Nestled amongst the seemingly endless parking lots surrounding the Hicksville train station is a colorful, magical place—The Long Island Puppet Theater—that seeks to keeps the wonders and innocence of childhood alive in a way that no modern digital device could ever hope to achieve.
The theater, located at 10 Heitz Place, recently held a grand reopening celebration on July 29—replete with the support of friends, family, and local civic and political leaders—to signify a rebirth of sorts; after nearly closing down due to the retirement of the previous owners, Anthony Labriola—himself a long-time employee of the Theater—stepped up to carry on their legacy and deliver the wonder of puppetry to a new generation of kids.
(Photos by Chris Boyle
“What we like to do here at the Long Island Puppet Theater is provide people escape from reality…it harkens back to the traditional styles of marionette puppetry, hand puppetry, and even some of the hand-and-rod puppets that kids today are familiar with through The Muppets and Sesame Street,” he said. “We perform a lot of classic fairy tales, such as Hans Christian Andersen’s stuff and The Brothers Grimm, but with a little bit of a modern twist. Right now we’re running Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and we just finished our run of The Little Mermaid.”
Labriola, a Hicksville local who lives right down the street, said that he felt it was his responsibility to take over and preserve the establishment where he himself had become enraptured by puppetry as a child many years ago.
“I came in and saw my first puppet show here at seven years old, and I fell in love with this place—and with puppetry—right away…I knew that this was what I wanted to do, so the minute I turned 13, I grabbed my working papers and I ran over here and begged them for a job,” he said. “When the previous owners were ready to retire, they reached out to me and asked if I was interested in picking up where they had left off…it was either that, or seeing this place closed down, so I had to get involved. There’s really a lot here I’d like to uphold it’s a one-of-a-kind establishment, and it’s not something that you see very often.”
The lobby of the Puppet Theater is striking, evoking a lush, old-time carnival feel with numerous decorations and a grand sense of pageantry. In addition, it boasts a substantial and interactive Museum of Puppets, featuring varied examples of the art form from around the world; many of these puppets were contributed from Labriola’s own collection after the previous incarnation of the museum was partially damaged in a fire, he said.
“The typical experience that people have when they come here for a show is, first we’ll have a tour of our puppets from around the world,” he said. “Well go over the history some of the puppets in our showcase, as well as teaching them about the different kinds of puppets there are. Then we’ll allow them to interact with three or four different kinds of puppets, just so they can see how they work.”
Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano assisted Labriola with the traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“We’re here to wish Anthony Labriola, the new owner, good luck…this is Long Island’s only permanent, brick-and-mortar puppet theater,” he said. “It has a significant amount of history, and it provides a significant amount of entertainment…it’s a wonderful tourism spot right here in Hicksville, and we want to encourage Anthony to continue improving it, and we wish him great success.”
County Legislator Rose Walker (R-Hicksville) was also on hand.
“I’ve lived in this area my entire life, and I’ve actually never been inside the Puppet Theater before today,” she said. “But to see the doors wide open this morning and to go inside and see how beautiful it looks, and the excitement and smiles on everyone’s faces…I can’t wait to come back with my for little grandchildren. And we will get the word out to the residents not just in Hicksville, but across Nassau County and all of Long Island…this is an amazing place to come for families to have a wonderful day together.”
For Labriola, taking on the mantle of theater is not something he takes lightly, and he hopes that keeping the whimsical art of puppetry alive will inspire the imaginations of youngsters in his audience, just as it did for him years ago.
“There was a time where puppetry really came across as a dying art, but in the last few years there’s been a real resurgence of it…you can see it in film and television, through the combination of animatronics and prosthetics, or just through the traditional marionettes and hand puppets that you still see today,” he said. “But what we like to do here it is to get people to understand the history and how far puppetry has come, as well as upholding the art form. One of the biggest things we’re doing is opening up the theater to outside performers as well, so puppeteers that other people may not really know that are in their area can come in here and showcase their work.”
The theatre is open Tuesday through Sunday—from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Visit www.lipuppet.com.
