Paul The Dog Promises To Steal Stage In Goodspeed’s ‘Darling Grenadine’

“I think I’m typecast,” says Phillip Huber.

Fourteen years ago he was asked to supply a puppet dog for a new musical called “Road to Hollywood” at Goodspeed Musicals’ Norma Terris Theatre. The theater called again this year to ask Hubert to design a dog for another new musical, “Darling Grenadine.”

“Darling Grenadine,” with book, music and lyrics all by Daniel Zaitchik, is at the Goodspeed’s Norma Terris Theater Aug. 18 through Sept. 17. The world-premiere production is directed by Kristen Hanggi (Broadway’s “Rock of Ages”).

For “Road to Hollywood,” Huber — an internationally renowned puppeteer whose calling cards are his touring show “Suspended Animation” and the film “Being John Malkovich,” which showcased his remarkable marionettes — had used a puppet dog he’d already made on his own.

For “Darling Grenadine” he started from scratch to create a labrador named Paul. Huber will be onstage in the musical, manipulating the puppet.

“Marionettes are the most difficult type of puppet to operate. They need to be specific to the person who is operating them. A puppeteer has to design and build his own puppets.”

Besides, he says, “performing is probably my favorite part of the process. Every time I build a puppet it’s like playing a new musical instrument.”

Paul the dog is the devoted companion of the show’s hero Harry, a jingle writer played Bryan Fenkart. Strangely, there is another character named Paul in the musical —Harry’s brother.

“The dog is important to the show,” says Huber. “His relationship with Harry is really important. He’s like his best friend. The things that happen to hm influence what happens later in the show.”

He calls Zaitchik’s script and score “extremely modern and very contemporary in its presentation. Even though it has old-fashioned qualities, it moves you with its originality.”

Goodspeed has described “Darling Grenadine” as a modern musical that “explores the friction between romance and reality, bitter and sweet, high and low.” In an essay in Goodspeed’s “Curtain!”, Zaitchik says the show “nods to the starry-eyed movie musicals of yesteryear” and that the goal he set for himself was to write “a stylized and playful romance that didn’t sacrifice substance.”

“I happened to be in Germany when they contacted me,” Huber says. “I talked with Kristen and Daniel and decided that I really wanted to do this. I started the design work while I was still in Germany. It takes 400 hours to create a marionette.”

Huber’s puppets are known for their exquisite detail and numerous moving parts: “I like a lot of detail going on,” he says. “I want everything that can happen to happen.”

Huber describes Paul the dog as a “lifesize labrador retriever, with long gangly legs. It’s stylized, but absolutely real. The actors treat him just like they would a dog.”

Huber’s base of operations is in Tennessee, but he has visited Connecticut regularly over the years to teach and perform at the National Puppetry Conference every June at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford.

“Six students is my limit” in his O’Neill master classes, he says. “It can be very intense.” He calls puppetry “one of the oldest theatrical arts. In some countries, there were puppets onstage before there were actors.”

In his long career, Huber and his puppets have appeared on talk shows, commercials, TV specials and films, and toured internationally. He’s worked with the Muppets (in “John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together”) and with Tommy Tune (in the ill-fated 1995 Broadway-bound musical “Busker Alley,” which closed on the road when Tune broke his foot). He’s been a part of concert shows with Ellen DeGeneres, Donald O’Connor, Shirley Jones and The Mills Brothers, and has performed on 10 different cruise lines.

“There are very few projects that I turn down. I like to try different things. I like to be challenged. Frequently I’m asked to do things that are impossible to do.”

DARLING GRENADINE — book, music and lyrics by Daniel Zaitchik, directed by Kristen Hanggi — plays Aug. 18 through Sept. 17 at Goodspeed Musicals’ Norma Terris Theatre, 33 N. Main St., Chester. Performances are Sunday at 2 and 6:30 p.m.; Wednesday at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.; Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; Friday at 8 p.m.; and Saturday at 3 and 8 p.m. Tickets are $54 to $59. 860-873-8668, goodspeed.org.