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Soraya Stories

Director Selects: Floriana Frassetto, 52 years of Mummenschanz

By Thor Steingraber

Long before there were the large-scale puppets in the Disney stage production of The Lion King, there was Mummenschanz. Founder Floriana Frassetto and her colleagues have been at it for over 50 years, surprising and delighting audiences of all ages with their inventive use of puppetry, masks, and other theatrical devices. It was nearly that long ago that I first saw them on the Johnny Carson show staying up late one night with my parents. In this interview, Floriana discusses their appearances on television and Broadway, and she provides some sneak previews of their 50th anniversary show which will come to The Soraya this fall.

Gratefully,

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Pacific Jazz Orchestra with Eva Noblezada

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About Director Selects

The Director Selects series is a sequence of interviews shared by The Soraya on Fridays throughout the year. Each features an artist who will perform in the season or a behind-the-scenes video, and a note from Executive and Artistic Director Thor Steingraber to give patrons a look behind the curtain and better understand that collaboration between the artist and The Soraya that goes into each performance.

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