Latest news with #Mandviwala
CBS News
17-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Puppets in Life of Pi bring unique theatrical experience to Denver Center for the Performing Arts
On Tuesday night Life of Pi will take the stage at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, marking the first time the show has made a stop at the Buell Theatre. The play, which is based on the original book, brings to life exotic animal characters through puppets. "Our puppets are best-supporting actors. They are truly fleshed-out characters in the show," said Jon Hoche, one of the tour's directors. The show follows the journey of a teenage boy fleeing India due to political unrest. Coming from a family that runs a zoo, the boy is on a boat that crashes. He is forced to get onto a lifeboat that is also occupied by several exotic animals. While the movie Life of Pi is able to use animation to bring those animals to life, the play has to use puppets to bring the characters to audiences. "There's something about playing a live animal that you have to be so tapped in to make him look like a live tiger," said Shiloh Goodin, puppeteer for the tour. While some may think of generic puppets operated just by a hand, the puppets used on stage bring a sense of life to the animals. The Bengal tiger in the show, known as "Richard Parker," is a puppet that is operated by three different people at once. "You really have to have an art of listening to your teammates. I'm listening to the breath, the footfalls. Really for any micro-movements in the tiger," said Anna Leigh Gortner, one of the puppeteers. "Otherwise, I wouldn't look in the sink. To keep it alive I have to be listening and in tune, and feeling through my body how I can connect through the tiger." When audiences first see the puppets it is somewhat easy to notice the humans operating them. However, as the show continues and you immerse yourself in the story, quickly the puppets seem to take on a life of their own and the puppeteers are easy to overlook. "It is just an engine of imagination," said Taha Mandviwala, lead actor in the show. Each night Mandviwala can be seen on stage, at many times interacting with nothing else on stage other than the puppets. "Interacting with a puppet is very similar to interacting with an actor, Mandviwala said. "An actor has its own thoughts, its own intentions, its own obstacles and reactions." Mandviwala said it is a fun challenge to convince himself he is interacting with real exotic animals so that the audience has the same level of immersion. "I'm really trying to view the puppet with the respect, the life, the weight and physics it deserves. And, the danger they deserve. This is not a Disney-fied relationship." Toussaint Jeanlouis, one of the three puppeteers for Richard Parker, said he enjoys how the puppet challenges him each night to be one with his peers. "I feel like I'm a lot stronger for it, physically and mentally. And, it is fun," Jeanlouis said. The DCPA welcomes Life of Pi from March 18 through March 30. For more information on Life of Pi tickets visit the Denver Center online . CBS Colorado is a proud partner of the DCPA.
CBS News
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
"Life of Pi" play brings new adaptation of iconic tale to Denver Center for the Performing Arts
Next week, "Life of Pi" opens its first-ever stop in Colorado, as the show plays the Buell Theatre in Denver. The play brings a new adaptation to a story which has already seen great success in print and on the screen. "Life of Pi was a book written in 2005 by Yann Martel, which has seen a lot of adaptations across its life," said Taha Mandviwala, the lead actor in the tour. The story follows the journey of a boy from India who was raised at a zoo. His family flees the country due to political unrest, taking their exotic animals with them on a boat. "There are many differences between the book and the stage production," said Jon Hoche, one of the directors of the tour. The story follows the boy's survival journey after the boat he was on crashes, leaving him stranded on a life raft with several exotic animals. "Translating page to stage, and the discrepancy between the book and the stage play, is understanding the shift in audience," Mandviwala said. "When you have a book, there is a lot more room for nuance, there is a lot more room for details and there is a lot more time to let that marinate." However, the live production coming to the Denver Center for the Performing Arts requires the show to be transformed into a two hour stage play. Without giving away the specifics of the show, it is important to note that it is told in a different order than that of the book. For example, details that were left toward the end of the book are what the play opens with. "There are a lot of creative liberties that are involved in this," Mandviwala said. "It is like nothing else (audiences) have seen on stage. It has the epic scale of a musical but the heart of a kitchen sink drama," Hoche said. "It has really become this global phenomenon that the book and movie did as well." Life of Pi plays the Buell Theatre March 18 through 30. For more information on tickets visit CBS Colorado is a proud partner of the DCPA.
