In a world of change, dancing puppets still delight: The Bob Baker Marionette Theater near downtown L.A. remains a magical place even as demand for its offerings has dimmed.

Still, inside the theater, the same old music from decades gone by continues to play under the same chandeliers. Puppeteers dressed in black still step out toward the audience, lit by lights from the long-gone Philharmonic Auditorium.
People come in who first came as children. They bring their children or even their grandchildren. They find a world extraordinarily close to the one they remember, not markedly altered by time.
No such happy ending’s yet in view for the venerable theater, which is mortgaged to the hilt and in arrears on taxes.

Check out more photos from the puppet show.
Photos: Nathan Palat, 5, gets an up-close look as puppeteer Adrian Rose controls her marionette during a performance of “Halloween Hoop-de-Doo” at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater near downtown Los Angeles. Credit: Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times

In a world of change, dancing puppets still delight: The Bob Baker Marionette Theater near downtown L.A. remains a magical place even as demand for its offerings has dimmed.

Still, inside the theater, the same old music from decades gone by continues to play under the same chandeliers. Puppeteers dressed in black still step out toward the audience, lit by lights from the long-gone Philharmonic Auditorium.

People come in who first came as children. They bring their children or even their grandchildren. They find a world extraordinarily close to the one they remember, not markedly altered by time.

No such happy ending’s yet in view for the venerable theater, which is mortgaged to the hilt and in arrears on taxes.

Check out more photos from the puppet show.

Photos: Nathan Palat, 5, gets an up-close look as puppeteer Adrian Rose controls her marionette during a performance of “Halloween Hoop-de-Doo” at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater near downtown Los Angeles. Credit: Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times

  1. ecemkeskin1998 reblogged this from latimes
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    I saw Dead Man’s Bones here and it was such a great time. Highly recommend.
  3. shibatakedown reblogged this from latimes and added:
    I had my first grade birthday party here…
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