The line-up for November’s Puppets Up! Chautauqua Variety Show looks exactly as it should: diverse, predominantly local, energized (and energi-Zing) and, most important, full of fun.

We’ve got singers (a barbershop quartet, a small choir and a couple of soloists), highland dancers, stand-up comedy, a local poet reciting one of her favourite poems by a famous Canadian, and, not surprisingly, a couple of outstanding puppeteers. And 80 percent of the acts are local.

According to Chautauqua.com, “Chautauqua is a Haudenosaunee word with multiple meanings, including ‘a bag tied in the middle’ or ‘two moccasins tied together.’ The word describes the shape of Chautauqua Lake, located in southwest New York, which was the setting for the Chautauqua Institution, the first educational assembly in what became a significant movement at the turn of the 20^th century.”

The content for our Puppets Up! Chautauqua will all be PG-13, and well balanced. We have an equal number of female and male performers ranging in age from 19 to 69. Some came to us through our September auditions and others by invitation, and all of them are wonderfully talented.

Hosts-with-the-mosts Jon and Patti Lockhart will keep things moving along hilariously (with a little help from a few special latex guests), and audiences will even be treated to a few sponsor “jingles” in three-part harmony.

Shows will take place at 2pm and 7:30pm on Saturday, November 15, and tickets are only $25 plus fees from TicketsPlease.ca, (613-485-6434). See you at the show!