The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host its Fall Puppet Performance Series on four Saturdays from September to December 2017, featuring outstanding works for puppet theater by professional puppeteers from across the Northeast and beyond. Each show will be performed twice, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. All performances will take place at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Storrs Center. Productions and dates include:

September 23: The Case of the Missing Kitten by WonderSpark Puppets—When a cute kitten goes missing, only one detective is clever enough, brave enough, and smart enough to solve the case—Mystery Max! Join Max on a wild adventure to find Nancy’s missing kitten. Along the way, meet crazy characters, make new friends, sing songs and find clues in this classic whodunit by this New York-based company, which includes Chad Williams, UConn Puppet Arts alumna Lindsey “Z” Briggs, and Jenny Hann. Recommended for children 3+.
 

October 14: The Perils of Mr. Punch by Modern Times Theater—The Perils of Mr. Punch follows the troubles and travails of puppetry’s favorite loudmouth, Mr. Punch, as performed by Vermont puppeteers Rose Friedman and Justin Lander. The performance includes a two-person orchestra, classic jokes and gags, and audience participation in this delightful revival of the classic puppet trickster. The show is appropriate for children of all ages.

 

November 4: Sleeping Beauty by Tanglewood Marionettes—In this dazzling retelling of the beloved fairy tale, King Felix’s court is thrown into turmoil when the Wicked Witch bestows a curse on the newborn Princess Aurora. Come see if the curse will come true as this famed Massachusetts company performs with beautifully handcrafted marionettes brought to life by master puppeteer Peter Schaefer. Recommended for ages 4+.

 

December 2: Santa Got Fired and Other Silly Stories by Nappy’s Puppets—Celebrated Connecticut puppeteer (and UConn Puppet Arts alumnus) Jim “Nappy” Napolitano will tell the tale of how Santa got his job as well as other fun and silly shadow puppet stories. Santa Got Fired will entertain, inspire and educate the audience on the range and scope of puppetry as an art form. The show is 45 minutes long and is recommended for ages 3+.

 

Ticket Prices: Adults: $12; Members/Seniors $10; Students: $8; Kids: $6 (12 years and under).

Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, by phone at 860-486-8580, or online at bimp.ticketleap.com. A surcharge will be added to any purchases made online. Tickets may also be purchased at the Ballard Institute on the day of performance starting at 10 a.m. There will be open seating and no reservations. For more information about these performances, call 860-486-8580.

All sales are final — there are no refunds

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will once again offer fall community puppet-building workshops with acclaimed Boston puppeteer Sara Peattie, to design and build over-life-size puppets of army ants and their associated species (“guests”) for the Celebrate Mansfield Parade and a special Army Ant Pageant with the Hartford Hot Several Brass Band in Storrs, Connecticut. These free workshops will take place Saturday and Sunday, September 9 and 10 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day at the Ballard Institute located at 1 Royce Circle in Storrs Center. Workshop participants will be invited to parade with the Army Ant puppets as part of the Celebrate Mansfield Parade on Sunday, September 17 at noon (line-up begins at 10:30 a.m. at Farrell Field near the Post Office), and then perform in the Ant Migration Pageant, an open-air community spectacle directed by Sara Peattie that will use the puppets and music by the Hartford Hot Several to tell the exciting story of army ants and their “guests.” The Parade is a part of the 14th Annual Celebrate Mansfield Festival.

This year’s workshop theme is part of AntU, an endeavor at UConn designed to involve a variety of academic disciplines to engage a broad audience in the wonders of the complex biological systems of army ants and their hundreds of associated species (“guests”). It is an idea borne out of an award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Collections in Support of Biological Research program to the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (EEB), in partnership with the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History (CSMNH), to preserve and curate the Carl W. and Marian E. Rettenmeyer Army Ant Guest Collection. This world-class collection of over two million army ants and their guests is the result of 50 years of careful, detailed fieldwork in Central and South America by the Rettenmeyers. To learn more about AntU, visit web.uconn.edu/mnh/antu.

Workshop leader Sara Peattie, whose work is on display at the Ballard Institute in Obstreperous Puppets: Puppeteers Cooperative until October 8, 2017, is known for her dramatic creations that have become a central feature of community parades and pageants across the United States. Long a mainstay of Boston First Night festivities and the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade in New York City, Sara Peattie’s work—through her Boston-based Puppeteers Cooperative company and Puppet Free Library—combines community participation; simple, cheap, and practical puppet-building techniques; and a brilliant design sense to allow community members of all ages to take part in the age-old pleasures of participatory puppet performance in public spaces.

No experience is necessary to participate in these free community puppet-building workshops with Sara Peattie. Participants can come for one or both days and are not required to stay for the entire time. Minors must be accompanied by an adult. To register for the workshop, contact the Ballard Institute at bimp@uconn.edu or 860.486.8580.

This community puppet project is sponsored by the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut and the Mansfield Downtown Partnership, Inc. For more information about the 14th Annual Celebrate Mansfield Festival, visit www.downtownstorrsfestival.org.

The Mansfield Downtown Partnership is an independent, non-profit organization comprised of the Town of Mansfield, the University of Connecticut, and individual business members and residents. The Partnership seeks to foster the continued development, management, and promotion of Storrs Center – a vibrant and economically successful community in the heart of Mansfield. For more information about the Partnership, visit https://www.mansfieldmdp.org/.

As part of its popular Summertime Saturday Puppet Show Series of new works by UConn Puppet Arts students and alumni for family audiences, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry will present The Superhero Within: Episode 2! by Puppet Arts MFA student Anatar Marmol-Gagné on Saturday, August 12 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater located at 1 Royce Circle, Storrs Center.

It’s summer break at Superhero Academy and Alex & Sage can’t wait for their summer adventures to begin. They quickly learn that being a superhero cadet is a full-time job when villains start to ruin their holiday. With the help of The Vigilantes, Alex & Sage will stop at nothing to get their summer back! Recommended for all ages.

Anatar Marmol-Gagné is originally from Caracas, Venezuela. She is an MFA candidate in the Puppet Arts Program at the University of Connecticut and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Creative Writing from Hunter College. Her strong background in art, dance, writing, fiber and fabrication all comes together seamlessly with her love for puppetry. As a puppeteer, Anatar has trained at the National Puppetry Conference at the O’Neill Theater Center, taught children’s puppet workshops, performed in puppet slams and festivals, and founded and curates the Pinned & Sewtured Puppet Slam in New Haven, CT. Anatar created the original episode of The Superhero Within as her Master of Fine Arts project in the UConn Puppet Arts Program.

Admission is $6 for children (12 years and under), $8 for adults.

Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, by calling 860-486-8580, or online at bimp.ticketleap.com. A surcharge will be added to any purchases made online. Tickets may also be purchased at the Ballard Institute on the day of performance starting at 10 a.m. There will be open seating, and no reservations. Visitors can park in the Storrs Center Garage located at 33 Royce Circle. Parking in the Storrs Center Garage is free for the first two hours and $1 per hour thereafter, with a daily maximum charge of $8. For more information about these performances, call 860-486-8580.