The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry will present its first-ever Summertime Saturday Puppet Shows, on Saturday afternoons from June 25 through July 23. The series features performances of original works by students from UConn’s world-famous Puppet Arts Program, in an exciting variety of puppet forms: marionettes, toy theater, and handpuppets.
The shows will all take place at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry on UConn’s Depot Campus, Saturdays at 3:30 p.m. (except for the June 25th performance, which begins at 4 p.m.) Admission is $3 for children, $5 for adults.
***In a special Ballard Institute arrangement with UConn’s Connecticut Repertory Theater, those purchasing tickets for the Saturday, June 25 productions of CRT’s production of Seussical the Musical (2 p.m. or 8 p.m.) at the Nafe Katter Theatre on UConn’s Main Campus will receive free admission to that day’s 4 p.m. Summertime Saturday Puppet Shows. Show your Seussical the Musical tickets at the door, and see our Summertime Saturday Puppet Show for free!***
Each Summertime Saturday Puppet Show performance will be preceded by guided tours of the Ballard Institute’s current exhibitions—Frank Ballard: An Odyssey of a Life in Puppetry and Frank Ballard: Roots and Branches. The performances will be hosted by puppeteer Joseph Therrien, who will also perform original songs and music, accompanied by Kali Therrien.
Here is the 2011 Summertime Saturday Puppet Show schedule:
— Saturday, June 25, 4 p.m.— Travis Lope and Leah Sylvain, The Enchanted Vanity Set. A beautiful maiden escapes from a tyrant king with help from an enchanted vanity set—an expertly crafted toy theater full of magical transformations! And: Travis Lope, Foolish Fortunes. A gypsy fortune-teller reveals the future to lucky members of the audience!
— Saturday, July 2, 3:30 p.m.—Thomas Getchell, excerpts from The Proleptic Voice: A Visual Poem. A marionette tour-de-force of vignettes revealing themes of Faith, Hope, and Charity in the poetry of one of America’s greatest poets, Emily Dickinson, inspired by her metaphor of life as a circus.
— Saturday, July 9, 3:30 p.m.—Ki Hong Kim, The Adventures of Doggy Poo. A stunning, vibrant, and humorous tabletop puppet version of a popular Korean children’s story about a lonely piece of poop who finds meaning and acceptance fertilizing a dandelion.
— Saturday, July 16, 3:30 p.m.—Nicole Hartigan, God Paints a Saint. A marvelous and magical toy theater evocation of 16th-century Mexico, telling the history of the first appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe—Mexico’s patron saint.
— Saturday, July 23, 3:30 p.m.—Thomas Getchell, excerpts from The Proleptic Voice: A Visual Poem. A marionette tour-de-force of vignettes revealing themes of Faith, Hope, and Charity in the poetry of one of America’s greatest poets, Emily Dickinson, inspired by her metaphor of life as a circus.