Ranka's
Marionette Theatre

Giuseppe Pellegrini

Giuseppe Pellegrini was born in Genoa, Italy. Pellegrini is widely honored and acclaimed for the radiance and versatility of his voice, as well as his dazzling technique and extraordinary dramatic ability—all of which no doubt contributed to his earning a nomination as 2006 Puppet of the Year. (Despite his abundant talent, the winner was Miss Maria.)

When he sings, said The Puppet Post, "one finds oneself suspended in a timeless, magical world, where one’s only raison d'être is to listen. " Pellegrini now lives in California. He is single.

Lisa Parker

Lisa’s mother grew up in a world of bingo, TV-dinners—and no art. She wanted to give Lisa all the singing, piano, violin, and ballet lessons she had always dreamed of. But Lisa was only interested in hanging out at the mall with her friends, trying on cool clothes, and checking out the boys. Despite her mother’s bribes and tears, Lisa remained untouched by the wonderful world of music.

Until she met Matt, who was wearing green cowboy boots and a profusion of tattoos—and who needed a singer in his new band, "The Bad Apples." Pretty soon Lisa’s musical talents blossomed, and within a year she started her own band, "The Powerful Powder Girls."

Lisa is currently performing at The Queen of Hearts in Baltimore. Shows at 10 and midnight.

Wolfgang Munchenheimer

Mr. Munchenheimer started to play piano when he was two years old. He was not able to reach the keys, however, so his father stacked encyclopedia volumes A through G on the piano stool. By the time his father had removed the first two volumes, Wolfgang had written his first piano sonata. Mr. Munchenheimer is universally recognized as one of the truly great pianists of our time. He is revered not only for his exceptional technical artistry, but also for the extraordinary vitality he brings to each and every performance.

Gerhard Munchenheimer

Gerhard Munchenheimer, or Jerry, as he prefers to be called, studied music at some of the world’s most prestigious conservatories. Jerry was groomed from childhood by his father, Wolfgang Munchenheimer, to become the most renowned concert pianist ever to have walked on earth. Under the weight of his father’s expectations, however, Jerry eventually crumbled from unstable health, battles with the bottle, and a hair-trigger temper.

After a short but transformative stay at a famous clinic, Jerry picked up the pieces and threw himself headlong into the world of boogie-woogie, working the keyboard with such passion that his audiences seem to witness a man unburdening his very soul.

Natasha Swanlakescheska

Natasha was born to the legendary Irina Giselle, in the dressing room during rehearsals of Swan Lake at the State Ballet Company in St. Petersburg, Russia. The celebrated Natasha Swanlakescheska has bewildered audiences with her spectacular pirouettes and her romantic liaisons with some of the greatest baritones of our time. In 1972, Natasha defected to the United States during a dramatic premiere appearance in New York City.

Ms. Swanlakescheska has won virtually every award possible in dance, and what is more, critics unanimously agree that she has fundamentally changed the very way we look at ballet.

"Rip"

Nothing is known about this artist.

Igor Strakovsky

Igor Strakovsky is the oldest of the three Strakovsky brothers. "When it comes to balancing technical perfection with eloquence and virtuosity—Mr. Strakovsky has few equals." Between sold-out international tours, Mr. Strakovsky likes to relax at home and fiddle with his Harley-Davidson Road King.

Theodore Strakovsky

Theodore, who goes by Ted, is the middle brother of the three Strakovsky brothers. Ted grew up with his great, great, great grandmother and his not-so-great grandfather. When Ted’s grandmother died, his grandfather got involved with the sorriest bunch of fiddlers you’ve ever seen. This all had a predictably disastrous impact on Ted’s life.

But his fortunes turned late one afternoon at the post office, where Miss Roberta Roberts was working at the pick-up window. Within a year there was a wedding, followed soon thereafter by four kids, five horses, and a veggie garden—and all the while Ted was burning up stages all over the country with his explosive fiddle.

Dimitri Strakovsky

The youngest of the Strakovsky brothers, Dimitri has, according to their mother, the most promising future of the three. "If the power to tug at an audience’s heartstrings counts for anything, then Dimitri will surely rank as the world’s greatest violinist," says Mrs. Strakovsky.

Charles Davis

Mr. Davis has spent the last twelve years playing his horn to packed halls throughout Europe. His initially exasperating sequence of sound bites gives way to an illusion of almost telepathic insight, a key to the mystery of who and what Charlie Davis is. While touring Europe’s cultural hotspots, Mr. Davis fell madly in love with European cuisine, favoring Swedish meatballs with lingonberry jam and boiled potatoes.

Ben Dade Jr.

Ben, who recently placed in the Southern California Skateboarding Competition, has so far escaped injury despite his refusal to wear a helmet on the streets—much to the displeasure of his father, Dr. Ben Dade, a brain surgeon who has seen far too many mangled brains carried into his emergency room.

Ben Jr. is not too thrilled to be touring with Ranka’s Theatre, because he thinks the other puppets are much too old. But this was the only professional gig he could get, and the pay isn’t bad.

The Pupettes

Shirley Johnson, Rita Smith, and Mary Anne Jones are cousins who grew up in the same Detroit neighborhood. One day, when Rita was almost 12, she snuck into her big brother Ricky’s room and timidly turned on his stereo. Out of the huge speakers came Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, and Rita could not resist turning the volume up full blast. Rita was so thrilled, she almost fainted. She had no idea that music could be THIS good, and she ran to fetch her cousins.

When Ricky came home and found the girls in his room, he was furious. The flustered girls, trying to save their skin, spontaneously broke into "Love Is Like a Heat Wave" with Martha & The Vandellas. Ricky was immediately disarmed, and he became the girls’ first manager, before five major record labels all tried to outbid each other. . . . The rest is history.

Elvin Parsley

When Elvin was in third grade, his best friend brought to school a wrinkled black-and-white newspaper clipping with a picture of The King of rock ‘n’ roll. That was the coolest thing Elvin had ever seen, and he didn’t hesitate to trade his beloved striped frog for the clipping. Elvin desperately wanted to be the next king of rock ‘n’ roll. His dream of selling Aspirin at his parents' corner drugstore instantly evaporated, and he pursued his new goal with feverish intensity.

Soon after his first appearance at a local fair, where his charisma and good looks turned the women in his audience into a shouting, weeping, unruly mob, he was catapulted into international fame. Eventually he signed with Ranka’s Marionette Theatre, where he has been a crowd-pleaser for many years.

Miss Maria

Possessing a voice of poignant and expressive beauty, Miss Maria is indeed a spellbinding performer. On the world’s great opera stages, she consistently performs with unsurpassed emotional eloquence. Stubborn, contentious, and not altogether a model of propriety, Miss Maria was honored as Puppet of the Year in 2006 (narrowly surpassing her former best friend, Giuseppe Pellegrini).

Richard Stone

Richard writes songs that express how he feels about things and stuff. During his summer vacations, Richard tours with Ranka’s Theatre and sings other people’s songs. His own songs are not good enough yet, says Richard; maybe next year.

Ranka

Ranka started to make puppets when she was 7, by drawing people on pieces of paper. When Ranka cut them out, she discovered that she could move their legs, arms, heads—their whole bodies—by bending the paper with her fingers. And by moving them, it was as if they came alive. This really amazed Ranka, and she has been making puppets ever since. [Ranka’s full bio]