The Magic Boat sails into Wicker Park this Sunday

Meet Captain Gown, the master of the Magic Boat

The magic and fun of puppets will float in to Wicker Park, 1425 N. Damen, via the Magic Boat Puppet Theatre on Sun. May 8 at 11 a.m. in the playground on the north side of the Field House. Tyler Tiggs and Captain Gown will assure the safe passage of the boat.

The Captain, brother Abbot Rabbit and brother Bear have been part of Tiggs' life since the year before he graduated from the Chicago School of the Art Institute. Abbot and Bear are members of a blue grass band who live in the cargo bay of the boat and are called the Ship Belly Boys. Two other  guys will join them Sunday, Starbuck the fish and Crow.

Tyler Tiggs between a fish and a crow

A product of Florida and his parents, of course, he went to school with the idea of doing a kids show. "Since the School lets you take what you want, I took courses like music, dance and puppetry," he explains. The show includes puppeteer Jake Moore, a college friend, and two dancers, Jamie Dougherty and Sadie Meyers. The dancers get the kids dancing so the whole show will go for at least a half hour.

Abbott and Bear

Since Sunday is Mothers Day, there will be some special surprises for all. This Sunday is the first in a series of eight shows, one every other Sunday morning in Wicker Park. While the "actors" are all male, Tiggs says some female puppeteers and therefore "actors" will be bringing in the feminine perspective soon.

Magic Boat Puppet Theatre company is one of several groups, like the Wicker Park Garden Club, a dog park group, a baseball group, faith based groups that who are part of the Wicker Park Advisory Board that has scheduled an entire summer of fun and activities, including movies, that will be delighting residents thru the fall.