An assortment of puppeteers perform various scenes from the 358-year-old traditional English puppet show, Punch & Judy (n.b. for adults only)
“Kamikaze” is a term Drama of Works uses for its themed puppet slams, based around one story/event/play. A multitude of puppet artists are given sections of the story to reinterpret and create with wild abandon. Then it is presented in order. No one knows how it will come together until the night of the show.
Puppets Come Home! is a series designed to celebrate Coney Island’s 150-year legacy of puppetry & provide a platform for contemporary cutting-edge puppeteers. Produced in collaboration with Coney Island USA.
Keith Shubert is working on his puppets, toys, and other wonderful notions in North Carolina. He is an MC, producer, puppeteer, clown, and witch!
When I was in Asheville last year we attempted to meet for a person-to-person interview but I got sick. We postponed it and last week I got a chance to do the interview via Zoom.
For more information about Keith’s work you can visit his website his Facebook page.
What is the first name that comes to mind when you hear the word puppet? Likely, it’s Jim Henson. Many books and thousands of pages have been written about Jim Henson’s life and work. This will, however, be the first book to focus solely on his love of the field of puppetry, an important and as yet unexplored aspect of Jim Henson’s lasting legacy. The Jim Henson Foundation’s International Puppet Festivals brought puppet theater into mainstream American theater.
Jim Henson knew that in order to introduce U.S. audiences to puppet theater our American companies would need to be seen with the best in the world. Thus, a festival! To realize Jim Henson’s vision for a puppetry festival in New York, the author served as producing director, working with Jim’s daughter Cheryl, who served as executive producer, to produce five award-winning festivals that would equal the European festivals and put U.S. puppet artists on the international stage.
Between 1992 and 2000, The Jim Henson Foundation presented five International Festivals of Puppet Theater in New York City and developed a national touring program. The festivals presented 136 different productions from 31 countries in 24 theaters throughout New York City. Over 120,000 people attended New York performances; nearly 400,000 saw exhibitions; 100,000 more attended Festival on Tour performances, and millions of people read about the festivals.
Out of the Shadows examines the festivals and their continued legacy, including a look at the contemporary puppet theater landscape. This year, 2020, is the 20th Anniversary of the last Henson Festival and the 30th Anniversary of Jim Henson’s death. It is time to reflect back.
“The American theater now knows there’s such a thing as serious puppetry, that it exists in the world. There were some amazing performances that really shifted my view of how powerful puppetry could be.” ~ Mark Russell, producer of Under the Radar Festival, The Public Theater
Five years ago LaMama theater presented this wonderful ‘Coffeehouse Chronicles’ examining the contemporary puppet theater from the 1970s to 2015.I thought it would bring some joy to those that missed this wonderful event and others to repost in these difficult times.
Cheryl Henson introduces the evening’s agenda to the audience.
Federico Restrepo talks to the audience about his show “Undefined Fraction”.
Lake Simons performs an excerpt from “Wind Set Up”.
Amy Trompetter talks to the audience about her history performing political theater with puppets.
Roman Paska talks about his work and the 1970’s and it’s influences
Coffeehouse Chronicles #129 participants: L to R – Amy Trompetter, Arthur Adair, Roman Paska, Lake Simons, Michal Gamily, Cheryl Henson, Jane Catherine Shaw, Ralph Lee.
Here are 2 videos that include much of the afternoon’s discussions. Part 1 and Part 2
Calling all comrades! BoxCutter Collective is live on the air! Meeting our nation’s dire need for more online video content, Judy and Weasel are broadcasting live from an abandoned Coney Island funhouse to bring you the answers to the questions you never knew you desperately need the answers to. Will their Pirate TV station be the spark to ignite the workers revolution or will the bad guys win once and for all? Or will it be somewhere in the middle? Tune in to Boxcutter TV to find out!
TICKETS $0-$15, sliding scale (pay what you can!) A donation link will be provided during the show.
ARTIST BIO:
The BoxCutter Collective is: Sam Wilson, Jason Hicks, Tom Cunningham & Joe Therrien & an extended family of rabble-rousers & mischief-makers. Our aim is to take down the rotten empire one cardboard puppet show at a time.
Vaudevisuals interview with Kate Brehm – puppeteer/performer/director
Vaudevisuals interview with puppeteer/director/performer Kate Brehm. She talks about her original inspiration and the process of creating this new puppet/movement piece ‘The Erdos Discrepancy‘.
The event happened at Dixon Place on April 22nd 2015 at 7:30pm
Featuring a lone human performer against a tide of geometric performing objects and a chorus of indifferent puppeteers, Erdos submerges the audience in a series of meditations about our dependence on technology, the allure of blind faith, and the question of whether participation is even a choice.
The show featured Kate Brehm, Rachael Shane, Alex Young, Maiko Kikuchi, Sarah Plotkin, and Kate Reilly. Directed by Amanda Friou. Music by Nehemiah Luckett. Costume design by Sarah McMillan. Set and puppet design by Kate Brehm
Beginning with this post I will be making weekly ‘flashbacks’ To “5 Years Ago Today“. Mixed in with current interviews with performers and photographs from shows either happening ‘online’ or previously posted! Enjoy!
Considering the cancellation of so many wonderful shows due to the ‘coronavirus’. I decided to ‘rerun’ some of the wonderful interviews I did with directors/performers of those shows. Today is the delightful, Jennifer Miller. A uniquely talented performer/director. Listen in as she talks about the show “Bloody Brains in a Jukebox” (written by Dick Zigun with music by Nikos Brisco) that she directed and never ‘OPENED’ due to this event. We are thinking it will arise and OPEN in the not-too-distant future at the delightful Coney Island USA.
Keep your eyes on Coney Island USA website for updates on this rock-opera!
From the ‘press release: a multi-disciplinary spectacle with a marching band, dancers, 12-foot puppets, shadow puppetry and moving projection screens. The band is an award-winning group, the Soul Tigers, young men and women who attend Benjamin Banneker High School in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Also featured are the Banneker Dancers.
