During his more than 14 years as a puppeteer, Steve Meltzer has worked on several commercials, appeared with his dummy Fred Mingo on Nickelodeon and “The Daily Show,” and worked on the cult classic “Team America: World Police” — the first feature film to use marionettes instead of real actors.
Meltzer and Mingo just recently made a cameo appearance in the upcoming film “The Great Buck Howard,” starring Tom Hanks and John Malkovich.
While appearing on television and on the big screen has been fun for Meltzer, who has a masters degree in fine arts from USC, his biggest thrill derives from operating the Santa Monica Puppetry Center over the last decade.
During that time, Meltzer has performed for countless children and their parents, opening their eyes to a world that is often overlooked and underappreciated in an age of computer graphics, hand-held video games and an ever-shortening attention span.
“I think we’re ready for grassroots, down-home theater,” said Meltzer, sitting with his dog Zeke, his dummy and the stage where he performs “Puppetolio!” and other marionette musicals. “My mission is expanding puppetry, but it is also just as much about showing people that we can gather in a room and sing songs without there being any religious or political agenda. It’s all just about having fun for all ages, taking people to this magical world that only exists in their imaginations.”
On the walls of his modest museum and theater, Meltzer has hung scores of marionettes, puppets and dummies from the earliest days of the art in what can only be described as an elaborate shrine that pays homage to the likeminded performers that preceded him.
Each artifact comes with a unique story of its origin and how Meltzer acquired it, starting with the first puppet he purchased for $5 at a Long Beach swap meet. It was a “spur-of-the-moment”decision — an impulse buy — but for some reason, when Meltzer saw the puppet, he knew he had to have it.
Meltzer, 53, was first introduced to the magic of puppetry as a boy growing up in New York City. Television was relatively young then, and stations were dominated by variety shows. Meltzer’s favorite was the “Paul Winchell-Jerry Mahoney Show” on NBC. A 30-minute variety show for adults and kids, it captured Meltzer’s attention and his imagination. He fell in love with the ventriloquist and his wooden dummy.
“The biggest thrill was to stay up late and watch his 7:30 (p.m.) broadcast,” Meltzer said. “He was unlike any other ventriloquist. He was innovative. His dummy
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 31, 2007. Read the original PDF.