I Want to Ride a Puppet Horse

War Horse

Ahmanson Theatre

Los Angeles, CA

Saturday, July 14, 2012

When tickets became available for "War Horse" at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, I bought a ticket for myself as soon as I could do so.  I had seen one of the puppets during the Tony Awards, and heard really good things about the play, and I was eager to watch it.  Seeing the movie "War Horse" solidified my desire to see the play.

My seat was on house right, about 5 rows back in the Orchestra section, a few seats from the right side door.  

• I wanted to make sure that my seat was up close, because I wanted to see the puppets at a closer view than I would have had in the balcony.  I'm glad I did, because there were a few moments when the horses came down our side of the theater, to the left of me.  That was cool.
• When Joey was still a foal, I had forgotten that he still needed to grow up, and the puppeteers were taller than the foal.  I wondered if I would get wrapped up in the show itself or just think about the mechanics of the puppets.  Not that the puppeteers weren't amazing, because they were.  I loved the way they moved the horse so well, and used the horse's ear positions to convey emotion.  
• I really liked the transition between Joey as a foal and Joey as a full-grown horse.  Wow!  Joey rears up and is replaced by grown-up Joey, and the audience gave a huge round of applause.
• Although this isn't a musical, the narration was told by a Song Man.  It wasn't a literal narration, but it was a lovely way to illustrate the emotion of the time during each transition.  John Milosich has a beautiful voice.  Do they have a soundtrack to this show?  Ooh, there is!
• Anyway, back to the horses.  The full-grown horses (Joey and Topthorn) are big enough and sturdy enough for the actors to actually ride them!  That blew my mind.  Yeah, I know that there are 3 guys holding up the one guy, but the material of the puppet holds up, too.  I want to ride a puppet horse! 
• The story is adapted from a children's book, and is a little bit different than the movie.  I still cried at  the end.  I cried several more times while watching the movie, but I wasn't distracted by cool puppets when I was watching the film.
• When I watched the movie, I had no idea that the men vying for Joey at the auction were brothers.  So those 2 guys were cousins.  Families need to get along better, people!
• Joey was a jumper on stage.  He was not so much a jumper in the film.  Well, until he needed to be.
• I think that my favorite human character, besides Albert, was the German officer.
• The goose was hilarious.  Loved it.

The show is no longer playing at the Ahmanson (I had totally forgotten to write this before it went away), but if it shows at a theatre near you, I highly recommend that you see it.  

Here is a video of the horse puppeteers: