A Morning at the Thai Puppet Show

A few months ago we were invited by our friend Mary Jane Ungrangsee to attend a Thai puppet show with her & her daughters. We had the greatest time! It was a fabulous performance. I came home & spent about 2 hours editing & downloading pictures & writing a post. When I posted it, the entire thing, pictures included was all in some weird computer language (<0>(% :{>) . I'm not kidding, the entire thing. I couldn't figure out how to change it. I changed my settings, I changed everything I could think of but it didn't do any good. It was the best post too. I didn't know what to do, so I deleted the whole thing, determined to start over & repost about our fun day. It has taken me 3 months to do so. Oh well, at least I'm finally getting it done.


Mary Jane & Bundit Ungrangsee have the 3 most darling little girls in the world! Mary Jane, incidentally also served a mission here several years ago, but after Devin's & my missions. Even more ironic is the fact that her maiden name is Jones too. She met & married her husband shortly after he was baptized by President White (Devin's & my mission president) in Salt Lake City. Mary Jane is a beautiful singer & has performed all over the world. Her husband is a very sought after orchestra conductor. They have been some of our dearest friends here in Thailand. Pictured below is Alina, Mary Jane, Narissa, Kambren, Ambrian, Aybrielle, & Rhees.




Kambren has had the biggest crush on Narissa right from the beginning. It is the cutest thing. Secretly I wish that I could betrothe them also. Narissa is such a sweetheart!!!



During intermission the puppeteers came out into the audience to pose for pictures. You'll have to forgive the very poor quality of the pictures I took. I was videoing most of it & the still photos are just taken from the video. Even the few pictures that I did specifically shoot as still shots are horrible. Our camera takes beautiful pictures in natural light, but awful pictures indoors.




In return for the pictures, the audience members give small tips to the puppeteers. The puppets gladly take the 20, 50, or 100 baht bills from impressed patrons.






Kambren liked the performance, but wasn't too sure he wanted to be touched by the puppets.




Apparently Ambrian didn't mind the hug.




Rhees was also a little apprehensive about the affection. Must be a boy thing.




Here is Aybrielle who was fine with the hug......



......but got a little worried when it tried to kiss her.









Rhees is wai-ing the puppet & puppeteers. A wai is a way to show respect or greet someone. You also wai when you are saying thank you for something.






The orchestra was simply fabulous, albeit a little loud. But we are used to the Thai standard of turning up the speakers to a near deafening level, although we don't enjoy it. Really though, the music was great & the musicians were so talented.



I wasn't sure how long or how formal the performance would be so I left Kalen asleep at home. I regret that. He would have loved it! So here is a picture of just 4 of the kids, plus cute little Alina on the side, during intermission. Mary Jane also left baby Anna at home.



The pictures really don't do the performers justice. They were so talented & made each movement so realistic.





These few pictures were only allowed during the break. We weren't allowed to take any photos during the actual show.




One of the acts was done in a Japanese setting. It was breathtaking. The props were made to look just like a garden in Japan complete with a footbridge & cherry trees which actually had blossoms falling off the branches. I have always been in love with all things Japan since I went there before my mission. So you can imagine that this scene was a real highlight. Here is one of the Japanese Geisha puppets.




Poor Alina was a little afraid of the Thai "Yuk" (giant) that was getting her.






Another thing that the pictures don't do justice for is the extremely ornate costumes on the puppets. The are hand crafted with paint, beads, gold, glass, & silk in the most intricate fashion. Thais & Asians in general top the list for people having the most patience to make tedious & artistic things. I could never sit for the hours it must take to create the things they do. They are so very talented.




The marimba player was incredible.





Isn't this just a darling little bunch of friends!!




It takes 3 people to do all the movements for 1 puppet.







This was one of those shows that we could go to over & over again! We just loved it. I'm so sad that I just can't share all these fun things with you!!



We did a little photo op afterward out in the lobby. I couldn't choose just one picture because they were all so cute with their different expressions.