The Stage Stopped Here
Tales told
about the Olivas Adobe ghosts were no match for the tales
of spectral mayhem told during the production of "The Stage Stopped
Here" in the Olivas Adobe Exhibit Hall. The
play, presented by the Doug Friedlander Puppet Theater, concerned the
Los Angeles to Santa Barbara stagecoach, stopped in Ventura on
Halloween night by bad weather. The coach passengers spent a
hair-raising night in the saloon of Jose Felipe Sanchez listening to
stories of strange-but-actual events that happened in the region.
Audiences of this free event were
universally entertained by the play and by demonstrations of different
types of puppets. Doug Friedlander was assisted by volunteers Rosalee
Calvillo and Brittany
Bernardi.
This delightful thirty minute show employed three
different kinds of puppets and three humans. The puppet characters, in
addition to Josè, a horse with sparkling eyes, a gingham dog and
calico cat, a hungry
fox, and two ghostly spirits.
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