Bob Baker Marionette Theater: It's a Musical and Magical L.A. World

Bob Baker Marionette Theater sends in the clowns during
a performance of "It's a Musical World."

When you walk into the Bob Baker Marionette Theater thisclose to downtown Los Angeles, you are walking into a living tradition.

It's a place so truly special that you wonder how it actually exists in real life, instead of only in a long-ago fairy tale or in stories told to you by your grandparents or great-grandparents.

That's how I felt when I took CC to see "It's a Musical World," the production now on stage as part of Baker's 50th anniversary season.

I wondered if CC would really appreciate what she was seeing before her little 3-year-old eyes or if she would remember sharing this moment with her mom and dozens of other children, parents and marionettes.

The musical revue, playing through July 11 before "Bob Baker's Circus" opens July 17, is steeped in rich history, having debuted at the theater in 1978. (Click here for my earlier interview with Baker.)

From numbers that include an ice-skating Eskimo, a Snow Queen who dances with beautiful bells -- or is it belles? -- as well as a disco appreciation and a collection of colorful clowns, the absolute breadth of the show and the talent of the puppeteers is astonishing.

The performers holding the puppet strings kept the children rapt with attention. And that went for children of all ages, particularly a group of tatted-up twentysomething men who were visiting from the East Coast. In addition to all the toddlers, infants and preschoolers lying along the red carpet that also served as the stage boundary, those young men -- some with ink teardrops falling from one eye -- looked equally dazzled.

And how could they not be?

Bob Baker Marionette Theater
1345 W. 1st St.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
213-250-9995
Tickets: Adults and Children ($20); Children under 2 (Free)
Performances: Tuesday-Friday 10:30 a.m.; Saturday 2:30 p.m.; Sunday 2:30 p.m.
Click here for special group rates and birthday party rates through September.

UPDATED JULY 7, 2010:

"It's a Musical World"
Playing through July 11

"Something to Crow About" (Replacing previously announced "Bob Baker's Circus")
July 17-Sept. 26

"Bob Baker's Halloween Hoop-De-Do"
Oct. 1-31

"Bob Baker's Nutcracker"
Nov. 6-Jan. 16, 2011

Note: Press tickets were provided.