Puppeteer Dianne Gasch--Library, Community & Church Performance Information

Library, Community & Church

Click on a program choice or scroll down:
Assembly Performances
Building Giants
Put on a Show

Assembly Performances
(35-45 minute program for larger groups)

Queen Lion of Africa: A grand old lioness makes a royal appearance to share how her African lion ancestors gave all creatures different gifts. Find out why he gave the elephant a trunk, the giraffe a long neck and many others. The Lioness is an 8 ½ -foot tall puppet. 35-45 min program – ages 4 and older

Ragamuffin the River Raccoon: Ragamuffin tells a spirited story about life with the many creatures (humans included) who share the river bank with her. Ragamuffin finds a new unexpected friend and learns friendship has no color, culture or even scent boundaries. Ragamuffin stands 8 feet high. 35-45 min program – ages 4 and older

Irish Giant Sarah MacCoul: Tells the story of how her legendary husband Finn MacCoul defeated the feared Scottish giant Fergus. Finn beats Fergus not because of his immense size and strength, but rather because of Sarah’s own wit and wisdom. Sarah comes alive as a memorable 8-foot giant parade puppet who needs a room with at least a 9-foot ceiling to perform. 35-40 min program – ages 4 and older

Big Bad Wolf’s Mama: Guess what! The Big Bad Wolf has a mom. She comes in person to tell the story of her son and why he was big but not really so bad. Learn what his favorite food was and why he couldn’t live with out it. Mrs. Wolf is an 8-1/2 foot tall puppet. 35-40 min program – ages 4 and older

Cost: $100 per show + mileage
Discount for Multiple shows on
the same day

Building Giants:

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The Upper Minnesota Valley Cultural Diversity Council brought Dianne in to help them in the building of these 4 Giants. The 10 foot giants represented the American Indian, African American, Latino and Scandinavian people of their community. Their 1st of hopefully many appearances was the Fiesta Days parade in Montevideo on June 15, 2003.

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Zion Lutheran Church, in Buffalo, MN, hired Dianne to come in and help create an inspiring Christmas Eve pageant. This magnificent angel and holy family was welcomed with awe and amazement as they processed to the sanctuary for the opening of Christmas services.

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This 20 foot Chinese Dragon has made appearances in many parades in Wright County, MN including the Cokato Corn Carnival, Dassel Red Roster Days and Buffalo Days Parades. She was designed in part by thirteen year old Rachael Balsaitis, and built with Dianne's help and puppet expertise.

Put on a Show:

Participants create and perform a multiple act, large scale puppet production. The performance can focus on a variety of themes such as: Bible stories or history of your community. Dianne will guide the participants in creating the script, building the puppets, practicing for the final performance and may even include writing songs to enhance the script.

General outline and times needed:

Optional Introduction: Assembly performance by Dianne
Step 1: script writing - 2 times – 40-60 min each depending number of participants
Step 2: puppet building – 1 time – 60-80 min depending on type of puppets used
Step 3: Practice for performances – 2 times- 45-60 min each
Step 4: Dress Rehearsal – 60 min
Step 5: The Big Show!

Cost: $100 per single workshop/performance + Mileage
$225 per half day + Mileage
$390 per full day + Mileage