Pinocchio’s Marionette Theater

In August of this year Pinocchio’s Theater was relocated to this spot on the ground floor of the Altamonte Mall. To celebrate Halloween they hosted a costume party for the kids with performances of Hansel and Gretel throughout the day. Slowly people began to arrive in costumes. My favorite was a father son team where the son was dressed as the young Indiana Jones and the father was the elder Jones. The evil queen from Snow White was selling candied apples and there was a table with apple cider and free cookies. Before the theater opened there was a performance of “Mad Scientist Throws a Party”. In this show kids were asked to feel in a box to try and guess what the mad scientist had created. When asked the kids always jumped up excited to volunteer.

The Theater is located right next to a kids play area in the mall and there was constant screaming and shouting as I worked. It took nerves of steel to focus and not get distracted. A woman walked up to me and asked me if I had seem her child. She went into the Theater lobby and started asking others if they had seen a boy. When she came out again I could see the pure fear in her eyes. She began shouting his name frantically. Sean Keohane the theater owner immediately took charge and went to find Mall security. By the time the officers came back the distraught mother had disappeared in her search for her son. Maybe 15 minutes later she came back with her son in her arms. She put her son down and thanked the puppeteers who had offered to help. As she was thanking everyone her son darted off after something that caught his eye. Her reflexes were quicker this time and she caught up with him before he got to far.