2014

“Stages of Enchantment: The Puppet Theaters of Blair Thomas & Company,” October 25, 2014-February 22, 2015

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Pictured: Blair Thomas performing Buster Keaton’s Stroll, by Federico García Lorca. Photograph by Kipling Swehla

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will present the grand opening of Stages of Enchantment: The Puppet Theaters of Blair Thomas & Company on Saturday, October 25 at 4 p.m. at the Ballard Institute in Storrs Center. The opening events will include two performances of Thomas’ celebrated show The Selfish Giant, at 1 and 3 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater; and be preceded on Wednesday, October 22 at 7:30 p.m. by Thomas’ talk at the Fall Puppet Forum Series entitled Liminal Worlds: Design in the Puppet Theater.

In this new exhibition, celebrated Chicago puppeteer, director, and designer Blair Thomas interprets the traditional puppet booth in stages featuring boldly practical designs and a unique material-based aesthetic. Incorporating poetry, folksong, religious texts, and theatrical scripts as sources, Thomas re-invents the puppet stage as a self-contained world for rod, shadow, and hand puppets, Bunraku-style dolls, and marionettes. The exhibition will be on display through February 22, 2015.

In conjunction with the opening celebration and as part of our first-ever Fall Puppet Performance Series, Thomas will perform The Selfish Giant on October 25 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Using original puppets and music, Thomas and singer/songwriter Michael Smith tell the story of this Oscar Wilde classic about a grumpy old giant and the children of his village who rejuvenate his garden. Seating will be limited. Tickets will be sold in advance through the Connecticut Repertory Theatre Box Office located in the lobby of the Nafe Katter Theatre at 820 Bolton Rd, Storrs, CT 06269. Tickets may be purchased in person at the box office, by calling (860) 486-2113, or online at: https://itkt.choicecrm.net/templates/UCRT/index.php?prod=bimp. Tickets may also be purchased at the Ballard Institute on October 25.

Prior to the exhibition opening, Blair Thomas will lead a presentation titled Liminal Worlds: Design in the Puppet Theater, on Wednesday, October 22, 7:30 p.m. as part of the Ballard Institute’s Fall Puppet Forum Series. Thomas will discuss his aesthetic process in the development of his puppets, stages, and stories in a session that will include a question-and-answer period. This event is free and open to the public.

“Opera and Giant Puppets: Amy Trompetter’s Barber of Seville,” June 14-October 12, 2014

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Our new exhibition, Opera and Giant Puppets: Amy Trompetter’s Barber of Seville, will open on June 14, 2014 at 4pm.  The opening celebration will include a free performance by Amy Trompetter’s Redwing Blackbird Theater at 5pm in the Ballard Institute Performance Space.

This spectacular display of giant, life-size, and miniature figures reveals the stunning potential of puppets and opera.  Puppeteer Amy Trompetter’s giant-puppet version of Rossini’s 19th-century comic opera The Barber of Seville was performed to great acclaim in New York City and Vienna from 1983 into the 21st century.  This exhibition reveals not only Trompetter’s vivid sculptural and performance style, but also her dynamic and unconventional approach to the classic opera, an interpretation that both supports and transgresses the original. Exhibition runs through October 12, 2014.

“Puppets Through the Lens: Photography by Richard Termine,” March 1-June 1, 2014

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On exhibit March 1-June 1, 2014

This photographic exhibition features the revelatory work of Richard Termine, performing arts photographer for the New York Times, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall and alumnus of UConn’s Puppet Arts Program.  In over 60 photographs taken over the past decade, Termine documents the amazing new energy of contemporary puppet performance, from giant spectacles on Broadway and in Las Vegas to avant-garde works of New York’s downtown scene, the set of Sesame Street, and exciting experiments from the Puppet Slam scene, the National Puppetry Conference, and other dynamic venues of the current puppet revival.

New Ballard Institute at Storrs Center to Open Saturday, March 1 in a Gala Celebration

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The new Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at Storrs Center will open its doors on Saturday, March 1 at 2 p.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Institute’s new address: 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs, Connecticut.  The festivities will celebrate three new exhibitions in the museum, and also the opening of the entire 1 Royce Circle complex, which includes the UConn Co-op Bookstore and Le Petit Café as well as the Ballard Institute.  The opening will also coincide with the production of the first theatrical performances in the Ballard Institute’s new performance space–Puppet Arts student Anna Fitzgerald’s master’s thesis project Reverse Cascade.  The opening ceremonies are free and open to the public.

The three new exhibitions featured in the Ballard Museum’s opening will focus on the puppetry of Frank Ballard, the photographic work of UConn Puppet Arts alumnus Richard Termine, and selections from the Ballard Institute’s vast collection of global puppet traditions.  These exhibitions will be on display through the end of May.

“The Rise and Fall of Timur the Lame” directed by Theodora Skipitares. Photograph by Richard Termine, copyright 2002.

Puppets through the Lens: Photography by Richard Termine features the revelatory work of Richard Termine, performing arts photographer for The New York Times, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall, and an alumnus of UConn’s Puppet Arts Program.  In over 60 photographs Termine documents the amazing new energy of contemporary puppet performance, from giant spectacles on Broadway and in Las Vegas to avant-garde works of New York’s downtown scene; the set of Sesame Street, and exciting experiments from the Puppet Slam scene, the National Puppetry Conference, and other dynamic venues of the current puppet revival.

 

Frank Ballard rod puppet. Photograph by Sarah Nolen, copyright 2013.

Spectacular Extravaganzas: The Rod Puppetry of Frank Ballard focuses on the innovative use of rod puppets by Frank Ballard over the course of his career at UConn.  Ballard’s use of a variety of rod puppet techniques in rich spectacles featured scores of characters and lavish sets.   This exhibition, curated by Puppet Arts MFA student Sarah Nolen features figures made by UConn students for such productions as The Mikado, H.M.S. Pinafore, Petrushka, The Golden Cockerel, and The Ring of the Nibelung, offering a new perspective on a dynamic aspect of Frank Ballard’s work.

 

 

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers marionettes by Rufus and Margo Rose. Photograph by Richard Termine, copyright 2012.

The World of Puppetry: From the Collections of the Ballard Institute showcases an array of different puppets carefully selected from over 2,600 puppets in the Ballard Institute collections to reflect the amazing richness of global puppet traditions and contemporary innovations in puppetry.  The exhibition’s array of handpuppets, marionettes, rod puppets, toy theaters, and shadow figures from around the world will include work by Rufus and Margo Rose, Charles Ludlam, Janie Geiser, Marjorie Batchelder McPharlin, Tony Sarg, Bil Baird, Frank Ballard, and puppets from Indonesia, Africa, Iran, Germany, England, Latin America, and France.