Month: September 2019

“Milo the Magnificent” by Alex & Olmsted on 9/28 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

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As part of its 2019 Fall Puppet Performance Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut is pleased to present Milo the Magnificent by the Maryland-based company Alex & Olmsted on Sept. 28, 2019 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

Milo the Magnificent—the recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Grant—is a highly engaging puppet show about an aspiring magician. Using stunningly innovative puppetry, Milo presents a variety of magic tricks which don’t always go as planned. This show is 50 minutes long and recommended for all ages.

In a review for the New York Times, Laurel Graeber wrote, “Milo is a bit of a cardboard character, but you can’t blame him for that. He’s a puppet: specifically, a huge cutout fellow, whose arms, hands and feet belong to one of his creators, and whose changing facial expressions are recorded on flippable circular cards. The duo Alex & Olmsted—Alex Vernon and Sarah Olmsted Thomas—invented his world, which includes other puppets made of cleverly repurposed materials. Milo […] aspires to be an illusionist, and while his tricks and experiments rarely work out as planned, children will still find them magical.”

Alex & Olmsted (Alex Vernon and Sarah Olmsted Thomas) is an internationally-acclaimed puppet theater company. In recent years, they have performed at the Puppet Festival Chuncheon in South Korea, the Festival de Casteliers in Montréal, the Festival of Animated Objects in Calgary, and Symphony Space in New York City. In 2019, they will have their European premiere at the Festival of Wonder in Silkeborg, Denmark. Milo the Magnificent was awarded a 2017 Jim Henson Foundation Grant and a Greenbelt Community Foundation Grant. Alex & Olmsted are resident artists at the Baltimore Theatre Project. They are also proud company members of Happenstance Theater, with whom they have created 10 productions since 2012.

Alex & Olmsted will also perform their new show Homebodies on Friday, Sept. 27 at 8 p.m. at the Ballard Institute as the kickoff of a new series of puppet shows for adult and teen audiences. For more information or to buy tickets for this show, visit bimp.ticketleap.com.

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 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 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 or if you require an accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

“Building Puppeteers” Forum with Bart Roccoberton on 9/19 at 7 p.m.

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For its first installment of the 2019 Fall Puppet Forum Series, and in conjunction with the exhibit It’s Always Pandemonium: The Puppets of Bart Roccoberton, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host Building Puppeteers: How We Got Here and Where Are We Going with UConn Puppet Arts Program Director Bart. P. Roccoberton, Jr. on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. 

Join Professor Bart Roccoberton in a discussion about the past, present, and future of UConn’s unique international resource, the UConn Puppet Arts Program. Cosponsored by the UConn Puppet Arts Program, this forum takes place in conjunction with the Ballard Institute exhibit It’s Always Pandemonium: The Puppets of Bart Roccoberton, on display through Sept. 29, 2019. 

Bart. P. Roccoberton, Jr. is Director of the University of Connecticut’s Puppet Arts Program—the only one of its kind in the U.S.—which offers BFA, MA, and MFA degrees in puppetry. His professional projects include work in film, television and the stage, including Broadway. He serves the National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center as Director of Production, and is recognized internationally as an advocate for the puppet arts in the United States. 

Admission to this event is free (donations greatly appreciated!), and refreshments will be served. Come early, and experience our puppet exhibitions, as well as the video resources in our library nook. Forums will be broadcast via Facebook Live. For more information or if you require an accommodation to attend a forum, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860.486.8580 or bimp@uconn.edu. 

2019 Fall UConn Puppet Slam on 9/20 at 8 p.m.

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The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry and the UConn Puppet Arts Program will present the 2019 UConn Fall Puppet Slam on Friday, Sept. 20, 2019 at 8 p.m. in UConn’s von der Mehden Recital Hall located at 875 Coventry Rd, Storrs, Conn. 06269. The UConn Fall Puppet Slam will feature short works by professional puppeteers and performers from around New England, including Lilypad Puppet Theatre, Austin Costello, Anatar Marmol-Gagné, and Katayoun Amir-Aslani, as well as new works by Puppet Arts students and puppet animation films by students from UConn’s School of Fine Arts. 

The 2019 UConn Fall Puppet Slam will showcase the work of Lily Gershon and Matt Ocone of Lilypad Puppet Theatre, a company from Ithaca, NY who will perform The Robot’s Ballet, in which a robot learns to dance when a room full of toys is left for the night; and Mr. Blue and his Radio, in which the title character finds out more than he ever wanted to know as he’s listening to his radio. The show will feature live music from classically trained Matthew Ocone. UConn Puppet Arts alumnus Austin Costello will present a new music video by Danny Weinkauf (longtime bassist for They Might Be Giants) featuring puppets for Weinkauf’s song The Moon is Made of Cheese. UConn Puppet Arts alumnae Anatar Marmol-Gagné and Katayoun Amir-Aslani will present Katatar’s Traveling Circus, which features a two-woman traveling circus who perform over-the-top, absurd, and ridiculous acts with humanettes. They will also perform an excerpt from their production about Frida Kahlo, Calle Allende. The UConn Fall Puppet Slam will also feature new works by UConn graduate and undergraduate students studying puppetry and animation. Funding for the UConn Fall Puppet Slam is made possible in part by the Puppet Slam Network.

The UConn Fall Puppet Slam is free and open to the public; donations are greatly appreciated. Seating is limited and is on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. The event will take place in UConn’s von der Mehden Recital Hall located at 875 Coventry Rd, Storrs, Conn. For directions to the von der Mehden Recital Hall, visit vdm.uconn.edu. These performances are recommended for mature audiences. For more information about these performances or if you require an accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

“Homebodies” by Alex & Olmsted on 9/27 at 8 p.m.

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As part of its newly created Evening Puppet Show Series for adult and teen audiences, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut is pleased to present Homebodies by the Maryland-based company Alex & Olmsted on Sept. 27, 2019 at 8 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

Alex & Olmsted (creators of the Jim Henson Foundation Grant-awarded Milo the Magnificent) present Homebodies, a new show that explores the concepts of house and home. Centered on a 30-cubic-inch puzzle box that has trick doors and amenities, Alex & Olmsted combine physical comedy and puppetry to unlock the house of the imagination.​ This show is 70 minutes with no intermission. 

The Baltimore Independent Theater Review writes that “Alex Vernon and Sarah Olmsted Thomas are simply masters of their craft. Not only constructing this magical box (no small feat), but a night clerk hotel bellhop puppet that looks like he escaped from a Twilight Zone episode. Their attention to detail and improvisation is top-notch. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen two actors work with and off each other in such complete unison. It is as if they are one person divided into two.”

Alex & Olmsted (Alex Vernon and Sarah Olmsted Thomas) is an internationally-acclaimed puppet theater company. In recent years, they have performed at the Puppet Festival Chuncheon in South Korea, the Festival de Casteliers in Montréal, the Festival of Animated Objects in Calgary, and Symphony Space in New York City. In 2019, they will have their European premiere at the Festival of Wonder in Silkeborg, Denmark. Milo the Magnificent was awarded a 2017 Jim Henson Foundation Grant and a Greenbelt Community Foundation Grant. Alex & Olmsted are resident artists at the Baltimore Theatre Project. They are also proud company members of Happenstance Theater, with whom they have created 10 productions since 2012.

Ticket Prices: Adults: $12; Members/Seniors: $10; Students: $8.

Alex & Olmsted will also perform their show Milo the Magnificent on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Ballard Institute as part of our 2019 Fall Puppet Show Series. For more information or to buy tickets for this show, visit bimp.ticketleap.com. 

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 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 or if you require an accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.