Images: 
Total Rating: 
****
Opened: 
January 9, 2015
Ended: 
January 18, 2015
Country: 
USA
State: 
California
City: 
Los Angeles
Company/Producers: 
Compagnie Les Voisins
Theater Type: 
Regional
Theater: 
Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
Theater Address: 
9390 Santa Monica Boulevard
Phone: 
310-746-4000
Website: 
thewallis.org
Running Time: 
45 min
Genre: 
childrens
Author: 
Book: Eva Noelle & Paul Olbrich. Music: Patrice Langlois
Director: 
Eva Noelle & Paul Olbrich
Review: 

The Queen of Colors, based on the renowned children’s book by Jutta Bauer, uses ingenious puppetry to weave a simple story about kindness and originality. The Court Painter (accompanied by a Court Musician) creates vivid backdrops for the feisty little puppet queen who ventures into her kingdom to experience the personalities of each color of the rainbow. However, while fun comes in all colors, too much of a good thing can turn into a grey mess.

Full of kaleidoscopic wonder and vivid imagination, The Queen of Colors is a whimsical story about unleashing creativity and choosing not to color within the lines (recommended for ages 4-7). The show combines shadow puppets, lively and tuneful accordion music, and painted projections. The show unfolds on a small, arched screen where the puppet queen appears. As she keeps describing her favorite colors, Eva Noell draws them on the spot: trees, grass and flowers go from green to red, blue and yellow in a magical moment.

Eva Noell and Paul Olbrich, originally of Theater Waidspeicher, founded Erfreuliches Theater Erfurt in 2004, which became Compagnie Les Voisins in 2010. They studied puppetry at The Actor’s School of Berlin and have been working as puppeteers, puppetry directors, authors and lecturers ever since, staging and performing numerous productions for children and adults, including classics, modern drama, fairy tales and adaptations of contemporary children’s books. Winner of the Children's Jury Award at the International Puppet Theater Festival, Compagnie Les Voisins makes its West Coast debut with a delightful multimedia production whose use of music, painting and humor makes for a show that both educates and entertains.

Cast: 
Eva Noelle, Paul Olbrich, Patrice Langlois
Technical: 
Music Dir: Patrice Langlois; Design: Eva Noelle & Paul Olbrich.
Awards: 
2002: World Festival of Puppet Art (Prague): Best Children's Show & Best Set. 2002: from International Festival of Puppet-Theatres SYNERGURA (Germany): Children's Jury Award. 2003: Traumspiele Festival (Germany): Main prize.
Critic: 
Mavis Manus
Date Reviewed: 
January 2015