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.