Pix Smith - Dallas Puppet Theater

Pix Smith is director of the Dallas Puppet Theater and has been working in puppetry for over twenty years, barely as long as he has been alive, in his fantasy of still being a young performer. That fantasy is dashed each and every time he loads in a show. He began in an amusement park for Fred Cowan Puppets in 1980, and worked in Hot Springs, Arkansas, doing almost 50 shows a week throughout the summer. By that time, he had become a little familiar with marionettes. If he hadn’t, it would have been time to hang it all up. This wasn’t the culmination of a lifelong dream – it was a summer job that proves just how important it is to make good choices early in life.

From there, he worked with Fred until 1983, when he founded the Dallas Puppet Theater. With Artistic Director Michael Robinson, the Dallas Puppet Theater has created numerous puppets for some twenty of their own productions as well as productions throughout Texas and the US for theaters, films, commercials, symphonies, libraries and other puppet companies. Pix also traveled with the Bob Kramer Marionnettes (and M’El Reum – Hi M’El! ) to Russia (two days after the coup – what a trip!) Lithuania, and Prague, and has worked in Japan and San Jose for OnStage Entertainment in Las Vegas in production management. He also works with magicians in development and direction of material. He has just taken (last week!) the job of business director for Theater Arlington, one of the DFW area’s most artistically and financially successful semiprofessional theaters. His evil plan to replace all actors with puppets must go unspoken by necessity, but really, is there any question? (TA Board members, disregard this paragraph) No word on whether he plans to take up mime. Pix served on the Board of UNIMA-USA and (briefly - note: potential adjectival change pending) also thinks that third person is a little goofy if you are writing your own story, so he is now changing to first.