Marionettes kick off YSU Pipino Performing Arts Series this week

Puppets take center stage this week at Ford Theater on the campus of Youngstown State University as the Cliffe College of Creative Arts and Communication kicks off the 2018-19 Donald P. Pipino Performing Arts Series.

The Huber Marionettes, founded by Phillip Huber, perform 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 31 in Ford Theater in Bliss Hall. The Marionettes have toured the world, including performances in France, Spain, Brazil, Portugal, Switzerland, Japan, Israel and Chile. Huber, like a classical concert violinist or pianist, works to master every note in the score and to perform with perfection. The show, Suspended Animation, is a series of vignettes selected from the Huber Marionettes characters cast, and includes dramatic lighting, elegant staging and carefully-timed choreography.

Season and individual tickets are available online at deyorpac.org, in person at the DeYor Performing Arts Center in downtown Youngstown or by calling 330-744-0264.

The Performing Arts Series, made possible by Christine and Edward Muransky, in honor of Christine’s father, runs through April 2019 and also includes performances by a world-renown clarinetist, an audio drama, a string quartet from Harlem, Baroque string band Acronym, two performances of the Stephen Sondheim musical “Into the Woods” and Hollywood musical film, jazz singer and pianist Kate Reid performing songs from The Great American Songbook.