[ bird caws ] im jamie colby, and today im in rolling meadows, illinois. Its a suburb of chicago. Some weather, huh . Im here to meet two brothers whose strange inheritance had some serious strings attached. My name is justin snyder. And in 2006, our friend and mentor bill fosser passed away, leaving my brother and me a sort of Chicago Institution his puppet opera. Hi, justin. Im jamie. Jamie, nice to meet you. Im told that you have something that i may never see again. Here, follow me. I will. Justin leads me behind the scenes of a most unusual opera house. All these boxes here contain costumes for various, different productions. Wow this is my kind of wardrobe. If only it came in my size. The costumes are so small because the players taking the stage arent the supersized tenors and sopranos you expect to see at the opera. Theyre 16inch puppets. The maestro behind this pintsize production, justins boss, the late bill fosser. Who was bill fosser . Bill fosser taught me everything i know about puppetry. He had a unique ability to recreate fullscale environments, but in a miniature scale. He was one of my best friends. Fosser, born in 1928, grows up in a workingclass neighborhood on chicagos west side. He described himself as a sickly child. He was stuck at home a lot and would experiment with household materials to try to kind of create his own puppets. In 1935, when bill is 7, his aunt takes him to his first opera, verdis il trovatore. Hes enchanted by it all the music, the costumes, and the stage design. He fell in love with the art form of opera, but he was always interested in in puppets and then, eventually, just combined the two. The boy builds a mini opera house with a velvet curtain and assembles his company of players. He told us that he used to offer performances to kids in the neighborhood for like a penny. Turns out, puppet opera is an actual thing in those days. Bill sees an article in the paper about a lavish restaurant in chicago thats adding a puppet opera to its bill of fare. The place is called kungsholm. Kungsholm was a swedish smorgasbord and a puppet theater all in one. Steve golden was six when he saw his first show at the kungsholm. That led to a lifelong career as a professional puppeteer, who also handles purchases and acquisitions for the northwest Puppet Center in seattle. So, steves childhood experience at the kungsholm left an impression. You came to the restaurant and you were given a complementary ticket to the puppet miniature grand opera. Was it an institution in chicago . Oh, was it ever . To go there was a highlight of a day. How fabulous. Opera stars and socialites flocked to see kungsholm puppets perform arias from operas such as madame butterfly or the barber of seville. So, 14yearold bill fosser takes his best handmade puppet and talks his way into a summer job at the theater. Soon, he, too, is hooked for life. He becomes an expert puppetmaker and patents a design for a puppet with more natural body movements than the ones used at the kungsholm. This is one of the original kungsholm puppets. The operator would be underneath and theres a series of rods and strings. Justins brother, shayne snyder, is the other heir in our story. These two here are made by bill fosser and these were actually two of bills favorite puppets. This is canio from pagliacci, and this is lakme from the opera lakme. So, it was bill who advanced this technique of the rings and the rods . Correct. He made many improvements to the design, like giving them a little bit of a joint here and then the walking. Can you make them walk . Mmhmm. Unbelievable. And you can get a lot of range of movement and motions just from lifting and turning the rod. Ingenious, but its tough to make a buck in puppets. So, bill only works off and on at the kungsholm, though he pays the bills with another skill he perfects there. Hes a soughtafter stage designer at fullscale chicago theaters. He was indeed a genius. He had the eye. Actor tony mockus performed on some of bills sets in the early days. Every now and then, youre lucky enough to work with people who have that kind of an ability and bill has that ability. Eventually, the kungsholm falls into disrepair, closes, and reopens as a steakhouse with no puppets. Bill opens his own puppet theater. Hes never married, has no kids, so its his baby. [ gasps ] oh, my he christens it opera in focus. He had the idea of, like, a camera lens in mind, so its like looking through the lens of camera at this weird, miniature world. Bill built this . He built all of this, yes, indeed. [ the pearl fishers plays ] bill sort of singlehandedly kept the art form alive. He didnt have a patron. I mean, if he were in europe, he would have been flooded with cash. He needs it. Bills first performances barely break even. Luckily, around the same time, hollywood comes calling. Word got around in california that if youre going to chicago, you get ahold of fosser. He designs the sets for home alone and curly sue and a couple of best picture winners, too. The sting, ordinary people. Great credits, but it all was just a way to fund his miniature opera. In bills heart, puppets were number one. Its what he lived for. In 1993, at 65, bill takes his dream retirement. He leaves the film biz and moves his puppet opera to the chicago suburb of rolling meadows. Curtains rise and fall, and after a few more years, bill realizes he needs more help and, though he doesnt say so at the time, an heir or two. He places a want ad in the newspaper. Its answered by 18yearold justin snyder. When i told him that i wanted to be a puppeteer, he kind of chuckled and he said, well, if youre gonna work here, youre gonna have to be an allpurpose evil henchman. What exactly does that mean . [ vocalizes ] natural puppeteer. Ill find out in act two, right after intermission. But first, our strange inheritance quiz question. The answer after the break. I am totally blind. And non24 can throw my days and nights out of sync, keeping me from the things i love to do. Talk to your doctor, and call 8442142424. Our 18 year old wase army in an accident. 98. When i call usaa it was that voice asking me, is your daughter ok . Thats where i felt relief. Were the rivera family, and we will be with usaa for life. [brother] any last words . [boy] karma, danny. Karma [vo] progress is seizing the moment. Your summer moment awaits you, now that the summer of audi sales event is here. Audi will cover your first months lease payment on select models during the summer of audi sales event. So, which star wars character did jim henson help create . Its b, yoda, who debuted in the 1980 film the Empire Strikes back. [ operatic singing ] former movie set designer bill fosser is spending his retirement just as he wants staging scenes from classic operas with 16inch puppets for captivated audiences in the chicago suburbs. Boy, he knew opera backwards and forwards. He knew when the tenor was going to take a breath. When the soprano would hit her high cs. You were just swept away. But bills in his 70s the old tickers not what it used to be, and he has no family to take over his labor of love. So, in the summer of 2000, he advertises for an apprentice. I was a senior in high school, and i was looking for a job that i wouldnt hate. Justins brother, shayne, is intrigued, too. They both interview with fosser. When i told him that i wanted to be a puppeteer, he kind of chuckled and he said, well, if youre gonna work here, youre gonna have to be an allpurpose evil henchman. Oh, my. So, right off the bat, it was like a crashcourse. Bill teaches them all he knows how to design and mold puppets out of polyester resin, how to operate the sound, special effects, and Everything Else it takes to run one of the most technically sophisticated puppet shows in the world. You think i could learn how to be a puppeteer . Well have you manipulating the puppets like a pro. Here under the stage, the chairs have been shaved down until the seats rest inches from the floor. All right, guys, what am i doing here . All right, so heres your shot at the big time. Shaynes gonna demonstrate here on his puppet. So, basically your left hand is gonna control the central mechanism of the puppets, which is front and back, and then there you go, perfect. Okay. All right, and then this little lever here is the sidetoside motion of the head. Shes turning her head. Wow. If you twist this wheel, youll see that her legs will start to walk. Okay. And there you go. There she goes. Then you can control the direction of the arm by how you twist it, so im gonna hand that one to you. Okay. And thats how you control the arm movements. [ vocalizes ] it is very complicated. Its a lot of different movements at the same time. Youre a natural puppeteer. Natural puppeteer. Justin and shayne become bill fossers natural puppeteers. Theyre hooked. He was like a hero to me. It was something that i aspired to be like. They skip college, remain under bills wings, and grow into a much bigger role in the old mans life. You feel like you might have been his surrogate sons . Definitely, and he told us that all the time, that he looked at us like we were the children that he never had. And the heirs he dearly wants to carry on his work. He just asked, what would you think about the idea of continuing this after im gone . And i was just like, sure, you know. That casual offer and acceptance put bill fossers mind at ease. For five more years, he throws his heart into this labor of love. Until it finally gives out. Bill fosser exits lifes stage at age 77. What was the impact of losing him . It was really hard. As good of a job as he did in preparing us for taking over the theater, you dont really know how unequipped you are until youre thrown into that position. The puppets, the stage, the costumes, the institution their strange inheritance turns out to be pretty valuable, too. Looks to me like bill might have invested a lot of his money in this. For sure. Do you know how much . Bill told me that he had invested over a Million Dollars into it. Its actually holy smokes yeah. Back in the 80s, the puppets were insured by lloyds of london for 6,000 each. How many were there . Back then, i believe bill had 32 opera in focus puppets. Thats significant. Yes. 192k significant. And steve golden, of the northwest Puppet Center, says they would go for a lot more now. At one point, bill had these appraised at about 6,000 each. About 6,000. Do you think that these have held their value today . I would say it certainly has held its value because if you just look at every part of the makeup of it, its worth every penny thats in there. Depending on which collector finds out about it, you could possibly get 10,000 for it. Youre trying to maintain what is a Chicago Institution, but you feel like you might be sitting on a gold mine . Ready for one more plot twist to bill fossers libretto . Its his final wish for the puppet opera. What did he tell you . After the break. Heres another quiz question for you. Fantastic mr. Fox . Rudolph the rednosed reindeer . Or the evil other mother from coraline . The answer when we return. Potsch you each drive a ford pickup, right . in unison russ, leland, gary yes. Gary i have a ford f150. Michael ive always been a ford guy. Potsch then i have a real treat for you today. Michael awesome. Potsch im going to show you a next generation pickup. Michael lets do this. Potsch this new truck now has a cornerstep built right into the bumper. Gary super cool. Potsch the bed is made of highstrength steel, which is less susceptible to punctures than aluminum. Jim aluminum is great for a lot of things, but maybe not the bed of a truck. Potsch and best of all, this new truck is actually gary all laughing oh my. Potsch the current chevy silverado. Gary im speechless. Gary this puts my ford truck to shame. James ill tell you, i might be a chevy guy now. laughing so. Its c, the evil other mother from the 2009 movie coraline. In 2006, chicago puppeteer bill fosser dies and leaves his puppet opera to his two pupils, shayne and justin snyder. The brothers want to keep it alive. They even hire their own apprentices. Meanwhile, local reporters arent helping. They keep reporting its dead. We had to struggle with the media referring to the puppet opera in past tense. All the articles that came out would say like, opera in focus was a puppet theater. Attendance at their tiny suburban theater hits an alltime low. Then, in 2011, a record rainfall floods the theater. Justins sure its curtains. That was probably the end. But you had insurance . No insurance . No insurance. We had looked into insuring them, but the problem is, the monthly insurance costs were so high that it was unaffordable to us. Luckily, the brothers had the forethought to stow their uninsured puppets high enough, and they stay dry. But the rest of the place is a mess. When the rains finally stopped, they brought in an industrial mold specialist who was basically like, yeah, we have to tear this place apart. No. Wait, it gets worse. Turns out, before he died, bill fosser made a highly unusual request to his heirs. What did he tell you . Well, originally, what he had said is that if the puppet theater were ever to close down, he wanted us to destroy everything. Destroy, like, gone . This . Everything, yeah. Why . He viewed it as the puppets are instruments, kind of like a violin being stuck in a display case somewhere and not performing its purpose. He found that idea unbearable. It would be. Over. It would be dismantled and somewhere in a dumpster. Will they need to do that . How much do you make doing this . Showtime thats next. Whats your strange inheritance story . Wed love to tell it. Send me an email or go to our website strangeinheritance. Com. Copd makes it hard to breathe. So to breathe better, i go with anoro. Go your own way copd tries to say, go this way. I say, ill go my own way with anoro. Go your own way oncedaily anoro contains two medicines called bronchodilators, that Work Together to significantly improve lung function all day and all night. Anoro is not for asthma. It contains a type of medicine that increases risk of death in people with asthma. The risk is unknown in copd. Anoro wont replace rescue inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than once a day. Tell your doctor if you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, glaucoma, prostate, bladder, or urinary problems. These may worsen with anoro. Call your doctor if you have worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain while taking anoro. Ask your doctor about anoro. Go your own way get your first prescription free at anoro. Com. Now back to strange inheritance. Heres where we left justin and shayne snyder, the heirs in this story. A flood in chicago closes opera in focus, which the brothers inherited from master puppeteer bill fosser. We were worried that we might not be able to come back from that just cause of the cost involved of rebuilding it all. They dont have insurance, but the building does. The landlord agrees the show must go on and pays for the renovation of their 65seat theater. We rebuilt it all from scratch. That was definitely a scary moment. But doesnt end their worries. The hiatus further depresses their bottom line. How much do you make doing this . Weve had productions that have brought in 8,000, maybe, but then we have really poor productions that have maybe brought in 400. You must be a pretty wealthy guy to be able to keep this up. Unfortunately, um, none of us are wealthy. Are you even breaking even here . Its definitely not something youre gonna become a millionaire doing. That apprentice ad they answered years ago led to a rewarding vocation, not a wellpaying one. Do you have another job . I carve stone for a living. My brother works at a toy factory. Do you see yourself being able to continue this financially . As long as there are people out here in the audience, well keep doing it. We welcome you, our guests of all ages, to this performance of william b. Fossers puppet production of opera in focus. Showtime [ applause ] as the lights dim and their newest production, puccinis turandot, begins, it strikes me that im not listening just to opera. Its the call of a siren that proved irresistible to our two young heirs, as it was to bill fosser before them. [ operatic singing ] let me ask you this, steve. Do you think that bill left these fine, young men, who were as devoted to him as he was to them, an inheritance thats a burden or a benefit . Burdens yield benefits. Puppeteer steve golden, youll recall, was seduced by these same sirens. He believes, somewhere, bill fosser is shouting encore i think bill would be as pleased as punch that this is happening. And no doubt grateful to the two young men he named as his heirs all those years ago. But i wonder about that request bill made, that they should destroy all these beautiful puppets if the opera ever closed. Is that a request they could ever honor . The brothers vow, succeed or fail, it will never happen. I feel like its a priceless art form. We could never actually destroy anything here. I think bill knew that these puppets to us, again, just like to him, theyre like family. [ singing continues ] [ applause ] bill fosser might not be with them, but justin and shayne want to make sure the art of puppet opera lives on. So, every year, in honor of the man they grew to love like a father, they perform bills favorite aria, cielo e mar, or, sky and sea from la gioconda. [ operatic singing ] the fact that bills puppet opera is still up and running, more than 60 years after he started it, that would be music to his ears. Im jamie colby. Thanks so much for watching strange inheritance. And remember you cant take it with you. [ singing continues ] they hound everyone in show biz. Look its Ingrid Bergman janet leigh. Theres natalie wood. And get their autograph. Audrey hepburn. Steve mcqueen. Ronald reagan. Ronald reagan . Is that Angelina Jolie . Thousands of them it really became an obsession and a drug. An obsession that fathered this mans strange inheritance. I basically got hundreds and hundreds of boxes. This is truly unbelievable. What was your reaction when you saw the magnitude of what he had . I was blown away. But does the heir really know what hes signing up for . 4,250. Now 4,500