As part of the 2017 Fall Puppet Forum Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will present a discussion with Bonny Hall and Jamie Keithline of Crabgrass Puppet Theatre and Liz Joyce from Long Island’s Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre titled Puppet Survival: The Art of Producing and Performing Puppet Shows on Thursday, October 12, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Storrs Center.

At the forum, the three speakers will consider the outlandish question of how puppeteers might possibly make a living by practicing their age-old arts in the 21st century. Join in on a lively and detailed discussion about economics, small-business survival, entrepreneurship, and the fascinating worlds of contemporary puppetry.

Jamie Keithline ’80 (SFA) and Bonny Hall ’81 (SFA) met in 1979 while studying at the University of Connecticut. After graduation, they both toured with Bart. P. Roccoberton, Jr. (now Director of UConn’s Puppet Arts Program) and the Pandemonium Puppet Company. In 1982 Bonny and Jamie moved to San Francisco and started their own company, Puppetwork of San Francisco. After moving back to the Northeast in 1989, they renamed their company Crabgrass Puppet Theatre. Jamie and Bonny focus on creating puppet theater and performing for children’s and family audiences, with theaters, museums, and elementary schools as their primary markets. They have created 26 full-length productions, performed at dozens of regional, national, and international puppet festivals, and have been awarded two UNIMA-USA Citations of Excellence. Their production of The Pirate, the Princess and the Pea was named “Best Performance” of the Puppeteers of America 2015 National Festival.

Trained as a fine artist, Liz Joyce is also certified in K-12 Art Education. Her artistic approach to puppetry has been influenced by European traditions and the eccentric energy of New York’s downtown performance artists. She honed her carving skills working with traditional puppet carvers in Prague, Czech Republic. Liz’s puppet operetta, Sing a Song of Sixpence, was awarded an UNIMA-USA Citation. For the past 15 years Liz has hosted many talented puppeteers at Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre in Sag Harbor, New York, where she is founder and artistic director. She recently served on the Board of Directors for the Jim Henson Foundation.

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. Visitors can park in the Storrs Center Garage located at 33 Royce Circle. Parking in the Storrs Center Garage is free for the first two hours and $1 per hour thereafter, with a daily maximum charge of $8. Forums will be broadcast via Facebook Live. Call 860-486-8580 for more information.

As part of the 2017 Fall Puppet Forum Series, and in conjunction with its current exhibit Obstreperous Puppets: The Puppeteers Cooperative, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will present a discussion with Sara Peattie, co-founder of the Puppeteers Cooperative, entitled Building Community with Puppets: Boston’s Puppeteers Cooperative on Thursday, September 21, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Storrs Center.

Based on her years of nation-wide work with professional and amateur puppeteers, community and civic organizations, and schools, Sara Peattie will explain how and why making giant puppets with and for communities can be a spectacular success. Co-founded by Sara Peattie and George Konnoff in 1976, the Boston-based Puppeteers Cooperative is one of the most prolific, yet un-acclaimed, puppet companies in New England. Peattie, Konnoff, and their colleagues have designed and built puppets with community groups for pageants and celebrations across the United States, including Boston’s famed First Night, the Downtown Mansfield Festival in Storrs, and the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade in New York City. Many of these creations are also lent to the general public through the Puppeteers Cooperative’s Puppet Free Library, located in the basement of Boston’s Emmanuel Church.

Admission to this event is free (donations greatly appreciated!), and refreshments will be served. Come early, and view Obstreperous Puppets, an exhibition celebrating the work of the Puppeteers Cooperative, as well as The World of Puppetry, drawn from our global collections. Visitors can park in the Storrs Center Garage located at 33 Royce Circle. Parking in the Storrs Center Garage is free for the first two hours and $1 per hour thereafter, with a daily maximum charge of $8. Forums will be broadcast via Facebook Live. Call 860-486-8580 for more information.

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry will present Calle Allende, a new production created and directed by UConn Puppet Arts alumna Anatar Marmol-Gagné ‘17, featuring UConn School of Fine Arts students Katayoun Amir-Aslani ’18, Darren Lee Brown ’17 and Noel Williams ‘19, on Saturday, September 23 at 8:00 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater located at 1 Royce Circle in Storrs Center.

Calle Allende brings to life the struggle of famed Mexican artist Frida Kahlo to reconcile her broken self and dying inspiration. At her expansive Casa Azul on Calle Allende in the Mexico City neighborhood of Coyoacan, Kahlo’s pain has clouded her, but in a moment of clarity inspired by an entry in her diary, she realizes that without her imagination, she will lose her lifeline. “I am not sick,” she writes, “I am broken. But I am happy to be alive as long as I can paint.”. Calle Allende runs approximately 30 minutes and is recommended for mature audiences (ages 16+).

Anatar Marmol-Gagné, originally from Caracas, Venezuela, holds a Master of Fine Arts in Puppet Arts from the University of Connecticut and has as a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Creative Writing from Hunter College. Her strong interests and experience in art, dance, writing, fiber and fabrication all come together seamlessly with her love for puppetry. As a puppeteer, Anatar has trained at the National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, taught children’s puppet workshops, performed in puppet slams and festivals, and founded and curates the Pinned & Sewtured Puppet Slam in New Haven, Connecticut.

Tickets are $7 and are available at the door on the night of the show only. No presale tickets will be available.

There will be open seating and no reservations. Visitors can park in the Storrs Center Garage located at 33 Royce Circle. Parking in the Storrs Center Garage is free for the first two hours and $1 per hour thereafter, with a daily maximum charge of $8. For more information about this performance, call 860-486-8580.

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry and the UConn Puppet Arts Program will present the 2017 UConn Fall Puppet Slam on Friday, September 15, 2017 at 8:00 p.m. in UConn’s Nafe Katter Theatre. The UConn Fall Puppet Slam will feature short works by professional puppeteers and performers, including Lone Wolf Tribe, Veronica Barron, and Isaac Bloodworth, as well as new works for puppet and object theater by students from UConn’s School of Fine Arts.

The 2017 UConn Fall Puppet Slam includes work by an array of renowned Northeast puppet professionals and talented UConn students. From New York City, acclaimed puppeteer Kevin Augustine, who performs as Lone Wolf Tribe, will present Body Concert, a haunting solo piece with exquisitely sculpted foam-rubber puppets influenced by Japanese Butoh dance. UConn Puppet Arts alumnus and New Haven puppeteer Isaac Bloodworth will perform Curled, a crankie (moving scroll performance) about a black girl who is ordered to change her hairstyle in order to attend school. Boston-based theater artist and musician Veronica Barron will perform two pieces, Black is the Color and My Eyes Off of You. In addition, the UConn Fall Puppet Slam will feature new works by UConn graduate and undergraduate students studying puppetry, digital animation, and stop-motion filmmaking. The UConn Fall Puppet Slam will be hosted by UConn Puppet Arts graduate Shane C.S. McNeal, performing as the eccentric Doctor Thaddeus J. Foster, whose unique brand of storytelling brings a hint of the strange and a twist of the macabre to the stage. Funding for the UConn Fall Puppet Slam is made possible in part by the HBH fund, created by Heather Henson.

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. The event will take place in UConn’s Nafe Katter Theatre located at 820 Bolton Rd, Storrs, Connecticut. For directions to the Nafe Katter Theatre, visit crt.uconn.edu/directions/. These performances are recommended for mature audiences. For more information, call the Ballard Institute at 860-486-8580, visit bimp.uconn.edu, or email us at bimp@uconn.edu.

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host its Fall Puppet Performance Series on four Saturdays from September to December 2017, featuring outstanding works for puppet theater by professional puppeteers from across the Northeast and beyond. Each show will be performed twice, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. All performances will take place at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Storrs Center. Productions and dates include:

September 23: The Case of the Missing Kitten by WonderSpark Puppets—When a cute kitten goes missing, only one detective is clever enough, brave enough, and smart enough to solve the case—Mystery Max! Join Max on a wild adventure to find Nancy’s missing kitten. Along the way, meet crazy characters, make new friends, sing songs and find clues in this classic whodunit by this New York-based company, which includes Chad Williams, UConn Puppet Arts alumna Lindsey “Z” Briggs, and Jenny Hann. Recommended for children 3+.
 

October 14: The Perils of Mr. Punch by Modern Times Theater—The Perils of Mr. Punch follows the troubles and travails of puppetry’s favorite loudmouth, Mr. Punch, as performed by Vermont puppeteers Rose Friedman and Justin Lander. The performance includes a two-person orchestra, classic jokes and gags, and audience participation in this delightful revival of the classic puppet trickster. The show is appropriate for children of all ages.

 

November 4: Sleeping Beauty by Tanglewood Marionettes—In this dazzling retelling of the beloved fairy tale, King Felix’s court is thrown into turmoil when the Wicked Witch bestows a curse on the newborn Princess Aurora. Come see if the curse will come true as this famed Massachusetts company performs with beautifully handcrafted marionettes brought to life by master puppeteer Peter Schaefer. Recommended for ages 4+.

 

December 2: Santa Got Fired and Other Silly Stories by Nappy’s Puppets—Celebrated Connecticut puppeteer (and UConn Puppet Arts alumnus) Jim “Nappy” Napolitano will tell the tale of how Santa got his job as well as other fun and silly shadow puppet stories. Santa Got Fired will entertain, inspire and educate the audience on the range and scope of puppetry as an art form. The show is 45 minutes long and is recommended for ages 3+.

 

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 phone at 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. For more information about these performances, call 860-486-8580.

All sales are final — there are no refunds

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will once again offer fall community puppet-building workshops with acclaimed Boston puppeteer Sara Peattie, to design and build over-life-size puppets of army ants and their associated species (“guests”) for the Celebrate Mansfield Parade and a special Army Ant Pageant with the Hartford Hot Several Brass Band in Storrs, Connecticut. These free workshops will take place Saturday and Sunday, September 9 and 10 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day at the Ballard Institute located at 1 Royce Circle in Storrs Center. Workshop participants will be invited to parade with the Army Ant puppets as part of the Celebrate Mansfield Parade on Sunday, September 17 at noon (line-up begins at 10:30 a.m. at Farrell Field near the Post Office), and then perform in the Ant Migration Pageant, an open-air community spectacle directed by Sara Peattie that will use the puppets and music by the Hartford Hot Several to tell the exciting story of army ants and their “guests.” The Parade is a part of the 14th Annual Celebrate Mansfield Festival.

This year’s workshop theme is part of AntU, an endeavor at UConn designed to involve a variety of academic disciplines to engage a broad audience in the wonders of the complex biological systems of army ants and their hundreds of associated species (“guests”). It is an idea borne out of an award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Collections in Support of Biological Research program to the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (EEB), in partnership with the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History (CSMNH), to preserve and curate the Carl W. and Marian E. Rettenmeyer Army Ant Guest Collection. This world-class collection of over two million army ants and their guests is the result of 50 years of careful, detailed fieldwork in Central and South America by the Rettenmeyers. To learn more about AntU, visit web.uconn.edu/mnh/antu.

Workshop leader Sara Peattie, whose work is on display at the Ballard Institute in Obstreperous Puppets: Puppeteers Cooperative until October 8, 2017, is known for her dramatic creations that have become a central feature of community parades and pageants across the United States. Long a mainstay of Boston First Night festivities and the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade in New York City, Sara Peattie’s work—through her Boston-based Puppeteers Cooperative company and Puppet Free Library—combines community participation; simple, cheap, and practical puppet-building techniques; and a brilliant design sense to allow community members of all ages to take part in the age-old pleasures of participatory puppet performance in public spaces.

No experience is necessary to participate in these free community puppet-building workshops with Sara Peattie. Participants can come for one or both days and are not required to stay for the entire time. Minors must be accompanied by an adult. To register for the workshop, contact the Ballard Institute at bimp@uconn.edu or 860.486.8580.

This community puppet project is sponsored by the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut and the Mansfield Downtown Partnership, Inc. For more information about the 14th Annual Celebrate Mansfield Festival, visit www.downtownstorrsfestival.org.

The Mansfield Downtown Partnership is an independent, non-profit organization comprised of the Town of Mansfield, the University of Connecticut, and individual business members and residents. The Partnership seeks to foster the continued development, management, and promotion of Storrs Center – a vibrant and economically successful community in the heart of Mansfield. For more information about the Partnership, visit https://www.mansfieldmdp.org/.

As part of its popular Summertime Saturday Puppet Show Series of new works by UConn Puppet Arts students and alumni for family audiences, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry will present The Superhero Within: Episode 2! by Puppet Arts MFA student Anatar Marmol-Gagné on Saturday, August 12 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater located at 1 Royce Circle, Storrs Center.

It’s summer break at Superhero Academy and Alex & Sage can’t wait for their summer adventures to begin. They quickly learn that being a superhero cadet is a full-time job when villains start to ruin their holiday. With the help of The Vigilantes, Alex & Sage will stop at nothing to get their summer back! Recommended for all ages.

Anatar Marmol-Gagné is originally from Caracas, Venezuela. She is an MFA candidate in the Puppet Arts Program at the University of Connecticut and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Creative Writing from Hunter College. Her strong background in art, dance, writing, fiber and fabrication all comes together seamlessly with her love for puppetry. As a puppeteer, Anatar has trained at the National Puppetry Conference at the O’Neill Theater Center, taught children’s puppet workshops, performed in puppet slams and festivals, and founded and curates the Pinned & Sewtured Puppet Slam in New Haven, CT. Anatar created the original episode of The Superhero Within as her Master of Fine Arts project in the UConn Puppet Arts Program.

Admission is $6 for children (12 years and under), $8 for adults.

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 in the Storrs Center Garage 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, call 860-486-8580.

As part of its popular Summertime Saturday Puppet Show Series of new works by UConn Puppet Arts students and alumni for family audiences, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will present Sheldon Explains It All by Puppet Arts MFA student Zach Broome on Saturday, August 5 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater located at 1 Royce Circle, Storrs Center.

Sheldon is a turtle, and he is scared of everything: absolutely everything. What scare him the most are the things he doesn’t know yet. Join Sheldon as he learns about everything under the sun and shares all of his new knowledge with you. Recommended for ages 5+.

Zach Broome, originally from Macon, Georgia, is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in Puppet Arts at UConn. Zach’s puppet creations recently appeared in the Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s production of Shrek: The Musical. His puppet work will also appear next spring in the CRT production of She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen.

The final Summertime Saturday Puppet Show is:

August 12 – The Superhero Within: Episode 2! by Anatar Marmol Gagné

It’s summer break from Superhero Academy and Alex and Sage can’t wait for their summer adventures. They quickly learn that even though they are superhero cadets, villains will try everything to ruin their holiday. With the help of the Vigilantes, Alex and Sage will stop at nothing to get their summer back! Recommended for all ages.

Admission is $6 for children (12 years and under), $8 for adults.

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 in the Storrs Center Garage 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, visit bimp.uconn.edu or call 860-486-8580.

As part of its popular Summertime Saturday Puppet Show Series of new works by UConn Puppet Arts students and alumni for family audiences, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry will present 100 Birds by the talented 2017 graduate John Cody on Saturday, July 29 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater located at 1 Royce Circle, Storrs Center.

A magical and whimsical, if not slightly chaotic, group of birds have flocked to the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry! 100 Birds follows Jada Jones, captain of her middle school’s basketball team, who finds out that her school doesn’t have the money to get the team to their playoff game. The 100 Birds, an intergalactic troupe of feathered friends, come from outer space to help Jada after she wishes upon a shooting star for help. Using their skills as birds and their love of math, the avian crew bands together with Jada to host the biggest fundraiser ever and create the world’s largest pizza! But the nefarious Dr. Allundrious Pepper, who hates birds, is dead set on foiling their plans. Will Jada and the birds make it out alive, giblets and all? Speaking to his creative process, Cody explains “this fantastical, silly dose of positive entertainment came about in the middle of the night, which sounds far more dramatic than it actually was. I came up with the title of 100 Birds, and the next day I came up with three sentence stories that could serve this title … I have found this brainstorming method particularly effective, and it was through these short stories I wrote that the seed of the show’s story was planted.”

John Cody ‘17, along with fellow UConn Puppet Arts Program undergraduate student Katayoun Amir-Aslani ‘18 weave together rod puppets, hand puppets, string puppets, and more into an experience that both adults and children will love, with a focus on comedy and positivity. “I think children are far smarter than adults give them credit, and I have developed 100 Birds with that in mind. 100 Birds is not a show that I am making for children, but rather is something that I, as a young adult, would like to see, with audiences young and old taken into account when it comes to the exact vocabulary of the show,” states Cody. This show was made possible by UConn’s IDEA Grant, which provides funding for independent projects by undergraduate students.

John Cody is a New York-based puppeteer who graduated with a BFA in Puppet Arts in May 2017. Deciding he wanted to be a puppeteer before the age of five, John has since worked on many projects of all different kinds, from marionettes to hand puppets to giant character costumes. He has had the tremendous opportunity to learn and work alongside some of the folks behind The Muppets, Sesame Street, and Bear in the Big Blue House.

Upcoming Summertime Saturday Puppet Shows include:

August 5 – Sheldon Explains It All by Zach Broome

Sheldon is a turtle, and he is scared of everything: absolutely everything. What scares him the most are the things he doesn’t yet know. Join Sheldon as he learns about everything under the sun and shares all of his new knowledge with you. Recommended for ages 5+.

August 12 – The Superhero Within: Episode 2! by Anatar Marmol Gagné

It’s summer break from Superhero Academy and Alex and Sage can’t wait for their summer adventures. They quickly learn that even though they are superhero cadets, villains will try everything to ruin their holiday. With the help of the Vigilantes, Alex and Sage will stop at nothing to get their summer back! Recommended for all ages.

Admission is $6 for children (12 years and under), $8 for adults.

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 in the Storrs Center Garage 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, visit bimp.uconn.edu or call 860.486.8580.