As part of the 2024 Spring Puppet Show Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry is excited to welcome back Anna Sobel of Talking Hands Theatre of Western Massachusetts to perform Two Dinosaurs are Better than One on Saturday, March 23, 2024, at 11 a.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. The performance will replace The Gottabees performance, which was canceled due to unforeseen circumstances.

Meet different kinds of dinosaurs from the Jurassic Era and find out what the dinosaurs plan to do about that big carnivore, Allosaurus, who is pushing everyone else around! Catchy, original songs and bright tabletop puppets make this show fun for the whole family. The show runtime is approximately 40 minutes.

 Talking Hands Theatre was founded in 2004 by artist Anna Sobel, who has been a professional puppeteer since 1998. In 2003 she was the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship to study puppetry in India as a tool for social change and education. She is now based in Western Massachusetts and tours all over New England to perform. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit bimp.ticketleap.com/dressed

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.

Children squeal with delight throughout this traditional tale with a twist performed by Liz Joyce of A Couple of Puppets. Find out what happens when Little Red gets mixed up with Porquoi the pig, who is in the wrong story. Complete with changing scenery, music and charming hand puppets, this show will have audiences ratting on the wolf and cheering Little Red to safety. Recommended for ages 2+. The show runtime is approximately 40 minutes, followed by a Q&A session with the artist.

Liz Joyce of A Couple of Puppets writes, creates, and performs a growing repertoire of works for young audiences and their adults. Subjects include her twists on traditional fairy tales, folktales, educational shows, and original creations. Liz believes that puppetry is the gateway to theater and that this art form breathes beauty and life into storytelling. Trained as a fine artist, Liz is also a certified K-12 Art Education teacher. Since 2001, Liz has hosted many talented puppeteers at Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre in Sag Harbor, NY which she founded and serves as artistic director.  She recently served on the Board of Directors of the Jim Henson Foundation, and currently serves as President of the Puppeteers of America. Learn more and purchase tickets: bimp.ticketleap.com/ridinghood

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.

As part of its 2024 Spring Puppet Forum Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry is pleased to host The Sicilian Puppet Theater of Agrippino Manteo (1884-1947): The Paladins of France in America, a discussion with Dr. Jo Ann Cavallo of Columbia University, on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024 at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. This forum will also be broadcast via Ballard Institute Facebook Live (facebook.com/BallardInstitute). 

In the forum, Dr. Cavallo will discuss her recently published book The Sicilian Puppet Theater of Agrippino Manteo, the first-ever study of the vibrant popular spectacle of the Manteo family’s puppet theater in New York City in the 1920s and 30s, including founder Agrippino Manteo’s new-world presentation of original Paladini di Francia scripts from his mentors in Sicily.

Jo Ann Cavallo is Professor of Italian and Chair of the Italian Department, Columbia University. She has published widely on Italian literature and culture, especially chivalric epic in popular traditions. Her latest book, The Sicilian Puppet Theater of Agrippino Manteo, was recently awarded a UNIMA-USA Nancy Staub Award and is forthcoming in Italian. Her previous book, The World beyond Europe in the Romance Epics of Boiardo and Ariosto, received a Modern Language Association Publication Award and was also translated into Italian. She has edited several volumes, most recently World Epics and Puppet Theater and Teaching World Epics, and is series editor of the Anthem World Epic and Romance book series.

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.

The Ballard Institute will be closed through February 15. Join us for the grand opening of Taking Care: Puppets and Their Collectors on February 15 at 4:30PM.

To wrap up its 2023 Fall Puppet Performance Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut is pleased to welcome back Madison J. Cripps with A Slice of Crazy Pie on Dec. 2, 2023 at 11 a.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. 

Step into the enchantment of A Slice of Crazy Pie, a mesmerizing cabaret-style marionette puppet show meticulously crafted by Madison J Cripps. Since 2006, this captivating production weaves interests, viewpoints, and eccentricities into a spellbinding journey. Characters like Pinkey the Mayor and Ratty Ratkinson engage with audiences, while diverse settings from the moon to the street provide intrigue. With themes spanning ecology to well-being, the show’s fluid duration accommodates any space. Beneath the puppetry lies a world of creativity and interaction, where harmonica melodies and singing add depth. Blurring imagination and reality, the show thrives on creative engagement. As the curtains rise, all ages are invited into a captivating realm, a profound exploration of the human spirit, and a shared adventure of fascination. The show runtime is approximately 50 minutes. To learn more, visit bimp.ticketleap.com/crazy-pie.

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.

To wrap up its 2023 Fall Puppet Forum Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry is pleased to host Tony Sarg: Genius at Play with Norman Rockwell Museum Chief Curator and Deputy Director Stephanie Plunkett, on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023 at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. This forum will also be broadcast via Ballard Institute Facebook Live (facebook.com/BallardInstitute). 

In conjunction with the Norman Rockwell Museum’s recent exhibition Tony Sarg: Genius at Play, which closed on Nov. 5, Ballard Institute Director John Bell will speak with exhibition curator Stephanie Plunkett about the first-ever comprehensive exhibition exploring the life, art, and adventures of Tony Sarg (1880-1942). Sarg, a charismatic illustrator, animator, puppeteer, designer, entrepreneur, and showman, is often celebrated as the father of modern puppetry in North America and the originator of the iconic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade balloons, floats, and animated store windows. The Genius at Play exhibition included puppets from Ballard Institute collections by Sarg and Sarg puppeteers Rufus and Margo Rose, and the exhibition’s catalog includes an Introduction by Dr. Bell. The catalog, a beautifully illustrated, first-ever survey of Sarg’s career, will be on sale at the Barnes and Noble bookstore next to the Ballard Institute. 

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. 

Two classic tales make up this wonderful animal-inspired show by John McDonough of Pumpernickel Puppets from Worcester MA. In his modern adaptation of the famous Norwegian folk tale The Three Billy Goats Gruff,  three quick-witted goats outsmart the green, snaggletooth troll who lives under a bridge. In The Lion and the Mouse, two unlikely friends – one very big and one very small – learn to help each other solve their problems. Both tales are told with colorful friendly hand puppets, and feature lots of audience participation. Recommended for children three and over.

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.

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About the Company

The Pumpernickel Puppets are the creation of John McDonough of Worcester, Massachusetts. John was four years old when he saw his first puppet show, and he immediately knew that he wanted to be a puppeteer. By his teens, John was presenting shows all over the New England area. The Pumpernickel Puppets have had the honor of appearing at the Puppet Showplace Theatre, the Boston Children’s Museum, the Institute of Professional Puppetry Arts at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., the Cultural Olympiad at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, Georgia, and the prestigious International Festival of Puppet Theatre sponsored by the Jim Henson Foundation at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre in New York. For each production John creates and performs with his own puppets, which range from small hand puppets to larger-than-life figures.

In conjunction with its current exhibition Tradition and Revolution in Indian Shadow Puppetry, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will present A Celebration of Indian Performing Arts, to showcase the talents of local and UConn Indian artists, including dancer Layavinyasa, drummer Gopi Krishnan, and UConn Sanskriti. The performances will take place on Friday, November 10 at 6:30 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. 

A Celebration of Indian Performing Arts will be hosted by Tradition and Revolution exhibition curator and 12th-generation shadow puppeteer Rahul Koonathara, a UConn Literatures, Cultures, and Languages graduate student. The evening will feature puppetry, music, and dance by UConn and local Indian artists including acclaimed Kuchipudi dancer Layavinyasa; Gopi Krishnan and his ensemble of Melam drummers; UConn Sanskriti, a student cultural organization celebrating classical Indian art forms; and more! The performances will run approximately 60 minutes. Afterwards, enjoy refreshments and henna by Khushbu Dulani and Anshita Suyal! 

Admission is free. Limited seating is available, so reservations are required: bimp.ticketleap.com/cipa.

Tickets can be reserved in advance at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, by calling 860-486-8580, or online at bimp.ticketleap.com. 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.