Behind the Scenes of Filming Episode 3: Blair Thomas

March 28th, 2011

Fear No ART Chicago airs on WTTW on March 31 @ 10 PM, April 3 @ Noon, April 6 @ 10:30 PM and April 23 @ 11:30 PM. It also airs on WTTWPrime on April 1 @ 4 PM, April 7 @ 4:30 PM and April 9 @ 5 PM

Blair Thomas: what a creative spirit and good sport! It wasn’t until days before the official shoot that I told Blair that we would be able to include him in the shoot last December 16th. The catch was: he had to be willing to start with us at 7:30 AM. For the us, Blair would be the first of three interviews that would make up the 13 hour shoot day.

Grip, Josh, sound man Joe, cameramen John Ford and Tim Barron, Field Producer Catherine Hickman, make-up artist Emily of Tres Jolie, intern Nicole Nelson and myself – a bundle of nerves – descended on master puppeteer Blair Thomas at his studio West of Ukranian Village and fantastic Blair had pulled out several major puppet sets from the rafters for our shoot…having gotten everything together at the last minute. Pro that he is, he was a willing partner in crime the whole way through!

In this interview, Blair brings out his large puppets, his small puppets, his tiny sets, his large sets, he performs some stage music and a puppet show, transforms into a dastardly narrator and he lets us peek into the world of a master puppeteer and life in the contemporary puppet theater. Blair’s specialty is making puppet performances accessible to the 5 year old and the 75 year old. His performances are profound and funny and delightful and he is a master at bringing large concepts to life ( through music, performance, puppetry) in Contemporary Puppet Theater!

Check out Blair Thomas on Fear No ART Chicago airing on WTTW on March 31 @ 10 PM, April 3 @ Noon, April 6 @ 10:30 PM and April 23 @ 11:30 PM.

It also airs on WTTWPrime on April 1 @ 4 PM, April 7 @ 4:30 PM and April 9 @ 5 PM