Roses Of Waterford: World Famous Puppeteers' Works In Annual Exhibit

WATERFORD, CT —In the 1970s, puppeteer Jim Henson spent time with Margo and Rufus Rose in Waterford. The couple, billed as "America’s Foremost Artists of the Marionette Theater," had quite the impact on the puppeteer.

Indeed, the Rufus Rose Marionettes likely had quite the impact nationally when ABC TV broadcast a Dec. 24, 1948 live marionette teleplay of Dickens' A Christmas Carol performed and directed by the Rose's and their puppets. But it was likely Howdy Doody, whose off camera operator was Rufus Rose, who introduced the world to the Rose's. Meanwhile, the Waterford couple was already very well known regionally.

According to the Ballard Institute and Museum at UConn, the Roses established their own puppet company in 1936 and "first gained public attention during the 1936 World Fair in Chicago," followed by the ABC TV broadcast and then, the "best-known Rose creation," ‘Howdy Doody’, who appeared on every American child's television screen in the 1950s." Margo Rose "designed and sculpted the characters" and Rufus operated ‘Howdy."

Why this is all relevant now is that the Waterford Historical Society's Art In Waterford: Past + Present + Future will be held at the Eugene O’Neill Memorial Theater Center over Memorial Day Weekend, May 26 to 29. And, featured in the White House at the O'Neill will be marionettes and puppets created by Rufus and Margo Rose. And, secondary school students’ artwork from Waterford Public Schools, The Williams School and Saint Bernard School will be in the Rufus and Margo Rose Theater Barn as well as the fifth annual juried exhibit for contemporary artists’ outstanding artwork.