PHOENIX — Phoenix has a bad habit of bulldozing its history. And the former Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located at Interstate 10 and 3rd Avenue in Phoenix was in danger.
It needed a savior. And it found one: A group of puppets.
Improbable things happen in Phoenix and that church's renovation is on that list. Two people -- and their puppet theatre -- were looking for a home. They found the church, a home and grew a 40-year legacy of one of the most successful puppet ventures in America.
Gwen Bonar remembers when her parents bought the Phoenix Second Ward Chapel. To a little girl, the soaring heights of its crumbling Spanish architecture must have seemed like a haunted castle. But to her parents, it was the perfect home for the Great Arizona Puppet Theater.
The former chapel now bursts at the seams with colorful characters. Elaborate displays and towering figures stand as monuments of the stories, performances, and memories that make the theater something special.
The Great Arizona Puppet Theater (GAPT) was founded in 1983 by husband and wife duo Nancy Smith and Ken Bonar. Ken Bonar passed away in 2020, but his family still oversees the theater. Smith is the CEO and artistic director, writing and directing most of their shows. Gwen Bonar is the theater's assistant artistic director and sculpts puppets like her late father.
The couple started their career as professional puppeteers in 1976 in Florida. Ken Bonar made the puppets, and Smith brought them to life on the stage. Eventually, the couple returned to Smith's hometown of Phoenix with their daughters, Gwen and Laura, in tow.
They started the GAPT as a touring company of puppets, but they were also looking after two daughters and two dogs, and their home was filling up fast.
"Originally Dad had just been making puppets in our house. And there were two kids and two adults and two dogs so... It was getting a little crowded," Gwen Bonar explained, showing off the theater's collection of her father's work.
"There were even puppets in the master bedroom," Smith added with a laugh. "Not on the bed, It wasn't weird like that."
She and Ken frequently slept in the living room.
In need of more space, they rented Fire Station 9 on 3rd Street and Indianola Avenue and renovated it into the Firehouse Puppet Theater. They performed in the garage, made puppets in the locker room, and moved Smith's office into the captain's office.
Smith and Ken drafted scores of new shows and before long their daughters were writing scripts and puppeteering shows as well. For years, the Firehouse Puppet Theater was the GAPT's home.
But GAPT lost the lease to the firehouse in 1993 and bounced between different locations for the next few years. That was when they found the Second Ward Chapel.
Breathing life into a historic site
The Phoenix Second Ward Chapel stands just off Interstate 10. Despite being the oldest standing Latter-day Saints chapel in Phoenix, it was almost torn down to make way for the highway.
The building was designed in 1929 by church architect Harold W. Burton. He was one of the most prolific architects of chapels, tabernacles, temples, and everything the church needed in the early 20th century. Burton's works still stand across the American Southwest.
But the Second Ward Chapel was almost razed for Phoenix's growth. In 1972, the building was sold to the Arizona Department of Transportation, and slated for demolition to expand I-10. The building was narrowly saved by being placed on the National Register of Historic Places later that same year. The path of the freeway was restricted, and the building was preserved...
Mostly.
With no use for the property, ADOT left the chapel largely unattended. When Smith and Ken purchased it in 1993, it was a mess.
"We would come in here and be talking about what do we do next, and like, chunks of the ceiling would fall to the floor as we were standing there!" Gwen Bonar said.
The floor had been torn out for firewood, the wiring had been ripped out, and the once-vibrant paint that decorated the interior crumbled on the walls. But somehow, the family knew it was the place for them.
"It was like a Christmas present. There was something special about the architecture. There was something weird and unique going on in there. And even though everything was torn up and kind of spooky, it was also just so gorgeous and had so much potential."
Ken Bonar spearheaded the reconstruction along with help from Phoenix Historic Preservation. Together, they preserved some of the original paint, saved the wooden beams overhead, and even rediscovered an original chandelier to replicate throughout the chapel.
It was a family effort. Everyone pitched in.
"Dad even hired my sister's boyfriend to come and help out. It was wheelbarrows and wheelbarrows of trash that was going out."
Smith recounted scrubbing away latex paint and varnish to get to the original designs.
Now, shows are held in the church's assembly hall, and the old chapel has been converted into a lobby where the new exhibit is displayed. Like passing on puppetry to their daughters, Smith and Ken turned the Second Ward Chapel into a gift to give to all of Phoenix.
What are they doing now?
Since its founding in 1983, the theater has grown beyond the borders of Arizona to collaborate with puppeteers across the country, and across the world. Today, it's the largest puppet theater in the American West, and it's open to the public five days a week alongside touring and streaming shows.
They work with organizations like Grand Canyon National Park, Desert Botanical Garden, Salt River Project, and groups around Phoenix to create educational and entertaining shows for children and families.
But it's not just for kids. GAPT helped to grow the adult Puppet Slam movement, now recognized by the Jim Henson Foundation. The theater also hosts puppeteers from around the world to practice their craft. They've won the UNIMA-USA Citation for Excellence in Puppetry, the Mayor's Environmental Award for Education, the Puppeteers of America Endowment Fund Award, and more.
Selection of puppets from the Great Arizona Puppet Theater
In July, the theater opened an exhibit celebrating its decades-long history. The exhibit features a collection of Ken's best work, highlights from shows performed over the years, and puppets made to perform safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. It's open now for the public to view, and GAPT will be commemorating its 40th anniversary in October with a celebratory gala.
You can find all of their upcoming shows, tour dates, and more at azpuppets.org or follow the Arizona Puppet Slam on Facebook.
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