Musical Satire Of Marshall Izen

Year Published: 1965

Creator: Philadelphia Repertoire Workshop

Format: 16mm

Color: B&W

Sound: sound

Description: Forgotten today, Marshall Izen, who died May 26, 2016 at the age of 90, was a magnificent pianist, Emmy-winning puppeteer (1972), author, animator, ventriloquist and humorist, reminiscent of Victor Borge. He created his own puppets and their costumes and used a pedal-activated tape recorder to add a voice in his duets. In this rare film, Izen plays piano, tells jokes, performs male and female operatic voices for his one-person puppet show. He parodies Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde," performs "Happy Birthday" as played by Mozart, Beethoven, and Debussy, stages his comic puppet opera "LA," plays Scarlatti's G Major Sonata, a raucous Villa-Lobos piece, and Schubert's Waltz in A Major. The film is water damaged at intervals through the first five minutes of the film. Izen is believed to have left no heirs. For a fascinating story about what became of his puppets, visit http://judypimperl.blogspot.com/2015/10/special-puppets-and-emmy-award-winner.html