Los Angeles Puppet Theater Hits Hard Times

Sadly, I hadn't heard of this place in the last decade I've lived in the L.A. area, and now that I have, it looks like the Bob Baker Marionette Theater may be gone before my daughter's old enough to enjoy a show. I've never had an opportunity to see a real, honest to god puppet show, so for purely selfish reasons I hope Mr. Baker's able to get things together enough to keep on going through the current economic crapstorm. This place sounds amazing, and Baker seems like one of a relatively few genuine gems of the community.

The Bob Baker Marionette Theater’s shows, employing an eclectic selection of Mr. Baker’s 3,000 handmade puppets prancing about a shoebox-size theater perpetually decked out in gold garlands, are a staple of a Los Angeleno childhood. It is the cultural equivalent of the annual march by the nation’s third graders to the neighborhood firehouse.

Over the last few months Mr. Baker, 84, has fallen $30,000 behind on his mortgage and lost a rent-paying tenant, while his two major sources of revenue have dried up. First, the public schools have reduced financing for field trips. And second, some of his lower-income parents, he said, unemployed and swimming in debt, are unable to come up with the $15-per-ticket admission.

In addition, Mr. Baker said, a few years ago he refinanced the theater’s mortgage to help pay for rising operating costs, and the mortgage payments have shot up. A business deal he made to improve his space went bad. He said he was negotiating with his lenders, and added ruefully, “I am more of an artist than a businessman.�?