More about… “The Velveteen Rabbit” by Applause Unlimited

Wednesday and Thursday | January 5 & 6 | 10:30AM

Saturday and Sunday | January 8 & 9 | 1PM & 3PM

About the show: Margery Williams’ classic tale of how toys become real is told with hand puppets, storytelling and song. This story about friendship and magic is told with gentle humor and warmth. For children and their parents, youngsters learning to read and anyone who ever had a favorite stuffed toy. Performed with hand puppets. This show is recommended for ages 4 & up.

About Applause Unlimited: Applause Unlimited cofounder Christopher Hudert is a versatile artist whose skills include script writing, sculpting, set and puppet construction, puppetry, clowning, stilt walking, juggling and much more.

A 9-year veteran of Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey Circus, Christopher was Boss Clown for Ringling Bros. before leaving the show to join Master Puppeteer Terry Snyder in the creation of Applause Unlimited.

He has returned to Clown College as an instructor and has given lectures and workshops on both clowning and puppetry throughout the country. Christopher is the Stage Consultant and the Youth Services Coordinator for Puppeteers of America and serves on the Board of The National Puppetry Guild.

Applause Unlimited [official site]

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More about… “Hansel and Gretel” by National Marionette Theatre

Wednesday and Thursday | January 5 & 6 | 10:30AM

Saturday and Sunday | January 8 & 9 | 1PM & 3PM

About the show: In the newest production from National Marionette Theatre, two master puppeteers bring the most famous of the Grimm Brothers’ stories to life. Featuring exquisitely crafted marionettes, scrolling scenery and the beautiful music of Engelbert Humperdinck. Performed with marionettes. This show is recommended for ages 5 & up.

About National Marionette Theatre: National Marionette Theatre is one of the oldest continually running marionette theaters in the United States. Founded in 1967 by artistic director David A. Syrotiak, this award-winning company has been entertaining audiences around the world with their extraordinary productions for over forty years. Noted for their amazing manipulation technique and imaginative fully staged productions, National Marionette Theater is committed to bringing you the very best in family entertainment.

The company has received critical acclaim both here in the United States and abroad and was the first American Marionette Theater to receive the prestigious UNIMA award for excellence in puppetry.

National Marionette Theatre [official site]

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More about… “Little Red and the Gingerbread Man” by Barefoot Puppets

Sunday | December 26 | 1PM & 3PM
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday | December 27, 28 & 29 | 10:30AM & 1PM

About the show: Two tales rolled into one! This show combines two well-loved, classic tales to create an original, fun-filled romp through fairy tales. Join Little Red and she pursues a mischievous Gingerbread cookie through the woods to Grandma’s house. Original music, snowy scenery, and everyone’s favorite Big Bad Wolf make this a seasonal favorite!

Performed with hand puppets. This show is recommended for ages 3 and up.

About Barefoot Puppets: Barefoot Puppet Theatre celebrates the cultural diversity and natural wonders of our world through the art of puppetry. Contemporary adaptations of world folktales, classic tales, myths, and true stories combine with original scripts and meticulously crafted puppets, scenery, and staging to create unique theatrical experiences for young audiences and their families.

They have been building and performing original works since 1997 when founder and director, Heidi Rugg, began building puppet shows from the basement of her home in Richmond, Virginia. From these humble beginnings, the company has grown significantly and now tours nationally.

Barefoot Puppets [official site]
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More About... "Holiday Fantasy" by Spring Valley Puppet Theater

Wednesday & Thursday| December 22 & 23 | 10:30AM
Friday | December 24 | 10:30AM & 1PM

About the show: Enchanted toys, fairy magic, and a clever mouse are just some of the surprises in a Holiday Fantasy. The program includes The Three Wishes, a humorous folktale that teaches the valuable lesson to be careful what you wish for. This performance features beautiful handcrafted puppets and scenery, and a delightful musical score. A holiday treat for the whole family!

Performed with hand puppets. This show is recommended for ages 4 and up.

About Spring Valley Puppet Theater: Michael Graham, puppeteer and director of Spring Valley Puppet Theater, has been performing since 1966 throughout New England, primarily for schools and libraries. He has performed at regional and national festivals of the Puppeteers of America. He designs and makes his puppets, writes his own scripts, creates the scenery, and does a number of the voices.

He graduated from Western Connecticut State College, and studied with the renowned puppeteer Albrecht Roser from Stuttgart, Germany, at the University of Connecticut.

Spring Valley Puppet Theater [official site]

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More about… “Sleeping Beauty” by Tanglewood Marionettes

Saturday and Sunday | December 18 & 19 | 1PM & 3PM

About the show: In this retelling of the classic fairytale of finding love with a true heart, a painted storybook opens to reveal each scene. Performed with marionettes. This show is recommended for ages 4 and up.

About Tanglewood Marionettes: Peter Schaefer was born into a family of puppeteers and has been performing with hand puppets, rod puppets and marionettes since he was a child. After refining his skills with a local puppet company for several years, Peter purchased a marionette show from a retiring Boston puppeteer and launched his own company: Mountain Marionettes. After touring nationally for two years, in 1993 Peter decided to join with a fellow puppeteer and form a new company: Tanglewood Marionettes. Over his career, Peter has brought his unique marionette artistry to hundreds of thousands of children and families across the country!

Tanglewood Marionettes [official site]
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Puppet Showplace Theatre heads to Basil Twist's Petrushka

Puppet fans!

We at Puppet Showplace Theatre are excited that Basil Twist's Petrushka is in town, presented at the newly renovated Paramount Theater by ArtsEmerson. PST fans can receive $5 tickets to this performance by using the discount code PETR5 when ordering. On Tuesday November 16th PST's Puppet Incubator will go on the road to see Petrushka and to meet-and-greet the cast after the show. Join us!

Learn more about Twist in the Boston Globe's feature article. It's great to see this level of puppet coverage by the media in Boston. Let's keep it up!

Puppet Showplace welcomesThe PuppeTree on November 6th and 7th!

This weekend, Puppet Showplace Theatre welcomes a NEW company to our stage! The PuppeTree was founded by Ann Legunn and tours widely from its home base in Vermont. They will be presenting their fabulous piece "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." This shadow spectacle uses three puppeteers! We are excited to see the show come to life on our stage.

The PuppeTree’s mission is to promote an appreciation of the performing arts, with an emphasis on children’s theater and puppets, among diverse audiences. Rather than start a traditional puppet or theater company that just performs theater pieces before an audience, founder Ann Legunn created a “touchable” theater--one in which members of various community groups could become active participants in all aspects of theater arts. The Puppetree is unique in that the participants not only build puppets, but are encouraged to handle those made by Ann--something usually forbidden by most puppet companies--the way they would handle other props, costumes, and scenery.

To this end, the PuppeTree will kick off Puppet Showplace's children's workshop series with a great hands-on workshop! Immediately following their 3:00 pm show on November 6th, members of the troupe will lead a hands-on shadow puppet construction and manipulation activity at the theater. Tickets are $5, or just $3 if purchased in conjunction with a show ticket. Don't miss this exciting event! Buy Tickets Online or call the theatre for reservations at 617-731-6400.

Funded in part by the New England States Touring Program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts Agencies.

Puppets Around the Web: the Funniest Parody on the Internet

Memberships Half Price! Ends Friday evening

For the first time in nearly 10 years, we've updated the Puppet Showplace Theatre membership benefits and level choices.

And now, we're discounting our membership prices by 50% as our way of saying 'thank you' for your support!

For the next 24 hours, enjoy all of the same great benefits — including complimentary tickets, discounted tickets and Puppet Store purchases — at 50% off!

How Your Membership Helps Us

The actual cost of presenting a family performance is $14-$16 per person, much more than the ticket price! Though more than 80% of our expenses are directly related to programming, ticket sales account for only 60% of our revenue.

It takes generous donations to help make up this difference. In fact, $2,000 in donations are required each week in order to keep excellent puppetry on our stage.

Each membership counts, from helping to pay performers and staff, to keeping the theater and lobby facility in working order.

What It Means To Be A Member

Ask a Puppet Showplace Theatre member why they joined and you'll get a variety of answers — from the money-saving benefits and the friends they've made at shows, to the fact that they are supporting an organization strongly rooted in the local as well as theatrical communities, dedicated to the art of puppetry and the introduction live theatre for children of all ages.

For audiences young and old, live puppetry is not just entertainment. It's a wonderful stimulus for the imagination.

And since the Puppet Showplace Theatre is a non-profit organization, your membership dues are a charitable contribution and are tax-deductible.

About This Special Discount

There is no offer code to enter, and no hoops to jump through. Just click on this link to learn more or to register.

But keep in mind that these prices are only for a limited time – this offer expires at 5PM on Friday, October 8th.

We hope you will take advantage of this fantastic offer and become a member or renew your membership today!

Jim Henson on Making Puppets!

In honor of our theme "Let's make a puppet together!" here's a fantastic video from 1969 where Jim Henson shares a little bit about making simple puppets.

Adult Puppetry, Blair Thomas, and Handmade Puppet Dreams

This past weekend I saw Blair Thomas perform his solo 3-part puppet piece "Hard Headed Heart" at the Charlestown Working Theater. Blair performed preliminary excerpts from this show at PST many years ago, and now he is touring the full-length version through New England. He stopped in Boston at CWT en route to the Puppets in the Green Mountains International Festival in Vermont, a magnificent week-long event featuring world-renowned performers (he'll be joined by PST favorites Bonnie and Jamie of Crabgrass Puppets who will perform at festival events).
Blair spoke eloquently to the Boston Globe about the significance of puppetry for adults:
It’s a logical thing that puppetry is associated with children, because there’s so much a sense of play in puppetry. But there’s also this thing about puppetry, that it requires a different kind of contract than the actors theater does: where the puppet figure asks you to believe in it, and it’s clearly an inanimate object. Children will readily believe. But the same issue goes on in puppet theater for adult audiences. There’s a level of belief that is requested of the audience members when the puppet makes its entrance.

I loved Blair's show, and was incredibly impressed by how he wove together live musical performance, soliloquy, and puppet design to achieve his impact. I was reminded that puppetry, while demanding of technical precision, is at its heart a wildly expressive art form. As Blair pounded 3 musical instruments with his feet while simultaneously performing the story of Don Cristobal with hand puppets, I was deeply moved by being in the presence of a performer who had much to say and who was brave enough to say it all at once.

We at PST are excited about our own adult offerings this year. This season, we are expanding our adult slams so they take place every other month starting in September and continue through July. On Saturday September 25th at 8:00 pm we will kick off our Slam season with a screening of the adult puppet film series "Handmade Puppet Dreams vol. 1," produced by Heather Henson. The show will be preceded at 6:00 pm by a video puppetry workshop led by Puppet Showplace Slam emcee Jonathan Little, who has studied with some of television's greatest puppeteers. Buy Handmade Puppet Dreams Screening Tickets and Reserve a Video Puppetry Workshop Space Here.

Check out Jon's preview video here.

If you have other ideas for adult programming this year, please let me know. Stay tuned for more information about adult puppetry events at PST and upcoming performances by world-class puppet artists in the Boston area!

Roxie
Artistic Director

Meet the Puppets on Display @ PST

Did you know that the Puppet Showplace Theatre is home to the hand-made puppets of some of the area's best-loved puppeteers? It's true! Next time you're at the theatre, look up – they're all around you, displayed up above the Puppet Store in our lobby.

Here are just some of the puppets you're bound to find.

Hummingbird created by Eric Bornstein (puppet in the background created by Paul Vincent Davis)

Betsy and other Cranberry Puppets created by Puppet Showplace Theatre founder Mary Churchill



Rob Roy created by Paul Vincent Davis

Lion created by Puppet Showplace Theatre founder Mary Churchill, shown with a friend of the Showplace, Jim Henson

More about...The Firebird by the Puppet People

Inspired by the Russian folktale and popular ballet of The Firebird, watch as even the impossible is possible, as the mythical firebird comes to life and Ivan and Princess Yelena team up to break the enchantment placed over their kingdom. This 50 minute magical puppet fantasy features beautifully handcrafted marionettes, lavish costumes, vivid sets, and a large body puppet; masterly accompanied by Stravinsky's musical score from the ballet of The Firebird.
Husband and wife team Mark Carrigan and Michelle Smith-Carrigan have been entertaining people for over 20 years. They have performed at many schools, theatres, festivals, libraries, museums, community centers and churches throughout New York State, Massachusetts and Vermont. Learn more about them at their website.

Don't miss this single-run season-closing show, the only time The Puppet People will be here this year!

BUY TICKETS

Sunday 8/29 @ 1:00 pm

or call the Box Office at 617-731-6400

Spring Cleaning...

...in late summer.

We're coming to the end of our program year at the end of the month and will be closing down for a couple of weeks before the new season starts up on September 15. But don't think that the puppets aren't kept busy during this down time.

The Puppet Showplace presents shows for 50 straight weeks every year, leaving little time for us to focus on the upkeep of the theatre itself. So now we roll up our sleeves and dust off our paint brushes to tackle a variety of 'spring cleaning' projects. If you'd like to volunteer during the first two weeks of September to help us spruce up the joint, we'd love to have you join us.

And if you're doing any cleaning of your own and would like to help your friendly neighborhood puppet theatre in the process, we could always use donations of the following:

-cleaning supplies

-Apple Macintosh computers (less than five years old and in good working condition)

-file cabinets

-good quality office furniture

-power tools (in good condition)

-construction materials

-and we'd love to find a powerful A/C unit of 12,000 BTUs or more

But don't forget to check out our last shows of the season next week, and come on back for the shows in September. Our full calendar can be found here.

More About... Galapagos George by Barefoot Puppets

Imagine being the last of your kind, being truly "one-of-a-kind." This funny, silly, touching, educational tale is based on the true story of "Lonesome George," the last Giant Galapagos Tortoise discovered in 1971 after it was believed that his species had gone extinct.

Described by The Smithsonian as "an uplifting eco-fable," this engaging show shares an important lesson about man's impact on the environment in a simple manner understandable by kids as young as four.

Barefoot Puppet Theatre is based in Richmond, VA, and tours extensively throughout the US and Canada, performing at theatres, schools, libraries, and museums. Their shows bring to life world folktales, classic tales with a twist, and original works with imaginative scripts that are well researched and fun. The original production "Galapagos George" was funded in part by a grant from the Puppeteers of America Endowment Fund and received an UNIMA Citation of Excellence, the highest award possible in puppetry!

BUY TICKETS

Wednesday 8/11 @ 10:30am

Wednesday 8/11 @ 1:00pm

Thursday 8/12 @ 10:30am

Thursday 8/12 @ 1:00pm

Or call our Box Office at 617-731-6400.

Learn more about Puppetry with Brad and Paul

There are still spots available in our intro to puppetry class beginning August 4th. Join us, and you'll learn about construction, performance, and the history and breadth of the art of puppetry!

The class meets in three sessions, August 4th, 11th, and 18th, from 7-9:30pm at the showplace.

To sign up, visit our page at Brookline Community Education.

Puppets Around the Web: Forgotten Muppets

We've spent a lot of time watching Sesame Street. And we bet you have too, either as a parent or growing up as a kid.

Remember Leo the Party Monster? No? Neither did we.

Which is why we were excited to find Ryan Roe's post on Tough Pigs: "7 Sesame Muppets I Never Thought I'd See Before There Was YouTube."

And though he's not a Muppet, be sure to check out the last clip of Mr. Roger's visit to the Sesame neighborhood.

Improvements to Puppetshowplace.org Coming

We plan on making a number of changes to our website over the next few months. The big goal is to make the site more intuitive to navigate and show information more accessible. Smaller goals include adding more relevant video, updating our home page with more frequency, and providing our schedules and other printed pieces for download.

We don't expect this project to be completed until early summer 2011, but we've already taken steps to make information easier to find on our current site: our August 2010 schedule — with show descriptions and age recommendations — is ready and available for download in PDF form on our homepage!

Take a look: Puppet Showplace Theatre homepage

Join Our Family

Love puppets? Want to work with them every day? Then join us as a member of our team.

The Puppet Showplace Theatre is currently seeking a full-time Box Office Manager to lead the daily business operations of this 36-year-old performing arts organization.

The Box Office Manager ensures public access to our weekly performances by selling tickets, booking private performances and groups, assisting audiences, managing staff and volunteers, and maintaining the professional appearance and cleanliness of the theatre, lobby, and office spaces.

Click here for a complete position description. To apply, send cover letter and resume in Word or PDF format to executive@puppetshowplace.org. No phone calls, please.

More About... National Marionette Theatre

NATIONAL MARIONETTE THEATRE is one of the oldest continually running marionette theaters in the United States. Founded in 1967 by artistic director David A. Syrotiak, this award-winning company has been entertaining audiences around the world with their extraordinary productions for over forty years. Noted for their amazing manipulation technique and imaginative fully staged productions, National Marionette Theater is committed to bringing you the very best in family entertainment. The company has received critical acclaim both here in the United States and abroad and was the first American Marionette Theater to receive the prestigious UNIMA award for excellence in puppetry.



More About... Hansel & Gretel

The story of Hansel and Gretel has captured the imagination of audiences for generations. In National Marionette Theatre's newest production, two master puppeteers bring the most famous of the Grimm Brother’s stories to life. Featuring exquisitely crafted marionettes, scrolling scenery and the beautiful music of Engelbert Humperdinck, Hansel and Gretel is sure to delight audiences of all ages!

BUY TICKETS

Wed, July 14 @ 10:30 AM
Wed, July 14 @ 1:00 PM
Wed, July 15 @ 10:30 AM
Wed, July 15 @ 1:00 PM