Puppet Art Theater Co. started working with The California Department of Boating and Waterways (Cal Boating) in 1997 as script consultants and puppeteers for the AquaSMART water safety video series. Their partnership on the national award winning video series was such a success that Cal Boating wanted Puppet Art Theater Co. to develop a live version of the video to be toured to elementary schools, boat shows, safety fairs and water festivals. The team at Puppet Art Theater Co. needed to produce an entertaining show that effectively conveyed Cal Boating’s water safety messages. They came up with AquaSMART Live; an action packed touring show combining the existing puppet characters from the video with two new characters, Joe and Charlie, the AquaSMART Stunt Dummies. AquaSMART Live has been touring throughout California since 2000 and has been seen by over 150,000 children. The live tour received The National Boating Educational Advancement Award in 2003 and Puppet Art Theater Co. was honored with a National Water Safety Congress Award of Merit for their continuing work with Cal Boating.

For more information on the AquaSMART program, click here.