Kellie Haines, Ventriloquist
By annemarie on December 16, 2009 | Filed Under events, faces & places, guest bloggers
Brought to you courtesy of Amber Strocel.
On December 15 my 4-year-old daughter H and I had the chance to see local ventriloquist and children’s entertainer Kellie Haines in Journey to the North Pole. The show was performed at the Michael J. Fox Theatre in Burnaby, to a packed house of students from 5 local elementary schools. If you remember the electricity in the air from field trips you took in your youth, you know what the mood was in the theatre before the show.
Kellie got the show going with some high-energy music, asking the audience to yell if they wanted to see her. As you can imagine, the children were only to happy to comply. She performed some truly impressive high kicks, and got everyone dancing in their seats right away. Audience participation was an important part of the show, and she invited children up to help her throughout the performance.
Kellie has been practicing ventriloquism since she was 8 years old, and it shows. The highlight of the show for me was the banter between Kellie and her puppets, Magrau the bird and Kamilla the frog. Magrau, especially, has somewhat of a cheeky personality that really appealed to the children. When he attempted to eat some cupcakes as Kellie looked away the entire theatre was pointing and yelling. They really got into the performance and enjoyed it immensely.
Journey to the North Pole told the story of Santa being unable to fit all of the toys for all of the children in his sack. To help Santa, we all built an imaginary rocket ship and flew to the North Pole to help deliver toys. It emphasized co-operation, and the magic of imagination. Throughout the show Kellie moved across the stage and throughout the theatre, and kept up an incredible pace.
The show lasted approximately an hour, and I thought that was just the right length. It was non-stop and managed not to lag, but it wasn’t so short that it was unsatisfying. However, I would say that the story took a back seat to the puppets, who were really the stars of the show. Their jokes and lines and the way that Kellie manipulated and voiced them was undeniably the best part.
Of course, no children’s holiday show would be complete without a visit from Santa Claus, and Journey to the North Pole did not disappoint. The big guy himself made an appearance, bringing along some elves and handing out treats. The most impressive part was how orderly and patient hundreds of children managed to be in the presence of impending candy.
After the show H and I were invited backstage to meet Kellie, Magrau and Kamilla. Kamilla is a 4-year-old frog, and so my daughter of the same age was particularly drawn to her. H kept grabbing the puppets, looking for batteries. She just couldn’t understand how they were talking. I had explained ventriloquism to her, but she couldn’t conceive how Kellie could do such different voices and not move her mouth.
Since we went to see Kellie Haines perform, H has been putting on shows for me each evening. My kid is something of a ham, so she not only enjoyed Journey to the North Pole, she was inspired by it. Hhas incorporated some of the phrases and mannerisms that Kellie used into her routine. Since my child is probably the final authority on the quality of the show, I can say without reservation that it was really great, and I would love to see Kellie perform again.
Be sure to catch Kellie in the show A Space to Play at the Vancouver International Children’s Festival in May.
Ventriloquism is so neat. It sounds like a great show – it is so magical when the ventriloquist is really good – and it sounds like Kellie absolutely is.
Love Kellie’s work! She makes kids and adults alike smile! Talented puppeteer and performer! A gem in our community- if you haven’t seen her work, it’s worth finding your way to her next show!!
Kellie Haines is the best! Extremely talented performer.
Well you are just WONDERFUL!! Such a star!!
I have known Kellie since grade 1, in the tiny hamlet of Winger ON. She has honed and perfected her talent over the years and I am so proud of her! I always knew she was destined to do something very special in her life. She has a way of capturing the magic in everything she does. High energy doesn’t even begin to describe….turn up the volume, you won’t be disappointed! Kids and adults alike will be drawn to her. Go see her, time and time again…what a perfect way to spend the holidays!!!
Dear Kellie:
What more could a mother say.
Love you and keep doing what you are doing.
God sent you and he will be with you.
Good health and love.