The best way to find out what a performance and performer are really like is to hear or read what others say about what they have experienced. Our philosophy at McGee Productions is:
“How you act off stage is at least as important as how you act on stage.”

Below are comments our clients have sent us over the years about our work for them.

1. About Randel McGee & Groark
   
2. Regarding Hans Christian Andersen
3. “Book Reports”
   
4. Our Workshops and other Offerings

“The kids and parents are always so happy to see you…You are always wonderful whether playing Santa, Groark, or just telling stories. Thanks!”

Jennifer Riordan – Children’s Services for Kings Co. (CA) Library System

Randel is a master
of straddling that line between being laugh-out-loud funny and gently
respectful of the audience at the same time, with his material working
equally well for children and adults.

Michael Nelson,

Internationally renowned Puppeteer – February 2010

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Groark was a great hit with the kids and I had many adults come up to me later saying that they too were mesmerized by him (they were surprised, I was not).”
Tim Sutphin
Coordinator for the Colonial Williamsburg, VA Storytelling Festival

“I have never heard such incredible feedback as I did from your visit! Many parents told me Friday night that their children came home and told them all about the performances they saw.  The most impressive feedback was indirect…in that the middle school students stole away from the dance they were sponsoring to see you perform again downstairs…  I wanted to confirm how pleased we were with your visit…we would most certainly love to have you back at our school.”
Marybeth Krawczyk
Blessed Sacrament School, Burlington, NC

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I have been to the Asian Congress of Storytellers for 3 years in a row, and your workshop was one of my favourites. You really, really shared your talents with us participants, you did not hold back, and that is what struck me most about your session. You were so willing to demonstrate and show us the tricks-of-the-trade. I felt that your workshop was a mini, private performance for your participants, for we got to hear and see your puppeteering as well as your impersonation talents at work. Groark is such a lovable character! Everyone loves him! You must consider mini-Groark soft-toys for the kids (and adults!) to take home as souvenirs! Your song “Tell Me A Story” touched all our hearts, for there are some of us who remember our childhood days and our parents telling us stories; and there are others who are now living your song, we have little ones who tug at our skirts and ask for a story; but the best part of your song is that it reached out to the others who do not tell stories to their children (for whatever reason) and your song has planted a seed… Kamini Ramachandran Storyteller  Singapore

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Randel McGee is favorite performer at Treehouse Children’s Museum. Both children and adults are delighted, fascinated, and literally spellbound by Randel and his pet dragon Groark. Inevitably children and adults believe totally in the reality of Groark. And, as good a puppeteer and ventriloquist as Randel is, his storytelling as Hans Christian Anderson is equally entertaining as he uses words and scissors and paper to shape the story. The bonus with Randel is that he is a pleasure to work with – very flexible and accommodating, very professional,  and genuinely gentle and caring with the children.  We look forward every year to Randel’s return to Treehouse. Lynne Goodwin Director, Tree House Children’s Museum treehouse@relia.net Ogden, UT

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Randel McGee, a ventriloquist, puppeteer, storyteller, musician and master of who knows how many other arts, was brilliant. He was without doubt one of the best children’s performers I have ever seen. He and his buddy Groark had us all laughing and singing along. He did it all effortlessly and made it look so easy, the true sign of a master. I was amazed by his skill and talent. 

Joe Wos Storyteller/ Cartoonist/ Producer joewos@onceuponatoon.com Pittsburgh, PA

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Thank you for your first-rate storytelling program at Fairfax (CA) Library last week. You and Groark make a great team! Excellent selection of stories, too: just the right combo of silliness, spookiness and adventure; yet with subtle positive messages about friendship, kindness and looking beyond first impressions. Thanks for the library plugs, too.
Carolyn Potter
Fairfax (CA) Library

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“Thank you for coming to my school and talking about bullying. We think it is important to talk about it because a lot of people are getting bullied at our school. And your stories were funny, and they had great morals.”
Alex 5th gr. Mill Valley, CA

“Thank you so much for keeping me interested, because that’s very hard to do. I liked that you didn’t just do a boring lecture, but you made a boring lecture turn into a fun show. You did very good.”
Max Max Max Max  Wayoutthere, CA ;-J

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I really did fall in love with Groark – he made me laugh so much. It was wonderful to have such a child(like) energy & way of seeing the world in amongst all the stories.

Anna Jarrett, Australian Storyteller, Singapore Storytelling Festival 2009

“It was a wonderful program and I am most grateful to you for coming to the Museum.  Everybody was very enthusiastic…  I think your way of easing into each story was great.  It made it fun and exciting.  I think you do a wonderful job of telling the stories.”
Marianne Forssblad, Director
Nordic Heritage Museum Seattle, WA

“I have to let you know that your performance was thoroughly enjoyed. My students just loved your spontaneous, natural style and easy way you worked with the audience and with the paper cuttings.  They felt very connected to you and liked the way that you were not just “up their performing”, separate and unengaged.  One student said she really wanted to learn paper cutting after hearing you.  This was early in the quarter for the students and so they had little experience hearing storytellers at that point, so they were so pleased to be so well entertained and find that storytelling wasn’t something just for kids.  They loved the way that you would throw in comments for the adults right over the kids’ heads.”
Rosemary S. Vohs
Woodring College of Education,
Western Washington University

“I had the opportunity to attend your evening of storytelling as Hans Christian Andersen at Silverado a couple of weeks ago, and I was so impressed.  I brought my two youngest sons (8 and 10), and they didn’t want it to be over!  (Neither did I.)  How accomplished you are, and how well you mesmerize an audience!”

Linda Hunt, Las Vegas, NV

“Everyone really enjoyed your stories… as Hans Christian Andersen.  You were amazing, able to do the scissor-cut pictures with the stories…I’m still not sure how you do both, I would lose my train of thought!” Tim Sutphin
Coordinator for the Colonial Williamsburg, VA Storytelling Festival Last night, (my son) Kabir asked if ‘the man who was Hans Christian Andersen’ had gone back yet? He also said that the ’Princess and the Pea’ is usually a ‘very girly, princessy tale’, but when you told it, he loved it! (and this is from a 6 year old boy who is at that special phase where ‘all things male rule!’) You certainly made your mark with him, as well as other children; the little ones believing you truly were HCA, and the slightly older ones going home with a funny, less rigid version of the classic tale. Your paper-cuts were a hit, not just with the audience, but with us storytellers as well! Kamini Ramachandran Storyteller  Singapore

“Book Reports”

Hi Randel,

We had 50 people at our craft program last Saturday. I had quite a number of compliments on the crafts. Most of the parents commented on the fact that the lantern was easy for the kids to do, and it made a great looking item when finished. I definitely needed more than just the one copy of your book that the County bought for me; I copied the pattern for a couple of moms who wanted to make a whole bunch of the lanterns at home!

Several of the older kids enjoyed the creativity of the tangram puzzle (I had predicted that the younger kids would like it more—what do I know?) I took a lot of photos; two of them are on our Castro Valley blog at http://csvlib.wordpress.com/2009/01/26/gung-hay-fat-choy/. Thanks for the inspiration—looking forward to more books from you!

Denise Baker
Librarian II, Children’s Services
Alameda County Library, Castro Valley Branch
20055 Redwood Road
Castro Valley, CA 94546

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School Library Journal 10-08

“The crafts are attractive and easy to make with adult help, and they use common supplies like construction paper, tissue paper, markers, scissors, and glue. Reproducible patterns are included and must be enlarged on a copier.”

.–Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library

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http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/th_kwanzaa.html

The instructions for the crafts are kid-friendly, with numbered steps accompanied by color photographs. The materials–which are clearly set forth in a colored box on the first page of instructions–are common craft supplies such as glue, construction paper, and crayons. Most of the patterns for the projects are not full-size, although they do include the percentage for enlarging. A table of contents and an index help readers to easily find what they are looking for, and a short list of books and Internet addresses lead to more information on Kwanzaa. The projects are well-suited for home and classroom. These projects would work well in a unit on holidays or as a craft for storytime.

Reviewer: Heather Christensen (Children’s Literature).

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http://www.puppetbuilder.com/books/

This is a great series of paper craft books from a great author, fellow puppeteer and good friend, Randel McGee. Throughout the series, Randel shows you how to create many different kinds of puppets and other craft projects using paper and scissors. For example, in the Chinese New Year book, you’ll learn how to create a Chinese dragon puppet out of toilet-paper tubes. In the Halloween book, you’ll learn how to make a jumping-jack scarecrow and a three-dimensional haunted house. All the books come complete with step-by-step instructions and patterns. I highly recommend this series to parents and teachers.

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Our Workshops and Other Offerings