bids Farewell to Their Home of 55 Years

Ever since I moved to LA nearly eight years ago, I've been preparing for this day. The closure of the Bob Baker Marionette Theater was always a clear and present danger.

When you know something's going to be taken away, you try to not get very attached.



 But the urgency of experiencing as much of it as you can before it disappears makes any attachment you forge even stronger than it would've been otherwise.



It's been a rollercoaster, even while Bob Baker himself was still alive—the theater company falling into debt, continuing to lose money, not be able to pay the mortgage—but we thought the theater had been saved and that the puppets and their masters were in LA to stay.



And they are, but they're losing the building they've called home since 1963 to a condo development—despite the fact that it was designated a Historic-Cultural Monument. That, however, does not guarantee any salvation for the building.



The theater at 1345 West 1st Street wasn't Bob Baker's original home. After all, when he moved in, he was already 20 years into his career. But it was built to his exact specifications—and it hasn't changed much in 55 years.



It's also where Bob and his team did the majority of his work—the sketching, backdrop painting, scripting, and soundtrack selecting.



It's also where at least two decades' worth of marionettes were fabricated—costumes sewn, hands and feet carved, faces painted.



Since Bob's death in 2014, the young puppet enthusiasts who took over have transformed the inside of the theater...



...into a kind of museum tribute to Bob and his work.



You can walk around and examine plenty of puppets not featured in the current show...



...in both the lobby and the ice cream room.



On Friday, we had the chance to say goodbye to them all, before they're packed up and moved (or not) to the as-yet-undisclosed new location.



In the meantime, Bob Baker Marionette Theater the troupe will perform its Nutcracker at Pasadena Playhouse—and after that, they'll become a roving band of puppeteers for a few months while they pack away all the puppets and Bob's archives.



For the final day that the theater was open, the puppeteers brought out some of their favorite stars of the puppet shows...



...as well as some puppets I've never seen in the 10 or more shows I've attended.



The day after Thanksgiving, among the puppets that were brought out of the closet and paraded around were a pardoned turkey, a snake oil salesman...



...a monkey riding a giraffe...



...and a working model of a Pinocchio marionette that Bob had designed and fabricated for Disney.



Pinocchio isn't the only collaboration between Bob and Walt—Bob also did the puppets for Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Escape to Witch Mountain, and Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. 



His marionettes of Jiminy Cricket and Minnie Mouse were sold at Disneyland for decades. Although Bob didn't make the marionettes sold at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater gift shop, I had to buy one for myself as a souvenir.



The imminent departure of the troupe from the theater also opened up the backstage area for wider public access during the Best of Bob Baker farewell show.



Although I'd been backstage four years ago, it was during the run of Fun With Strings...



...which means I hadn't gotten to see the monkeys...



... or clowns from Circus.



And I hadn't gotten up close and personal with the dancing carrot (though I had met Mrs. Broccoli and a tomato from Revolt of the Vegetables at a gallery show).



In the three weeks before the final performances at Bob Baker Marionette Theater, I attended no less than four shows...



...the Halloween Spooktacular on Halloween...



...the Best of Bob twice...

...and a final time, during the open house, on that last day.



I didn't just get choked up. I found myself full-on bawling.



A little girl next to me was fighting with someone I presume was her grandmother, asking to leave and saying, "I'm too old for this!"



I chimed in with, "I'm 43, and I'm here by myself." The woman with the little girl said, "I'm in my 70s, and I'm loving this!"



Maybe that little girl will come around one day. But when she does, it won't be in this magical, outdated, haunted theater.



It'll be somewhere else, someplace some people will consider a major upgrade.

But no matter how good that next place is, the real spirit of Bob Baker lives on in the puppets and strings and costumes and hands of the puppeteers that give them life.

Wherever they are, Bob's legacy lives on.

The magic will follow.

Places have meaning, but places aren't everything. Buildings burn and crumble after earthquakes. Humans heartlessly tear them down.

As long as the puppets are saved and still get brought out on stage, the Bob Baker Marionette Theater will survive.

Related Posts:
Photo Essay: Behind the Scenes at Bob Baker Marionette Theater
The Art of Master Puppeteer Bob Baker, Upon His Passing