I've been invited as a featured local artist to do a puppet show in the fall. I'm leaning towards The 3 Pigs with a modern twist. I also am envisioning a grand musical finale (think miniature Disney Tikki room). I am very excited and nervous, being my first performance for a crowd of strangers. Any obvious DO's and DO NOT's I should know about before jumping in? Also, how do I recruit local talent without breaking the bank?

There's so many dos/do nots that I can't think of where to start... My big one though is try not to over-reach. There's just so much to do in creating a show that you can very easily overstretch yourself.

As for recruiting local talent, try local drama students and/or your amateur groups. They are usually the people most interested in signing up for a show with no foreseeable pay-offs.

I realize it seems like jumping on the band wagon, but I agree with Na. As I was reading your post the first thing that came to my mind was "Keep it simple".

Your choice of a a classic is good.  You really can't go wrong presenting a classic and 3 pigs is good because it limits your characters so things won't get to complicated.  In theory you could do the show by yourself.  For the most part there are only two characters in the scene -  a pig and a wolf. Granted to begin you have 3 pigs but what if one of them is always off somewhere else and one goes to find the other allowing the missing pig to show up.   Could also do "pig on a stick". All three are showing up but one of them is on a support stick just standing there and you could reference something about he is mad and giving the silent treatment to the other two.

Na, great advice with local talent. I'll try buying them off with pizza. Shawn, thank you for your creative input. A third character giving others the cold shoulder has a lot of humorous potential. I will take both of your advice and keep it simple. The script is already underway, as well as set design. Keeping it simple but clever. Feel free to share your wisdom; I really appreciate it.

I realize it seems like jumping on the band wagon, but I agree with Na. As I was reading your post the first thing that came to my mind was "Keep it simple".

Your choice of a a classic is good.  You really can't go wrong presenting a classic and 3 pigs is good because it limits your characters so things won't get to complicated.  In theory you could do the show by yourself.  For the most part there are only two characters in the scene -  a pig and a wolf. Granted to begin you have 3 pigs but what if one of them is always off somewhere else and one goes to find the other allowing the missing pig to show up.   Could also do "pig on a stick". All three are showing up but one of them is on a support stick just standing there and you could reference something about he is mad and giving the silent treatment to the other two.

Paul Mesner (http://www.paulmesnerpuppets.org/) does the three little pigs all by himself.

... Also for some more 'wisdom' - the first show I ever self-produced was the biggest learning curve. If you don't have one, you should consider getting yourself a stage manager or producer who has more experience than you do. They can help point out pitfalls or give you feedback in real time.

The other thing we found is that we quickly ran out of time between building and rehearsal. Don't underestimate how long it will take you to build everything, and give yourself HEAPS of time between rehearsal and opening night.

Aye, time management is your friend. You'd be surprised at how quickly time will just slip away. I find it helps to sit down at the start of a project and block out all your tasks on something like a large wall calender (devise script/character & set design (within the confines of your budget)/purchase materials/build/rehearsals &c.). And allow yourself some leeway time between final rehearsal and opening curtain should you need to tweak the production (as we always do ).

One other piece of "wisdom": read your contract very carefully (if you don't have one in writing, get one).

Congradulations!  Once the adrenalin of a liver performance starts you will do great.  Get someone to video tape it.

Ah, yes! I must have the performance video taped or err ... digitally recorded. Then I will post it and impress you all with my astounding puppets and puppeteering. Talent abounds!  =)(snicker)  As for time management, the older I get the more I realize how little of it I have (or had). Mapping it all out in blocks is a fantastic idea.

Actually video taping can be useful for rehearsals too. One thing my friends used to do as well was get a few friends for a somewhat informal performance in someone's lounge room. It was useful just for getting a bit of feedback before everything is in the polishing stage.

I agree with Na - video taping during rehearsals is SOOOO valuable! You learn so much from watching yourself with a critical eye and it will make the performance even better!!