Kid Koala: Nufonia Must Fall at the McGuire Theater, Minneapolis (02 April 2016)

When I first bought the graphic novel/soundtrack of Kid Koala’s Nufonia Must Fall in 2003 (see photo), I never imagined it as a live puppet show.

 

 

Having just experienced the wonderful show at the sold-out McGuire Theater (at the Walker Art Center) on Saturday night, this was always what Eric San (Kid Koala) had always envisioned his story to be seen and heard. The graphic novel was, perhaps, just the storyboard to the actual live film we just saw at the Walker Art Center.

 

The Nufonia Must Fall show is part of the Walker Art Center and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music series (now in the middle of its fourth season), with the idea of providing these incredible shows in very unique presentation formats.

 

Before Nufonia Must Fall started, Koala warmed up the crowd by doing what he does best: scratching two records to what he called “Canadian Bingo”. Unfortunately, the Bingo game was cut short when, after five images were displayed, we had at least three winners! So ended the world’s fastest Bingo game (under a minute).

 

As for Nufonia Must Fall, this is simply one of the most magical and adorable show you’ll ever see. Everything you see on the giant screen, directed by K.K. Barrett (with only a few pre-recorded footage) was created live for our show. This included the puppetry, special effects, lighting, and, of course, the live orchestra soundtrack. You can’t help but sometime glancing down at the puppeteers and spoiling yourself as you see how it’s done or by the nature of the layout and characters, what is coming up next.

 

 

What made our shows special is that the art directors and designers made some special additions to their sets like adding very specific Minneapolis things: the Target flag, the Surly Brewing Co. sign, the Purple Rain movie, the Pizza Lucé reference, etc. Every time the audience saw one of these Easter eggs, they laughed and cheered. Clearly, each Nufonia Must Fall show must be unique to the cities they perform in.

 

The whole story never felt long or dragged on, and before you knew it, the camera panned over the “The End” sign over the airport landing strip. A thunderous standing ovation broke out and continued well over the credits and after the performers took their bows.

 

After the show, the audience was invited to come take a closer look at the puppets and sets. They slowly lined up and generally really curious about the magical production.

 

Of course, with the much-needed room on stage for the 10 (or more) mini-sets and filming rigs, these Nufonia Must Fall shows strictly limited to certain type of venues. If they are playing in your area, make the effort to check out the show, it’ll be worth it.