2025.10.04 | Bob Baker Marionettes Program

Bob Baker Marionettes Halloween Spooktacular Saturday, October 04, 2025 | 3PM Soka Performing Arts Center Black Box Theatre at Soka University of America

Bob Baker Marionettes

HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR HISTORY: The Bob Baker Marionette design team took to the early 1950’s at a pivotal moment for the spooky season of Halloween that we know today!

Keen eyes may recognize costumes from Walt Disney Production’s animated short, ‘Trick or Treat’, featuring Donald Duck and his nephews, Hughey, Dewey and Louie. This short has been accredited for helping re-popularize trickor-treating in a post WWII America, and deterring the trouble-making “tricks” that were on an unruly incline. We think that’s pretty important, seeing as it has shaped the aesthetic our whole show is based on (plus, we love the theme song!)! And now you know!

Complimentary balloon twisting at 2:30 pm and free snacks!

Bob Baker Marionettes

Bob Baker Marionette Theater’s mission is to preserve, educate, and innovate at the intersection of Puppetry and the Allied Arts.

Bob Baker Marionette Theater, founded by Bob Baker and Alton Wood in 1963, is the oldest children’s theater company in Los Angeles, and in June of 2009 the theater was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. With boundless imagination and wonder, The Bob Baker Marionettes have been telling stories and entertaining children and adults for over 60 years. Kids get to move around and interact with the beautifully crafted marionettes. Handled by master puppeteers, the marionettes are always the stars of the show and captivate children in simple yet fascinating ways.

Bob Baker’s journey with marionettes began during his time at Hollywood High School, where he crafted toy puppets that gained international recognition. After graduating, he honed his skills at George Pal Animation Studios, quickly rising to head animator for the Puppetoons series. Baker’s expertise extended beyond puppetry, serving as an animation advisor for film studios like Disney after World War II. His puppets appeared in television classics like Bewitched, Star Trek, and NCIS, and films including A Star Is Born, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

The theater’s original location on 1st Street in downtown Los Angeles,

once a special effects workshop, was its home for decades. When the theater was named a historiccultural landmark in 2009, the Los Angeles Times captured the occasion perfectly: “A parade of puppets strung along Los Angeles City Council members today long enough to persuade them to designate a West 1st Street marionette theater a historic cultural landmark. The puppets danced and pranced around the City Council’s ornate horseshoe-shaped desk in the City Hall chambers before officials voted 14–0 to place the Bob Baker Marionette Theater on the city’s landmark list.”

Today, the theater remains a vibrant testament to Bob Baker’s legacy, blending artistry, craftsmanship, and a touch of magic.

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FREE FAMILY CONCERT:

Orange County Youth Symphony SUNDAY, JAN. 25, 2026 | 11AM Experience the power of live orchestral music with your family at a free concert presented by the Orange County Youth Symphony! Begin the day with fun, hands-on lobby activities, then head into the concert hall for a vibrant performance filled with music and narration—perfect for young audiences. It’s a welcoming, community-centered event designed to spark imagination and create lasting memories for the whole family.

Co-presented with Philharmonic Society of Orange County

SOKA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER TICKETS & INFORMATION HERE

soka.edu/pac tickets@soka.edu 949-480-4278

Soka Performing Arts Center Mission Statement

Our mission is to Engage, Educate, and Elevate the Human Spirit Soka Performing Arts Center is dedicated to elevating the human spirit through transcendent live experiences.

Discover the unmatched beauty of our acoustics.

Expand your understanding and appreciation of music through our programs that illuminate new perspectives.

Build community and forge deep connections through the shared experience of live performance. We invite you to become a part of our Soka Performing Arts Center family and to Listen. Feel. Transform.

Listen.

Feel.

Transform.

ABOUT SOKA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Soka Performing Arts Center is located on the beautiful hilltop campus of Soka University of America in Aliso Viejo. Our facility includes the 1,042seat Concert Hall featuring world-class acoustics designed by master acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota, designer of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Suntory Hall in Tokyo, among many others. We also have an intimate 350-seat Black Box Theatre that allows for multiple seating configurations including club seating with bistro tables.

More than 800 performances have taken place since the center’s dedication on May 27, 2011. The 2025-26 season marks our fifteenth season presenting first-class programming in our world-class concert hall. We are continuing to expand our programming and outreach with the addition of a Children’s Concert Series and the only Great Pianists Series on the West Coast. From classical and jazz to world and contemporary music, the Soka Performing Arts Center has become a prized space for artists and audiences alike.

We are proud to be the home of the Pacific Symphony Chamber Orchestra.

Our Sundays @ Soka Series with Pacific Symphony continues to be one of our most popular series year after year. Our presentations with other Orange County arts organizations have enabled us to reach further into our community to offer arts education and programming. Our partnership with the Philharmonic Society of Orange County includes our Philharmonic Society Series, which brings superlative artists to our stage. We also partner with Philharmonic Society for our Outreach Program, bringing over 7,000 school children to Soka Performing Arts Center to experience live performances with outstanding musicians.

With its world-class acoustics and first-class performances, Soka Performing Arts Center is quickly becoming one of the cultural jewels of Orange County.

SOKA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER DONORS

OUR SUPPORTERS

DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE ($75,000+) Dr. Kenneth & Sandra Tokita Sam* & Lyndie Ersan CONCERTMASTER ($10,000+) Ms. Emi Maeda STAGE CHAMPION ($5000+) Yoshitomo & Takemi Daido STAGE BENEFACTOR ($1000+) Anonymous OC Chinese Cultural Club John and Sue Prange Terumi Saito Jochen Schumacher Alex & Sandy Scott Scott A Shuping Anson and Marilyn Wong PLATINUM CLEF ($500+) Anonymous Jeffrey Hendrix Edward D. Jones Jane A. Lynch GOLD CLEF ($200+) Judy Kaufman Lorraine Leiser Naomi Uchiyama SILVER CLEF ($100+) Renée Bodie Sam Chang Masako Inage Debrah Jiang Chiharu Nagai Paul Porto Thomas Prigorac Jonia Suri Joseph Whittaker BRONZE CLEF ($25+) Raquel Bruno Kenneth Hanawa Ryosuke Iga Jeannette Pease Joyce M Wrice Taro Yamanashi

* Deceased List current as of 09/26/2024 The Soka Performing Arts Center deeply appreciates the support of its sponsors and donors, and makes every effort to ensure accurate and appropriate recognition. Contact Renée Bodie, General Manager at (949) 480-4821 to make us aware of any error or omission in the foregoing list.

SUPPORT SOKA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

DONATE TO SOKA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Your support helps ensure Soka Performing Arts Center fulfills its purpose: to engage, educate, and elevate the human spirit. Your gift supports the programming of world-class performances, provides transformative educational outreach experiences, and opens the opportunity to build engagement with our community by sharing the joy of live music.

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CREATE YOUR OWN SUBSCRIPTION PACKAGE

Our subscription and renewal program provides you with even more flexibility in our season packages*. With our enhanced program, you now have the power to curate your very own unique experience.

• 15% Discount for a 3 performance package • 18% Discount for a 4 performance package • 20% Discount for a 5+ performance package *full details online at soka.edu/pac

OUR PARTNERS • Blueport Jazz • Philharmonic Society of Orange County • Pacific Symphony • Parnassus Society SOKA PAC MANAGEMENT TEAM Renée Bodie General Manager & Artistic Director John Morgan Box Office Manager Antoinette Rossman House Manager/Assistant to the General Manager Jaime Spataro Marketing & Communications Manager Steve Baker Production Manager Jarmil Maupin Internal Events Manager Ian Smith Technical Services Manager Katie Ohrn Lighting Supervisor

Piano Tuners Kathy Smith Lead Tuner Ron Elliott David Stoneman David Vanderlip

@SokaPAC @SokaPAC SokaPerformingArtsCenter Website soka.edu/pac

SOKA UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA BOARD OF TRUSTEES Soka Performing Arts Center resides on the beautiful campus of Soka University of America.

We thank the SUA Board of Trustees and the SUA Leadership Council for all of their support.

SUA BOARD OF TRUSTEES Stephen S. Dunham, JD | CHAIR Vice President and General Counsel Emeritus, Pennsylvania State University | Baltimore, Maryland Tariq Hasan, PhD | VICE CHAIR Chief Executive Officer, SGI-USA | New York, New York Andrea Bartoli, PhD President, Sant’Egidio Foundation for Peace and Dialogue | New York, New York Matilda Buck Benefactor | Los Angeles, California Lawrence E. Carter, Sr, PhD, DD, DH, DRS Dean, Professor of Religion, College Archivist and Curator, Morehouse College | Atlanta, Georgia Andy Firoved CEO, HOTB Software | Irvine, California Jason Goulah, PhD Professor of Bilingual-Bicultural Education and Director, Institute for Daisaku Ikeda Studies in Education, Director of Programs in Bilingual-Bicultural Education, World Language Education, and Value-Creating Education for Global Citizenship, College of Education, DePaul University | Chicago, Illinois Clothilde V. Hewlett, JD Commissioner of Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, State of California | San Francisco, California

Karen Lewis, PhD Sondheimer Professor of International Finance and Co-Director, Weiss Center for International Financial Research, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Luis Nieves Founder, Chairman Emeritus AUL Corp, Benefactor | Napa, California Isabel Nuñez, PhD, MPhil, JD Professor of Educational Studies, Dean of School of Education, Purdue University Fort Wayne | Fort Wayne, Indiana Gene Marie O’Connell, RN, MS Health Care Consultant, Associate Clinical Professor, University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing | Corte Madera, California Adin Strauss General Director, Soka Gakkai International-USA | Santa Monica, California Yoshiki Tanigawa Benefactor, Soka Gakkai | Tokyo, Japan Gregg S. Wolpert Co-president, The Stahl Organization | New York, New York Edward M. Feasel, PhD President, Soka University of America (ex-officio member) | Aliso Viejo, California

SUA LEADERSHIP COUNCIL Edward M. Feasel, PhD President Chief Academic Officer Professor of Economics

M. Robert Hamersley, PhD Dean of Faculty Professor of Environmental Biogeochemistry

Archibald E. Asawa Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Chief Financial Officer Chief Investment Officer

Hyon J. Moon, EdD Dean of Students Title IX and Section 504 Deputy Coordinator for Students

Katherine M. King, PHR Executive Vice President of University Community Chief Human Resources Officer Title IX and Section 504 Coordinator for Faculty, Staff and Others Michael Weiner, PhD Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Professor of East Asian History & International Studies Bryan E. Penprase, PhD Vice President for Sponsored Research and External Academic Relations Professor of Physics and Astronomy Tomoko Takahashi, PhD, EdD, LHD Vice President for Institutional Research and Assessment Dean of the Graduate School Professor of Linguistics and Education David Welch, JD Vice President University Counsel

Michelle Hobby-Mears, MBA Associate Dean of Students Director of Student Activities Andrew Woolsey, EdD Dean of Enrollment Services Martin Beck, MA Executive Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications