Terry Fator was eleven years old and living in Dallas in 1976 when he found a library book on ventriloquism, bought a Willie Talk dummy from Sears, and collected $25 for a set at his church’s bicentennial picnic. What followed was thirty years of county fairs and birthday parties, a year and a half on the road as lead singer of Freedom Jam playing high school gymnasiums across America and Canada, corporate dates for General Motors and AT&T, opening-act slots for Reba McEntire and Garth Brooks — all before a turtle puppet named Winston performed a Roy Orbison impression on national television and changed the math on everything. Fator brings his 2025–2026 touring show, “Pure Imagination: Once Upon a Voice,” to the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio on Sunday, October 4.
About the Show
Fator won season two of America’s Got Talent in 2007 — the first ventriloquist to claim the title — and channeled the $1 million prize into a residency at the Las Vegas Hilton, then an eleven-year run at The Mirage Hotel & Casino that produced more than 3,500 Strip performances. He describes his own ascent without drama: “My overnight success took 30 years and didn’t occur until I was 42.”
“Pure Imagination: Once Upon a Voice” is, in his words, “a totally different concept than my road shows in the past.” The 90-minute set runs without intermission through an ensemble of original puppet characters built across his career: Winston the Impersonating Turtle, who helped secure the AGT win on a Roy Orbison impression; Maynard Thompkins, a neurotic Elvis impersonator who lacks actual knowledge of Elvis’s songs; Walter T. Airdale, a country star married more than eight times; and a dozen or so others spanning rock, pop, Broadway, and Rat Pack territory. The show is designed as family entertainment, rated suitable for ages 8 and up. Fator is a Dallas native who has said Texans have “a real sense of community and genuine kindness,” and the San Antonio date brings him back to his home state.
Venue & Logistics
The Majestic Theatre is at 224 E. Houston St. in downtown San Antonio, near the River Walk and the Alamo. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. show.
Tickets
No ticket price was available from sources at the time of publication. Buy tickets