Arts in the Family: Circus Memories- Christopher Hudert 2001

Christopher showing how to manipulate a marionette.

One of the best parts of touring, aside from performing of course, are the people you see that perhaps you don't get to visit with too often. In 2001, when Pammy and I last toured with the circus we were able to spend some time at Christopher Hudert's puppet studio.

He has an extensive and impressive list of accomplishments as a performer. Here's a teeny sampling of his career. He began performing on stage as a child but I'll start with a page out of his adult career. Christopher Hudert is a graduate of the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Clown College Class of 1982 and toured for 9 years with the circus. He was the Boss Clown for the Ringling Red Unit in 1989 when Pammy joined the show in Rosemont, Illinois. He is a sculptor, puppeteer, clown, set builder and puppet builder too and a pretty good teacher as well. That's also a modest list of his skills.

He is co-owner of Applause Unlimited, a variety arts company that offers puppet shows among other things and is based out of Richmond, Virginia where we crossed paths with him. He was very generous with his time and knowledge and even let us try out some of his wonderful marionettes during our tour of his workshop. He works with a wide variety of puppets presenting classic tales for audiences of all ages touring in the states and the world. Pretty cool!