Equine Entertainment: War Horse at the Curran Theater

If you're a horse lover War Horse may be a Broadway show you would enjoy seeing. Because I've been obsessed with the beauty of horses since I was a kid, I went to see War Horse at the Curran Theater with my friends Keith and Loretta. They go to many shows in the Best of Broadway series. Me? I make it to the theater once every five years or so.

War Horse is playing at SF's Curran Theater until September 9, 2012

My sole reason to go was to see the horses.  I'd seen them on one of the morning news shows weeks ago and It was like Maker Faire meets Broadway. Have you already seen them? The metal and fabric, life size horse puppets are the stars of the show. They were so amazing. They are the most imaginative puppets I've ever seen in person. As the show went on it was possible to suspend myself to a place where I started believing they were real horses. It was the ears. Their ears brought a level of "life" to them that I wouldn't have thought possible.

This video shows how lifelike the horses, Joey and Topthorn, can be.

Each horse puppet takes three puppeteers to maneuver them into grazing, walking, trotting and galloping. Actors even ride astride them!

The storyline is about a young man named Albert Narracot and his horse who are torn apart only to face many obstacles in Albert's quest to be reunited with his beloved Joey. I won't tell you if the ending is happy or sad because I don't want to spoil it for you if you're planning on seeing the Broadway show or movie.

I will tell you there was a surprising amount of humor for a war themed movie. I did enjoy it a lot and would love to see the horses, up close and personal, at a future Maker Faire event in San Mateo. They would be the stars of the Faire.