Grand Opening of “American Puppet Theater Today: The Photography of Richard Termine” on 1/31!

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Photo: Mirror Mirror by Alex Kahn and Sophia Michahelles of Processional Arts. Created for New York City’s 50th Annual Village Halloween Parade, Jeanne Fleming, Artistic and Producing Director. Photograph: © 2023 Richard Termine

 The Jim Henson Foundation and the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will American Puppet Theater Today: The Photography of Richard Termine as part of the 60th anniversary celebration of UConn’s Puppet Arts Program in 2025. The exhibition, including over 130 images and selected puppets featured in Termine’s photographs, including work by Torry Bend, Basil Twist, Dan Hurlin, Tarish Pipkins, Theodora Skipitares, Bread and Puppet Theater, Janie Geiser, Tom Lee, and Paul Zaloom. American Puppet Theater Today will be on display from Friday, Jan. 31 to Sunday, May 11 at the Ballard Institute.

Termine, an alumnus of the UConn Puppet Arts Program, has documented American puppet theater for over 30 years with a unique perspective that invites the viewer into the vivid world of puppetry. He is the lead performing arts photographer for The New York Times and has served as the in-house photographer for Sesame Street since 1988. His images have also appeared in the Washington Post, The Village Voice, Time, Newsweek, People, American Theatre, USA Today, Entertainment Design and Der Spiegel, and other publications.  

Termine’s performing arts photography includes a wide range of images capturing notable artists globally (Lincoln Center, London’s Globe Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, and Dublin Theatre Company, among others), in theater (The Phantom of the Opera, Little Shop of Horrors, Cirque du Soleil), dance (Alvin Ailey, Merce Cunningham, Moscow Festival Ballet), opera (Metropolitan Opera, Folkoperan of Stockholm), television (The Today Show, Blue’s Clues, Live at Lincoln Center, The CBS Evening News), classical music (Lincoln Center Festival, Salzburg Camerata, Mostly Mozart), and concerts and cabaret (Liza Minelli, Michael Feinstein, Ray Charles, Yo-Yo Ma, Tony Bennett, Yoko Ono, Kristin Chenoweth).  

“Richard brilliantly captures the vibrancy of the performances he photographs; even in static images, the puppets come to life,” said John Bell, a puppeteer, puppet historian and the director of the Ballard Institute.  “The photos and puppets in the exhibition illustrate the dynamic range of this expansive art form and honor the lively community of artists creating puppet theater, from established experts like Basil Twist and Julie Taymor to emerging artists.”   

Termine completed his MFA in Puppet Arts at UConn in 1978. He began his association with The Jim Henson Company in 1980 as a puppet designer and builder for a variety of Muppet productions.  While working on the set of Sesame Street, he began photographing behind the scenes, leading to a new career as a performing arts photographer. He has been the in-house photographer for Sesame Street since 1988 and has been on the board of The Jim Henson Foundation since 1987, currently serving as the Foundation’s vice president. 

The grand opening of American Puppet Theater Today: The Photography of Richard Termine on Friday, Jan. 31 will begin with refreshments served at 6 p.m. and an in-person exhibition tour at 6:30 p.m. by Richard Termine, with Cheryl Henson, the President of The Jim Henson Foundation; this will also be streamed on Ballard Institute’s Facebook Live channel (facebook.com/BallardInstitute/). All events will take place at the Ballard Institute, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. 

2024 Summertime Saturday Puppet Shows!

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The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut is excited to present its 2024 Summertime Saturday Puppet Show Series with free, family-friendly puppet shows on three consecutive Saturdays in July and August at 11 a.m. on Betsy Paterson Square in Downtown Storrs.

July 20: Who Took the Cookies from the Cookie Jar? by WonderSpark Puppets

The classic children’s song comes to life in this hilarious mystery show by New York City’s WonderSpark Puppets. Join detective Mystery Max as he searches for clues to find out whodunit. The audience will sing songs and call out to help Max find the missing cookies and solve the case.

 

July 27: Judy Saves the Day by Sarah Nolen

After being pushed around for over 400 years, the famous hand puppet heroine Judy has had enough! Cheer her on as she goes on a quest for respect, justice, and a well-deserved nap. This modern interpretation of the traditional “Punch and Judy” show by UConn Puppet Arts alumna Sarah Nolen is a hilarious, timely, hand-crafted farce that the whole family will enjoy!

 

August 3: I Love Tacos by Paper Heart Puppets

There is joy in the world, and it comes wrapped in a tortilla! Join White Nosed Coati and a cast of amazing Mexican wildlife in three original stories celebrating tacos and the place they were created. Each story in this show by master puppeteer Brad Shur is packed with exuberant humor, and colorful characters.

Reservations are not required. Chairs will not be provided, and audience members are encouraged to bring their own blankets and seating. Seating space will be first come, first served. In case of rain, the shows will take place in the Ballard Institute Theater at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

The Summertime Saturday Puppet Show Series is co-sponsored by the Mansfield Downtown Partnership and supported by a generous gift from Phillip Mairorana in memory of his wife Theresa Mairorana, and by UConn Gives donations by Ballard Institute supporters.

“Party Animals” by Sarah Nolen on 12/6

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As part of its 2025 Fall Puppet Performance Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut is pleased to welcome back UConn Puppet Arts alumna Sarah Nolen to perform Party Animals on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

Party Animals follows five furry friends as they navigate the biggest social hurdle of their young lives — throwing their first party! Meet a bunny with boundless energy, a sloth with social anxiety, a hedgehog wrestling with wrapping, and a skunk who’s trying to keep everything cool and under control. Through song, dance, and original rock ‘n’ roll music by Boston local Phil Berman (of Puppet Playtime and The Holiday Sing-Along), these little stars discover that music can be an exuberant and healthy way to express their inner selves. Learn more and purchase tickets: https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/bimp-0/party-animals.

Sarah Nolen is a puppeteer and filmmaker originally from Austin, Texas. As Puppet Showplace Theater’s Resident Artist, she performs regularly for youth and family audiences and teaches puppetry in camps, workshops, residencies, and evening adult classes. Sarah earned her BFA in film from Southern Methodist University, and an MFA from the UConn Puppet Arts Program.

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 the performance starting at 10 a.m. There will be open seating and no reservations. Visitors can park in the Downtown Storrs Garage located at 33 Royce Circle. 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.

The Fairy Circus by Tanglewood Marionettes on 11/22

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As part of its 2025 Fall Puppet Performance Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut is pleased to welcome Tanglewood Marionettes to perform The Fairy Circus on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

Featuring over twenty beautifully hand-crafted marionettes, The Fairy Circus is a showcase for turn-of-the-century-style trick puppetry. The puppets will dance, play instruments, juggle, contort, transform, and fly, all to the best-loved music of favorite composers! The Fairy Circus is geared primarily toward children from pre-kindergarten through Grade 2. The production is approximately 40 minutes in length and includes a puppetry demonstration prior to the show as well as a question-and-answer session following the performance. Learn more and purchase tickets: https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/bimp-0/a-fairy-circus.

­­­Founded in 1993, Tanglewood Marionettes is a nationally touring marionette theater based in New England. Large, beautifully handcrafted marionettes, colorful sets, and integrated lighting and sound create a fully immersive theatrical experience. They are the recipients of two UNIMA awards, puppetry’s highest honor, for their productions An Arabian Adventure and The Dragon King.

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 the performance starting at 10 a.m. There will be open seating and no reservations. Visitors can park in the Downtown Storrs Garage located at 33 Royce Circle. For more information about these performances or if you require accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

“Image, Magic, and Objects: The Art of Maureen McCabe” Forum on 12/3

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As part of its 2025 Fall Puppet Forum Series and in conjunction with the William Benton Museum of Art’s current exhibition Fate and Magic: The Art of Maureen McCabe, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut is pleased to host “Image, Magic, and Objects: The Art of Maureen McCabe” on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle, Storrs, CT.

In this Puppet Forum event McCabe and Ballard Institute Director John Bell will discuss connections between art, puppetry, and magic, especially as they appear in McCabe’s use of game boards, toy theater proscenia, tarot cards, dice, birds, ouija boards, and other uncanny objects. 

Maureen McCabe is a celebrated collage artist whose playful yet carefully composed assemblages weave imagery from ancient and current cultures, together with aspects of folklore, magic, myth, and the unexplained. In a career that spans six decades, this Connecticut-based artist has exhibited her work in museums in the United States and Mexico, and was the subject of a major retrospective at Washington’s Bellevue Arts Museum in 2006. In her assemblages and installations McCabe creates poetic images charged with humor and wit, inspired by the world around her and fascinated by its mysteries. Her current exhibition at the Benton—on display through December 14, 2025—presents rarely seen works from the artist’s studio and private collections alongside the objects that have inspired her.  

This forum will also be broadcast via Ballard Institute Facebook Live, and is co-sponsored by the William Benton Museum of Art.

Admission to this event is free (donations greatly appreciated!), and refreshments will be served. For more information or if you require accommodation to attend a forum, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860.486.8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

“A Cornucopia Cabaret!” by Emily Schubert on 11/8

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This cabaret-style puppet show for all ages features a little bit of everything, from crankies, to hand puppets, and  a show in a suitcase! Join us on this topsy-turvy journey through time and space to meet a rogue cabbage left on the farm, enter a secret laboratory with experiments gone wrong, meet some not-so-typical animal friends, and be transported to a mystical realm where a wise woman of old learns from nature and calls us to play our part! Learn more and purchase tickets: https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/cornucopia-cabaret

­Emily Schubert is a puppeteer, crankie maker, storyteller, and mixed media artist currently based in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. She has participated in puppet theater festivals and workshops in Europe, Indonesia, and the United States, including performing with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and at the National Puppetry Festival, National Puppet Slam, and New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival. Emily believes that everyone could use more puppet encounters and chances to stop and smell the flowers!

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 the 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. For more information about these performances or if you require accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

Grand Opening of Somos Uno: Mexican and Mexican American Puppetry on 11/15

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Don Chico con alas, a toy theater show by Alejandro Benitez, will be featured in Somos Uno: Mexican and Mexican American Puppetry, which will open on Nov. 15 at 4:30 p.m. Photo by Mauricio Martinez.

The Ballard Institute will present the grand opening of its new exhibition Somos Uno: Mexican and Mexican American Puppetry on Saturday, Nov. 15, with refreshments served at 4:30 p.m. a tour at 5 p.m., and a performance of Somos Uno: The Puppet Show at 6:30 p.m. The tour will also be streamed on Ballard Institute’s Facebook Live. All events will take place at the Ballard Institute, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

Somos Uno: Mexican and Mexican American Puppetry, curated by Ballard Institute Director John Bell and undergraduate Puppet Arts student Sol Ramirez,will showcase puppets, masks, toy theaters, calaveras and other performing objects from pre-Columbian times to the present, to understand the roots, hardships, and power of a culture uniting to thrive as one. The exhibition will feature historical work by the Rosete Aranda Company, three generations of the Cueto Family, Alebrije creator Pedro Linares, and California’s El Teatro Campesino, as well as work by Edwin Salas, Lormíga Titeres, Teatro del Gato, Alejandro Benítez, and other artists and puppeteers. Reservations are not required to attend the free exhibition tour.

The opening weekend will also include performances of Somos Uno: The Puppet Show by exhibition co-curator Sol Ramirez. Ramirez will utilize puppetry, shadows, music and dance to celebrate both Mexican and Latine culture as a whole. Performances will take place on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. The runtime is 40 minutes and recommended for 10+. Tickets are free but reservations are required. You can reserve tickets at: https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/bimp-0/somos-uno. This show is co-sponsored by

The museum will be closed through Nov. 14 while the new exhibition is installed. After the opening, the Ballard Institute will be open Wednesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. There is no set admission, but visitors are encouraged to pay as they wish. Learn more at bimp.uconn.edu.

Peter and the Wolf by Mark Blashford Marionettes on 10/25

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As part of its 2025 Fall Puppet Performance Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut is thrilled to welcome back UConn Puppet Arts alumnus Mark Blashford to perform Peter and the Wolf on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

Mark Blashford Marionettes presents an Appalachian adaptation of Peter and the Wolf, featuring hand-carved wooden puppets and a reclaimed barn-board set. While staying true to the original story and music created by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936, this classic tale familiarizes children with the instruments of the orchestra in a charming performance for the whole family.

Formerly based in Reykjavík, Iceland as an instructor in the online Academy of the Wooden Puppet, Mark Blashford now lives in rural Pennsylvania and teaches woodcarving in person. He performs around the world as Mark Blashford Marionettes and in Iceland as Flóki Brúðuleikhús. Blashford has trained across Europe as a professional puppeteer and received his MFA from the UConn Puppet Arts program in 2017. Learn more and purchase tickets here: ticketleap.events/tickets/bimp-0/peter-and-the-wolf.

­­­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 the 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. For more information about these performances or if you require accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

2025 UConn Fall Puppet Slam on 10/24

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[Caption: The 2025 UConn Fall Puppet Slam on 10/24 will feature UConn Puppet Arts alumni (left to right), Mark Blashford, Sarah Frechette (photo by Briana Jones), and Anatar M. Gagné, in addition to works by current Puppet Arts students.]

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry and the UConn Puppet Arts Program will present the 2025 UConn Fall Puppet Slam on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025 at 8 p.m. in UConn’s Nafe Katter Theatre, located at 820 Bolton Rd, Storrs, Conn. 06269. The UConn Fall Puppet Slam will feature experimental short works by professional puppeteers and performers, including UConn Puppet Arts alumni Mark Blashford, Sarah Frechette, and Anatar M. Gagné, as well as new works by UConn Puppet Arts students. Mansfield’s Waldron’s Studios 88 will return once more as the Puppet Slam house band.

In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the UConn Puppet Arts Program, the 2025 UConn Fall Puppet Slam will welcome back three alumni: Mark Blashford, Sarah Frechette, and Anatar Marmol Gagné. Mark Blashford will perform Home, where a string puppet paints, from his heart, the place he longs to be. In Out of the Darnkess, Sarah Frechette embeds deep emotion into every curve of her hand-carved figure and sorrowful silhouettes. Enhanced with heartfelt, hand-cut shadow projections, this piece becomes a moving portrait of sensitivity, grief and grace. Anatar M. Gagné’s (Pinned & Sewtured) Widow Bunny started as a photography documentation of her grieving process after she lost her husband unexpectedly last year. She is now transforming it into a puppet theatre production and will premiere an excerpt at the slam. The UConn Fall Puppet Slam also features new works by graduate and undergraduate students from the UConn Puppet Arts Program. Funding for the slam is made possible, in part, by the Puppet Slam Network. These performances are recommended for mature audiences.

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 Nafe Katter Theatre, located at 820 Bolton Rd, Storrs, Conn. 06269 (directions here). For more information about these performances or if you require accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.