By WESLIE STRATTON
Moapa Valley Progress
A large group of local children enjoyed the presentation of The Fratello Marionettes on Thursday, hosted by the Moapa Town Library at the Moapa Recreation Center. With the use of handcrafted marionettes and hand puppets, the variety show brought smiles to all who attended.
Entertaining audiences since 1989, the program featured founder Kevin Menegus and Fred C. Riley III who have trained and traveled worldwide.
“I’ve been doing this since high school,” Riley said. “And he (Menegus) has been doing this since he was six.”
Both men take part in making the marionettes used by hand, as well as performing with them.
“We perform at festivals and libraries and schools and theaters,” Riley said.
The two used the set of what appeared to be an old time music hall or opera to perform the show including an opera singer, a ballet dancing chicken, a fox, a dog and more.
Young attendee Jaylynn Warren Cortez enjoyed the antics of the marionettes in their various rolls.
“My favorite part was the fox,” she said. “Because she had a nice dress and I liked it. And I liked how she was moving.”
Ten-year-old Nicholas Farino also attended the show and said it is the first marionette show that he has seen “recently.”
“I liked where the opera guy’s pants fell down, that was funny,” he said. “And when the joker came out with a box that said ‘The End’ when he opened it.”
Farino said that something he learned about the show and about the marionettes is that they are hand made.
“Puppets are really hard to make,” he said. “First you have to do some research, then you have to build them yourself.”
He said he learned that hand puppets are easier to construct than marionettes “but they take hard work.”
Following the show the children were invited to ask questions and see the puppets up close.
