Yiddish Folktales at Puppet Showplace!

"Puppets Around the World"

Series of puppetry styles and folktales from across the globe continues with...

"The Magic Soup and Other Stories"
by Artist in Residence, Brad Shur
Mar 27 & 28 (Thu & Fri) | 10:30 am
Mar 29 & 30 (Sat & Sun) | 1 pm & 3 pm

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When the things are looking down, how do you find the strength to persevere? Join Brad Shur as he shares one young adult’s story of challenge and triumph, through family history and family dinner.

This collection of yiddish folktales features your favorite stories from the Jewish tradition of Eastern Europe: “The Naked Truth and Resplendent Parable,” “The Egg Seller,” “The Very Small House,” “A Coat for Poverty,” “Pleasing All the World,” and “The Magic Soup." All of the puppetry elements and set pieces are designed and crafted by Brad Shur, Puppet Showplace in Residence.

Resplendent Parable character from "The Magic Soup and Other Stories"

About the Performance

What do you do when your relatives are coming over for dinner, but there's no food in sight? A young man's search for a family recipe ends up bringing folk tales to life...in his kitchen. Based on a collection of traditional Yiddish stories, "The Magic Soup" teaches that it is those with wit, humor and imagination who have the best chance of filling their bellies -- and fulfilling their dreams.

Trickster character, Hershel of Ostropol.

About the Performer

Brad Shur is a versatile puppeteer who has created and performed characters made of everything from pixels to papier mache. As the Artist in Residence at Puppet Showplace Theatre he performs regularly and teaches puppetry classes to students of all ages, Pre-K to adult. As protégé of master puppeteer Paul Vincent Davis, Shur trained extensively in glove puppetry and currently performs two of Davis’ classic shows at venues across New England. In January, he completed production for "Robin Hood," Shur's first original glove puppet show. Shur’s other original works include "The Carrot Salesman," "Dr. Doohickey and the Monster Machine," "The Yankee Peddler: Stories and Songs from Old New England" and "The Magic Soup and Other Stories," featured at the Puppeteers of America National Festival 2013.

Brad Shur with puppet character, the “Naked Ugly Truth” in “The Magic Soup and Other Stories”.

Prior to becoming the Artist in Residence at Puppet Showplace, Shur toured the country as a performer with Big Nazo (Rhode Island), Wood & Strings Theatre (Tennessee) and The PuppeTree (Vermont). As a builder Shur has designed and fabricated puppets for American Idol, Dollywood, Avenue Q, and the U.S.S. Constitution Museum. He is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design.

Don’t miss the “Naked Ugly Truth” in “The Magic Soup and Other Stories”.

Feast your eyes on "The Magic Soup and Other Stories"

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND!

The Ugly Truth

"The Magic Soup and Other Stories"

by Brad Shur, Artist in Residence

Fri, Nov 29 at 10:30am & 1pm 
Fri- (SOLD OUT)

Sat & Sun, Nov 30-Dec 1 at 1 & 3pm

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Puppet Showplace is proud to present a collection of Yiddish folktales that brings the whole family together for a wild puppet adventure! This original story featuring favorite tales from the Jewish folk tradition was written by Artist in Residence, Brad Shur. He designed the set, hand built all of the puppet characters, and performs the show solo. Feast your eyes on the magical world of "The Magic Soup and Other Stories" this Thanksgiving weekend at Puppet Showplace! (Friday performances are already SOLD OUT, so make your reservation today!)

From the story: "The Very Small House"

About the show: What do you do when your relatives are coming over for dinner, but there's no food in sight? A young man's search for a family recipe ends up bringing folk tales to life...in his kitchen. Based on a collection of traditional Yiddish stories, "The Magic Soup" teaches that it is those with wit, humor and imagination who have the best chance of filling their bellies -- and fulfilling their dreams.

About the performer: Brad Shur is a versatile puppeteer who has created and performed characters made of everything from pixels to papier mache. As the Artist in Residence at Puppet Showplace Theatre he performs regularly and teaches puppetry classes to students of all ages, Pre-K to adult. As protégé of master puppeteer Paul Vincent Davis, Shur trained extensively in glove puppetry and currently performs two of Davis’ classic shows at venues across New England. Shur’s original works include "The Carrot Salesman," "Dr. Doohickey and the Monster Machine," "The Yankee Peddler: Stories and Songs from Old New England" and "The Magic Soup and Other Stories," recently featured at the Puppeteers of America National Festival 2013. Shur is currently working on a new adaptation of "Robin Hood," set to open in January 2014. Prior to becoming the Artist in Residence at Puppet Showplace, Shur toured the country as a performer with Big Nazo (Rhode Island), Wood & Strings Theatre (Tennessee) and The PuppeTree (Vermont). As a builder Shur has designed and fabricated puppets for American Idol, Dollywood, Avenue Q, and the U.S.S. Constitution Museum. Shur is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design.

Brad Shur, Puppet Showplace Artist in Residence

Behind the Scenes at PST: Magic Soup & Other Stories

It's Brad!

Not Just Soup, Magic Soup

It's official, folks.  We are just a few short days away from the biggest of all feasts: Thanksgiving - and what better way to celebrate than to continue this year's Feast of Food and Folktales with The Magic Soup & Other Stories  Put another notch on your belt (or switch to elastic waistband pants) because the show returns to PST the day after Thanksgiving and we'll be adding "soup" to your leftovers.      

About the Show...

The Magic Soup & Other Stories is a collection of six short stories - “The Naked Truth and Resplendent Parable,” “The Egg Seller,” “The Very Small House,” “A Coat Poverty,” “Pleasing All the World,” and “The Magic Soup" - all of which are taken from the vibrant Jewish folk traditions of Eastern Europe.  In these short stories, everybody is looking for something - whether it's a bowl of soup or some peace and quiet - and it is those with wit, a sense of humor, and imagination who have a better chance of making their dreams come true.

...And Its Mechanics

I'm sure you're all familiar with our artist-in-residence, Brad Shur.  Well, since I profiled him for "Behind the Scenes at PST: Dr. Doohickey" just a few weeks ago, I thought it would be neat-o to discuss the work he puts into his puppetry - because it's pretty awesome.

Brad using shadow puppets

As of I mentioned before, The Magic Soup & Other Stories is made up of six short stories and they're all unique in their use of puppetry.  In "The Naked Truth and Resplendent Parable," Brad uses table top and rod puppets.  In "The Egg Seller," shadow puppets.  In "The Very Small House," table top, hand, and mouth puppets.  In "A Coat Poverty," shadow puppets.  In "Pleasing All the World," table top puppets.  And in "The Magic Soup," table top puppets.

Now, having named all these styles, you're probably wondering: how do they work?  Well, let's take a look at a few examples, starting with the shadow puppets.  Brad begins by creating his puppets digitally, designing them on his computer and adjusting their sizes accordingly - comparing one puppet to the other so they can all work together.  After he prints, then cuts them out, Brad places his finished work on the over-head projector, which allows the puppets to create large, blown-up shadows.

The reason why Brad uses shadow puppets in, let's say, "The Egg Seller," is because he wanted to create the broad and abstract locations that exist within the story.  With shadow puppets, he is able to do just that - create a sense of place.

As for table top puppets - which you'll see a lot of throughout the show - Brad uses paper mache cast-over foam, which he shapes into any form he so desires, to create a wide variety of cast members, including monsters!  He constructs them in such a way that he is able to be in control - of one part in particular: the head, which he uses to create simple yet elegant and powerful movements.

One of Brad's puppets: The Ugly, Naked Truth!

And what of the characters in The Magic Soup?  Brad had one goal in mind: to transform the space and make magical things come out of said space.  In other words, he took everyday objects like coats and trash cans and transformed them to make his characters exist in a magical, story land.  And it worked!   Brad engineered different materials to look out-of-this-world.  Trust me - when you come to see The Magic Soup, you will find that mundane objects have become magical.

In honor of the Feast of Food and Folktales (and Thanksgiving), be sure to come on down to PST this week to see Brad perform in The Magic Soup & Other Stories.  It's a show you won't want to miss!  In case you haven't done so already, tickets can be purchase online HERE.

'Till next time, Fellow Readers!  Yours truly, Esra Erol - marketing intern at PST.

The Magic Soup at PST!

PST Feast of Food and Folktales 2012!
November 1 - December 2
View Show Calendar

It's official, folks!  It's the week of Thanksgiving and we've got a treat for you: soup!  And not any ordinary soup - magical soup.  Before we get into our winter puppet show season, our Feast of Food and Folktales concludes with...

THIS WEEK AT PST:

The Magic Soup & Other Stories by Brad Shur
Fri Nov 23 | 10:30 AM & 1 PM
Sat Nov 24 & Sun Nov 25 | 1 PM & 3 PM
And then the following week...
Thur Nov 29 & Fri Nov 30 | 10:30 AM
Sat Dec 1 | 1 PM & 3 PM
Sun Dec 2 | 1 PM

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About the Show: Uncle Murray is coming over for dinner, but there's no food in sight! A young man's search for a family recipe ends up bringing folk tales to life...in his kitchen. Based on a collection of traditional Yiddish stories, "The Magic Soup" teaches us that it is those with wit, humor and imagination who have the best chance of filling their bellies - and fulfilling their dreams.

About the Performer: Brad Shur, PST's artist-in-residence, has been professionally involved in puppetry for over 10 years.  He first began as a performer with the Providence puppet and mask company Big Nazo while he was a student at the Rhode Island School of Design and has toured nationally with Wood & Strings Theatre, a marionette company out of Tennessee.  As a teaching artist, he teaches workshops and classes for students of all ages. 

Crabgrass Puppet Theatre Stops by for some Magic Soup

From Left: Roxanna Myhrum (PST Artistic Director), Jaime Keithline (Crabgrass), Brad Shur (PST Artist-in-Residence),  and Bonnie Hall (Crabgrass) on the set of "Magic Soup."

As New England's oldest and only puppet theatre open all year round, Puppet Showplace Theatre is also an important center to support the work of local puppetry artists, and where puppeteers come to support each other's work.

On Thursday, August 9th, Crabgrass Puppet Theatre from Halifax Vermont came to Brookline to take a special behind the scenes look at PST Artist-In-Residence, Brad Shur's newest production, "The Magic Soup and Other Stories".  This puppet show is on stage for one more day this month, Saturday August 11th with performances at 10:30am and 1pm  BUY TICKETS and will return to the stage during Thanksgiving week for PST's "Feast of Food and Folktales" this November.

Jaime and Bonnie of Crabgrass have been creating puppet theatre together since 1982, and were impressed with Brad's new show.  Here's what they had to say about the performance: "What a great show! It is so exciting to see that young puppeteers like Brad are making such strong new work" and "Brad is a wonderful actor, and the design is beautiful and well done."

Crabgrass Puppet Theatre will be on stage next week, August 15th through 18th, with a brand new performance of "Jack and the Beanstalk." More Info.  Join us for a special post-show reception to meet the performers and enjoy refreshments sponsored by the Boston Area Guild of Puppetry after the 10:30am show on Saturday, August 18th.

The Perfect Recipe for an Awesome Puppet Show!

THIS WEEK AT PST

Magic Soup and Other Stories
by Brad Shur, PST Artist-In-Residence
Wed-Sat | August 8-11 | 10:30am & 1pm

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PST is thrilled to welcome our Artist-In-Residence back to the stage this month with his newest show:"Magic Soup and Other Stories", a collection of Yiddish folk tales told with great humor and exciting mixed puppetry styles.  What ever your favorite ingredient for good theatre, Brad's "Magic Soup" is sure to make you laugh, clap and have a great time!

About the show: Uncle Murray is coming over for dinner, but there's no food in sight! A young man's search for a family recipe ends up bringing folk tales to life...in his kitchen. Based on a collection of traditional Yiddish stories, "The Magic Soup" teaches that it is those with wit, humor and imagination who have the best chance of filling their bellies -- and fulfilling their dreams.

About the performer: Brad has been professionally involved in puppetry for almost 15 years. He began as a performer with the Providence puppet and mask company Big Nazo while studying film and animation at the Rhode Island School of Design. He has worked in various capacities with Wood & Strings Theatre (Tennessee), and Vermont PuppetTree, and as a builder has designed and fabricated puppets for American Idol, Dollywood, and other theaters and performers from Austin, Texas to Boston, Massachusetts.  Brad performs almost every month at PST and teaches classes and workshops to students ages 3 to adult.

All of the puppets Brad uses in his performances come from his workshop, where he builds them by hand from wood, paper, plastic, foam and fabric.

More about… “The Magic Soup & Other Tales” by Brad Shur

Saturday and Sunday | February 5 & 6 | 1PM & 3PM
Wednesday and Thursday | February 9 & 10 | 10:30AM

About the show: The Magic Soup presents stories taken from the rich Jewish folk tradition of Eastern Europe. In these six short tales, everyone is looking for something, whether it’s a bowl of soup, a bit of peace and quiet, or the perfect pair of shoes. It is those with wit, humor and imagination who have the best chance of finding their dreams.

Performed with mixed styles of puppetry, including rod, shadow and tabletop. This show is recommended for ages 4 and up.

About Brad Shur: Brad has been professionally involved in puppetry for nearly 10 years. He first began as a performer with the Providence puppet and mask company Big Nazo while a student at the Rhode Island School of Design and has toured nationally with Wood & Strings Theatre, a marionette company out of Tennessee. Brad recently finished working with the Vermont PuppetTree as a freelance puppet designer and performer.

He has experience teaching workshops and classes for students of all ages and hopes to be known in the future as an Arts Educator. Brad has a passion for performance and describes his style as “carnival barker” driven by interactive audience dialogue.

He is thrilled to be with the Puppet Showplace Theatre as its Artist in Residence!

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