Dear friends,

What a day! Thank you, thank you, thank you for helping Puppet Showplace kick off our 50th anniversary year so joyfully! Thank you for eating all the popcorn, playing with all the free-play puppets, filling our window with birthday flags and our sidewalk with chalk art.

By the numbers:

• 353 party-goers came out to dance in bubbles, play with puppets, see a Pay-What-You-Can puppet show, nosh on wine and cheese, and more

• Dozens of kid-decorated flag garlands, with pom-poms, stickers, drawings, and birthday wishes

• 12 incredibly helpful volunteers

• 3 performances of The Fairy Tailor by Resident Artist Sarah Nolen

• At least 27 never-before-heard jokes and sassy puns in a super silly “adult” rendition of The Fairy Tailor

• 2 delicious flavors generously donated by Jamie's Ice Cream

• 1 raucous brass band ode to the Green Line (accompanied by a Green Line train puppet!)

Many longtime members of our puppetry community came out to share the day, including The Gottabees’s Bonnie Duncan, Dan Milstein, and Tony Leva; Great Small Works’s Dr. John Bell and Trudi Cohen, Dream Tale Puppets's Jacek Zuzanski, Magpie Puppets's Maggie Whalen, former staff members Roxanna Myhrum, Hannah Swartz, Brenda Huggins, and Heather Balchunas…and many more! Click here for a few photos >>

For those who couldn't make it — never fear! This was just the start of a very exciting 50th anniversary year. We hope to see you soon for free summer outdoor shows, a Diwali celebration, an underwater puppet show world premiere, and much more.

After Saturday's kickoff event, I feel your energy still humming around the theater, ready to carry Puppet Showplace into our 50th anniversary year and beyond. As I wrote in a recent letter, thank you for being part of this place.

See you at the theater,
Veronica Barron
Executive Artistic Director

P.S. None of this would be possible without support from our community, past and present. Make a gift before June 30th to support free outdoor shows this summer, field trip scholarships and expanded affordable access this fall, investment in new works this winter, and to sustain Puppet Showplace for years to come.