here is the event i think u read about , i googled it
artilce is from the "Kansas City Jewish Chronicle"
Did you know the Muppet, Miss Piggy, was Jewish? How about Yoda from the "Star Wars" films? It's true: Those famous TV and film characters were created by the Jewish puppeteer and film director Frank Oz, who is to visit the Kansas City this weekend. Miss Piggy is said to have been modeled in part on Frank Oz's mother, Francis Oznowicz.
Starting this weekend and continuing through the summer, the puppeteering legacy of Frank Oz's parents, the late Mike and Francis Oznowicz, will be celebrated by Kansas City's premiere puppet company, the Paul Mesner Puppets.
An exhibition of Oznowicz family puppets and memorabilia runs now through Sept. 30 at the Mesner Puppets' Midtown studio.
Martin Leon, assistant artistic director of the Paul Mesner Puppets, explained that he is the connection that brought the Oz exhibition to Kansas city.
"Mike is my godfather," Leon said. "I've known him my entire life. My parents are puppeteers in the (San Francisco) Bay area."
Leon said that Mike Oznowicz's actual first name is Isadore, and that Oznowicz , a native of Belgium, served as a member of the underground French Resistance to Nazi Germany during World War II.
After the war, the Oznowicz family relocated to the San Francisco area. In addition to being puppeteers, Francis Oznowicz worked as a haute couture seamstress, Leon said.
"Miss Piggy is based on Frank's mother, Francis," Leon said. "She was very glamorous ... and not controlling in a bad way," although Francis and Miss Piggy share some of the same mannerisms.
The Oznowiczes were active in the Puppeteers of America, as well as local guilds and museum boards, Leon said. In addition to the Holocaust, the Oznowiczes survived a forest fire and earthquakes that threatened their home in California, he said.
While both the Oznowiczes are now dead, they lived to see their son, Frank, become a famous puppeteer and film director.
In addition to his work with Muppets creator Jim Henson (Oz also created the Muppets Grover and Fozzie Bear), Frank Oz has directed such feature films as "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and "Little Shop of Horrors." Oz and Henson co-directed "The Dark Crystal." Director George Lucas hired Oz to create and voice the mystical midget, Yoda, in the 1980 film "The Empire Strikes Back," and in subsequent "Star Wars" films.
Oz will bring Miss Piggy with him to town this weekend, and she will interact with "the first lady" of the Paul Mesner Puppets, Georgette, at a fund-raising event set for this evening. Oz will have his other Muppets with him for a Saturday-morning presentation at Unity Temple on the Plaza.
Oz will be the special guest at a fundraising event set for 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 8, at the Paul Mesner Puppet Studio, 1006 E. Linwood Blvd. Proceeds will benefit the Paul Mesner Puppet Capital Reserve Fund. Oz will talk about his parents and introduce Miss Piggy to Georgette and Paul Mesner. Tickets are $100 and up. Call (816) 756-3500.
Frank Oz will also appear with his Muppet friends Miss Piggy, Grover, Fozzie and Animal at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 9, at Unity Temple on the Plaza, 47th and Jefferson streets. His one-hour presentation will include slides of his work over the years. Tickets range from $10-$20. To reserve a seat, call the Central Ticket Office, (816) 235-6222.
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