Press and Articles Paradise Post, Tues. 15th 2005 The Reluctant Dragon Comes To Paradise When Paradise native Jason Ropp was 16, he had no idea the community service project he carried out for Boy Scouts would transform his longtime hobby into a career. In order to earn the rank of Eagle Scout, the home-schoolede student built a puppet theater for the Paradise Branch Library, where he had been putting on amateur shows for local children. After watching his presantation of "the Three Little Pigs" at the theater's inauguration, Chico based professional puppeteer Hilary Cornwell offered Ropp an apprenticeship with her company. Under her tutelage, Ropp learned to make more sophisticated puppets and panned his first script. "The Reluctant Dragon". The Cover Of The Portland Mercury Jan 17-23 2002. Cover Art. Jason Ropp with Stinge The Troll. Puppet Plays It Safe article in ON SITE Magazine After eight years as an ARCO site manager with safety record second to none, Michael Vezinaw found a void in safety training and filled it by creating a video starring a set of colorful puppets and his own employees. "I wanted to make it fun and memorable for them," he says. "Plodding through this HSE (Health, safety, and Environmental) manuals just wasn't working." With a shoestring budget, Vezinaw recruited fellow employee Jason Ropp, who had a small puppet theater business, and together they developed a script. Focusing on the eight planks of the safety policy, the puppets demonstrate the proper and improper ways to handle various situations related to safety in the retail environment. Employees Mildred Young, Michael Lagomarsino and Shar Kimball were featured in the 5-minute flick. To his surprise, Vesinaw's video has taken a life of it's own. "When my supervisor found out about it he wanted copies for the rest of the territory." says Vezinaw who purchased videotapes in bulk and copied them himself. Did I mention a shoestring budget? "Next thing I know, I'm on a plane to Los Angeles to receive a bonus check, the ARCO Presidential Award and an ARCO jacket at our safety meeting," says the humble producer. And best thing about it? It works. "Just a week ago we had a beer run (someone stealing beer) and a new cashier told me she remembered what to do from the video. After calling police with a good description, the beer runner was apprehended." Cheers! Ashley J. Vezinaw Puppeteer ignites kids' imaginations Jason Ropp worked with an east metro arts and culture council and Gresham Parks & Recreation to bring a tale to life. 09/25/03 BARBARA ADAMS GRESHAM -- With an air of expectancy, children gathered at Blue Lake Park on Wednesday afternoons, and waited for the shows to begin. Would they sing? Would they dance? Would they be transported to another time and place via the magic of imagination? This summer, they were treated to the premier of the children's fantasy "Thrump-O-Moto" by James Clavell, told by puppets and their young puppeteers. Working with the East Metro Arts and Culture Council and Gresham Parks & Recreation Division, puppeteer Jason Ropp brought to life the multi-theamed story of courage and overcoming life's obstacles. City of Gresham recreation coordinator Michele Brouse Peoples discovered Ropp during Arts Night in the Park in the summer of 2002 as he performed for Portland's puppet theater, Tears of Joy. On the lookout for new creative programs to offer to the community, she met with Ropp to discuss a puppetry program in Gresham. First project on the list, adapting her favorite children's book, "Thrump-O-Moto." "We sat down, and I gave him my ideas and hopes; he gave me his ideas and hopes, then he said he could do it and we checked in with each other regularly," Peoples said. "We made our own timeline and adapted as we went, and it all came together as theater does." Financed through an arts council grant and the William H. Hurt Foundation, Ropp was hired in December 2002. "Money and funding are the excuse for doing nothing and canceling programs a city and community should be responsible to provide," Peoples said. "Partnering, sharing, volunteering keeps us vibrant, creative and learning. It's also a lot of fun." The beginning of Ropp's puppetry life began eight years ago when he was 16. That was the year he stopped cutting his straight, silky blond hair, which now cascades down his back like Rapunzel's. It was the year he became a puppeteer's apprentice, performed in his first Shakespearean festival and started his company, Dragon Theater Puppets. It was also the year his mother, who was his home-school teacher, died from complications of diabetes. Ropp grew up in Paradise, Calif. To earn his Eagle rank in the Boy Scouts, he volunteered to work with a puppeteer who performed at libraries and birthday parties. He built a puppet booth for a library where he performed three versions of "The Three Little Pigs" with puppets he created. It didn't take long for word to spread that a talented young man was experimenting with puppetry before puppeteer Hilary Cornwell from nearby Chico asked Ropp whether he'd like to work as her apprentice. She taught him how to create puppets with latex, and helped him get work. "She helped me build the puppets and write my first script, which was 'The Reluctant Dragon,' " Ropp said. He performed "The Reluctant Dragon" and "The Princess and the Witch" at his first Shakespearean festival. It was the only time his mother saw him perform. "She actually went with me. She was always a backstage mom," Ropp said. "She made the puppet stuff part of my curriculum when I was starting out." "Your perfect actor" After apprenticing with Cornwell, he attended Butte College in Oroville, Calif., where he studied acting, illustrating, painting, sculpting and video. He continued performing at parties, schools and libraries. Three years ago, Ropp moved to Portland to work with Tears of Joy, a nationally recognized puppet theater that performs across the United States and abroad. He worked with artistic director Nancy Aldritch, who helped him improve his puppet manipulation and ways to express the characters. "A puppet can be your perfect actor," Ropp said. "They never argue with you. They don't mind their costumes being glued to their skin. They can look exactly like the character you had imagined." "Thrump-O-Moto" is the story of a tiny Japanese Wizard whose mis-directs magic sends him into the outback of Australia, where he befriends an 8-year-old named Patricia. Ropp created puppets with little more than sketches from the book with the help of four young apprentices, Callie and Reid Vandewiele, Elizabeth Tobey and Andrew Runge. Home-schooled siblings Reid, 15, and Callie Vandewiele, 16, of Eagle Creek, became involved with the puppetry program through their work with the Gresham Little Theater. Their mother, Sherie Vandewiele, said they have benefited from Ropp's expertise. "He can teach them things that I don't know how to do," she said. "They've done art, performance and business stuff. Jason is amazing, and it's really fun for them because he was home-schooled, too." The work began in January as they created the puppets and built the set. Ropp directed the show as his apprentices memorized lines and learned to manipulate their characters. A chain of training "It's a unique world," Ropp said. "Puppeteers encompass all facets of theater -- acting, set design, script writing, directing, illustrating, lighting and sound. We do everything that an entire cast would do." "It's been really, really fun learning how to do this stuff. Jason knows a lot. It's amazing some of the things he knows how to do with puppets," Callie said. Ropp said he would like to see more youths get involved in puppet theater and has devised a way to do that. "The people I trained have agreed to pass down their knowledge to at least two other people before leaving," he said. "Puppetry is an art form that needs more new talent." Peoples said she hopes Ropp will work with students at Hogan Cedars Elementary School through a school grant. Two more puppet shows are in creation: a spook house for Halloween and a comical tale of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Meanwhile, "Thrump-O-Moto" will be marketed as an educational program through schools and libraries. "It will be offered as an innovative, beautiful and entertaining piece of performing art," Peoples said.