MURRAY RAINE PUPPETS

The show is 30 minutes in duration and designed to appeal to either an adult or family audience. In a non-stop, high energy cabaret style format, the performance utilises over 25 vibrant marionettes, glove and rod puppets. With an average height of one metre, each puppet is meticulously created by Murray and feature truly spectacular costumes fashioned by some of Australia's leading theatre costume designers.

Set to a kaleidoscope of music and sounds from the 60's to the new millennium, expect the unexpected with a cast of a dazzling puppet characters. There are the acrobatic clowns, koalas on the trapeze and a group of extravert monkeys in a crazy rock-n-roll band, and of course Murray's Australian Mo Award winning, hilarious caricatures of Tina Turner, Pavrotti, Madonna, Cher and the Royal Family to name just a few.

The Murray Raine Puppets are an unusual, humorous and compelling piece of entertainment which you will not easily forget.

MURRAY RAINE PUPPET CABARET SUMMARY
Australia's multi-award winning Murray Raine presents an unforgettable puppet extravaganza. Marionettes, glove and rod puppets in a non-stop puppet cabaret designed for shopping centres, festivals, schools, corporate events and cabaret venues.

MURRAY RAINE
Murray's initial interest in the art of puppetry began at the age of six after seeing a performance by the Marionette Theatre of Australia at his infants school. Following that, he began puppetry classes at Newcastle Young Peoples theatre where he earned the first and only scholarship in puppetry.

At the age of ten he joined Actors Equity (now Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance) becoming one of Australia's youngest working puppeteers.

Over the past decade he has toured extensively in Australia's major theatres in principal roles with the Marionette Theatre of Australia, Peter Oldham's Performing Puppet Company and more recently in the 10 million dollar stage spectacular Pan which was co- produced by The Jim Henson Company (famous for The Muppets).

Since leaving school, Murray has continually worked and toured professionally in theatre, film, shopping centres, theatre restaurants, clubs, radio, theatre-in-education and television commercials as well as directing and tutoring in puppetry. His skills as a puppet designer and builder have been used for television and stage. In 1988 he was chosen to study in Master classes with world renowned French puppeteer, Phillippe Genty.

His numerous television credits include Farscape, The Midday Show, Wonderworid, Ridgy Didge, Foxtel, The Morning Show, Sydney Weekender and The Andrew Denton Show. In 1987 he was commissioned by The Life Education Centre to present Harold G. Raffe for A TN 7's Cartoon Connection. For three years his successful characterisation proved popular throughout Australia.

Apart from the demands of school touring and holiday programs for children, Murray is highly sought after for his exhilarating adult puppet review featuring outrageous "send- ups" of Tina Turner, Elvis, Pavrotti and Madonna. In this capacity he regularly appears in clubs and cabaret rooms across Australia and Asia.

In 1996 Murray became the first puppeteer to win the prestigious Australian entertainment industry's Mo Award for best visual act. Murray won this award for a second time in 2000. He has twice been nominated for best speciality artist at the Australian Club Entertainment Awards.

Murray is continually updating his methods of presentation, now using a black art style of theatre where the audience can actually see the puppeteer at work. This non-stop thirty minute presentation includes over tw