ELWOODETTES MARIONETTES, formed in December 1992 by Hugh and Elizabeth Elwood, has a repertoire of twenty shows designed for different occasions.  The company performs privately and publicly, and for the last 11 years has created the Vagabond Players Christmas show, which runs during the month of December at the Bernie Legge Theatre in New Westminster.  Coming in December, 2009 is THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT, a wonderful ghostly romp with a troupe of trick puppets to add to the fun.  The shows are recommended for school-aged children to adults, and contain music and satire for the grown-ups as well and fun and fantasy for the youngsters.

Elwoodettes shows use a variety of marionettes.  The collection includes English Pelhams, American Hazelles and Elwoodettes Marionettes, which are built by Hugh Elwood, the proprietor of the company.  Hugh has created many wonderful marionettes, including the puppets of real-life pets such as Max, the Ho Hum Husky; Miss Brandy; Christmas Bunny; the naughty cats, Caesar and Minx, the Manx; and the Heavenly George and the Angelic Bean.  The shows are written and directed by Elizabeth Elwood, who paints the sets, produces the lively soundtrack recordings, and performs as voice-over artist along with a team of regular vocalists drawn from the Vagabond Players.  All shows  are puppet musicals that feature original songs, along with folk songs, operetta or classical repertoire. 

For the first time in 2006, Elwoodettes went international and performed to great acclaim at the Puppetry Arts Institute in Kansas, Missouri.  However, a major setback occurred in 2008 when the company trailer, complete with both theatres and all the tech equipment and sets for the travelling shows, was stolen and never recovered.  The theft has resulted in a great deal of work to replace the sixteen years worth of hand-crafted labour that was lost, but the majority of shows are once more available. The Christmas Spirit will mark the 12th anniversary of the Vagabond’s Christmas shows, and the ongoing tradition of these productions earned the company the description, ‘New Westminster’s legendary Elwoodettes Marionettes’ from Peter Birnie of the Vancouver Sun.  The big theatre shows are now being revived, upgraded and digitally re-mastered, and non-theatre variety shows are being added to the repertoire so that the company can give excerpts from the big shows at festivals and multi-performance events.