Happy Patriots Day and Marathon Monday

In observance of these two events, the Puppet Showplace Theatre will be closed on Monday. But don't let that stop you from having some puppet fun this week.

Because this is also vacation week we've got 12 performances of three fantastic shows. Tuesday and Wednesday is Romper Rhythm and Puppets' production of "Hungry Caterpillar and Forest Folktales." Thursday and Friday Nappy's Puppets bring the hilarious shadow puppet show "Father Goose's Tales." And the weekend features the classic "Jack and The Beanstalk" by Spring Valley Puppet Theatre. All shows are at 1:00pm and 3:00pm. Buy Tickets soon, we're likely to sell out.

But that's not all... Saturday, April 24th is the official National Day of Puppetry and Massachusetts Day of Puppetry! In celebration, we will be presenting a special behind-the-scenes performance of Spring Valley Puppet Theatre's "Three Wishes" at 5:00pm. The curtain will be literally pulled away so that you can see the puppeteer at work. Tickets are only $6 ($4 for members).

And watch out for members of the Boston Area Guild of Puppetry (BAGOP) on Saturday. They are taking puppets to the streets of Boston, with visits at the Children's Museum and the Frog Pond.

Puppets in Primetime...and on the Silver Screen

We at Puppet Showplace love live puppet theater more than anything, but we also know how important TV and film have been to making puppets famous around the world. Our regular Friday evening series, "Puppets in Primetime," is coming up April 16th at 6:30. Come on by the theater for a double bill of classic Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock episodes.

If you're craving more puppets on the big screen, our friends at the Brattle Theater in Cambridge are doing a weekend muppet marathon, with screenings of the Muppet Movie, Labyrinth, and other great films.

When I watch TV or film puppetry I'm always on the lookout for examples of the subtle manipulation techniques that really make the puppets come to life. It's a lot harder than it looks! Not only do puppeteers need to re-wire their brains while performing on camera so they can watch their puppet in monitors that show everything in left-right reverse, but they need to choreograph their movements so they translate well from 3D to 2D.

For a manipulation skill that's also translatable into live puppet theater, next time you watch the muppets try using your hand as a mouth (for extra fun, add a set of "peepers" eyes from our store) and see if you can talk in time with the puppets. Make sure the movement is mainly coming from your thumb rather than your top fingers--otherwise, your eyes would move every time you opened your mouth! This skill, called "lip synch" is one of the first things puppeteers need to master when working with talking mouth puppets.

Bonus: for an example of (intentionally) not-so-great on-camera puppetry, check out last week's episode of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart where he satirizes RNC chairman Michael Steel with a crazy puppet routine (the puppet appears about 10:30). Funny, or just painful to watch? The character is based on a Sesame Street routine set in a restaurant where Grover waits on a man who keeps sending his soup back. Enjoy!

Saturday April 24, 2010 officially proclaimed "Massachusetts Day of Puppetry"

More information on the day's events coming soon!

More About... Sarah Lamstein

This Wednesday and Thursday at 10:30AM, Sarah Lamstein joins us with her show Funny Bone Tales. The show is recommended for children ages 4 and up. The Wednesday show has sold out, but tickets are still available for Thursday's show. Ticket information can be found here: BUY TICKETS

Puppeteer. Past PST Board President. Benefactor. Sarah has been actively involved in the Puppet Showplace Theatre for many years, fighting to keep the doors open during our darkest hours. The Puppet Showplace Theatre owes a great debt of thanks to Sarah for her inexhaustible devotion.

She has been performing as a puppeteer for over 30 years and served as a board member of the Boston Area Guild of Puppetry. In addition, she was a secondary school English teacher and school librarian for 17 years and now writes for children, publishing picture books and a young adult novel. Sarah lives with her husband in Newton and has three children and one grandchild.

More About... Funny Bone Tales
With her gentle demeanor and sly wit, Sarah Lamstein tells three charming tales with hand puppets. Silly Sam is about a little boy who’s trying to find a suitable birthday present for his friend. Bendemolena is about a cat that finds everything she hears is all mixed up! Finally, a gentle version of the famous Punch and Judy show has children laughing and calling out directions to the trickster Mr. Punch.

Sarah Lamstein's official website

Only Seven Days Left

Please help make the Puppet Showplace one of Massachusetts' Great Places.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts invites residents from all 351 cities and towns across the state to nominate their favorite places. The nominations will be considered for a final list of 1,000 Great Places in Massachusetts to be announced in May.

The Great Places initiative will celebrate what is unique about the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, its communities, and its people. It also aims to stimulate the economy by boosting visitation to the state's wide range of exceptional historic sites, cultural venues, and natural landscapes.

The deadline for nominations is April 15. Tell your members, visitors, and fans to nominate their favorite place here: http://www.massvacation.com/1000/index.php

Check out Chronicle on WCVB-TV on Monday, April 12 at 7:30 pm for more on 1,000 Great Places.

Shadow Puppets at Brookline Music School

Since we're closed on Mondays, we encourage you to visit our friends at Brookline Music School on the 13th for a great shadow puppet performance.

Brookline Music School faculty and friends return as The Elephant Tango Ensemble to bring you more classic and original bedtime stories with live music! Shadow Puppet Storytime & Music will debut a new work by Jill Gibson, featuring puppets by Dylan Gould and Karin Webb, with music by Brendan Burns, Valerie Thompson, Vessela Stoyanova and Nate Greenslit. This show will also present a shadow puppet interpretation of three Aesop's Fables: Mice in Council, Mountain in Labor, and The Lion's Paw, with music selections from The Elephant Tango Ensemble.

The Elephant Tango Ensemble is a collective of musicians, actors, puppeteers, designers and dancers who are committed to the preservation of Storytime through the use of original music, puppets and creative storytelling. For more information on The Elephant Tango Ensemble visit www.elephanttango.com.

Monday, April 12, 2010, 7:00pm
Lincoln School Auditorium, 19 Kennard Rd., $5

More About...Tucker's Tales Puppet Theatre

Tucker's Tales Puppet Theatre is the performing division of Puppet Perceptions, Inc., a Philadelphia-area-based performing company founded in 1981. Co-directors Marianne and Tom Tucker have performed at puppet, folk, ethnic, and street festivals, and at craft fairs, shopping centers, theatres, and school across the country. They've also performed at the Puppet Showplace Theatre for many years!

In addition to performing, Marianne and Tom are active in the national puppetry community. Marianne currently serves on the board of directors for UNIMA-USA, and they have each served as president of the Greater Philadelphia Area Puppetry Guild (GPAPG).

Their production of Peter Rabbit Tales features three of Beatrix Potter's most beloved stories: The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Tale of Mrs Tittlemouse, and The Tale of Benjamin Bunny. The show features wonderful hand puppets, clever scenery, and turn-of-the-century costumes, adding up to an unforgettable theatre experience.

Showtimes: Wednesday and Thursday @ 10:30AM; Saturday and Sunday @ 1PM and 3PM.
BUY TICKETS

Puppets Now on Display @ PST: Punch & Judy

This season, the Puppet Showplace Theatre is excited to display posters and puppets depicting and portraying the irascible – and ancient – puppet duo of Punch and Judy. Did you know that Punch and Judy is one of the oldest puppet shows still being performed today? It's true. The show is over 400 years old... and we thought the Puppet Showplace Theatre has been around a long time!

The next time you join us for a show, make sure to look up at the walls all around the theatre. Until then, here's a peek at what you'll find.

Judy & Baby by Paul Vincent Davis


Punch & Dog by Paul Vincent Davis


Punch & Judy by Nancy Laverick

Muppets Easter Bunny

Warning: video contains images of violence against cute bunny rabbits. And bad singing.

Save the Date

The EVENING OF PUPPETRY is May 1st. Please join us for this celebration of puppetry and the Puppet Showplace Theatre.

And if you're in the mood for rabbits this weekend, check out Artist in Residence Brad Shur's "The Carrot Salesman" Saturday at 1pm and 3pm.

(Note: we will be closed on Sunday in observance of Easter.)

Webelos Earn Badges at the Puppet Showplace

On March 31st, 2010 a group of 13 Webelos earned their Showman Badge at the Puppet Showplace Theatre.

PST Artist in Residence Brad Shur led a Shadow Puppet Making Workshop for this group of young men from Wayland. The Webelos were able to fulfill all of their Showman Badge requirements, and best of all, have FUN!

Webelos is a 20 month program for 4th and 5th grade boys to prepare to join a Boy Scout troop while learning outdoors skills and participating in 20 different activity badges. A group of Webelos is a gradual change from being an 'adult-run' den to being a 'boy-run' patrol ready to fit right into an adventurous scouting troop. This migration requires the parents and den leaders to give the scouts more and more control, decision-making power, and responsibility as they progress in skills, abilities, and maturity.

If you would like more information about group workshops and other educational opportunities led by our Artist in Residence, call our Box Office at 617-731-6400. We are able to host groups in our lobby and theatre, or come to you!

More About... Sparky Davis and Sparky's Puppets

We're excited to welcome back Sparky Davis and Sparky's Puppets to the Puppet Showplace Theatre stage, tomorrow and Thursday, with their show Tricksters and Noodleheads.

Sparky Davis first performed here at the Puppet Showplace Theatre in the early 1980s and has been an audience favorite ever since! We think it's her gentle approach, her lively sense of humor, her unique interpretations of familiar tales, and her imaginative original characters that engage children and delight audiences of all ages.

Sparky began dramatizing children's literature while working as a school librarian, and now performs these tales all around New England in schools, libraries, and festivals.

A limited supply of tickets are still available for this week's performances. Call our friendly Box Office at 617-731-6400 or click here for more information!

Next Puppet Incubator: Tuesday March 30th

Next Puppet Incubator: Tuesday March 30th

Part jam session, part master class, part puppeteer clubhouse, the next incubator session is this coming Tuesday from 7-9pm!

If you're interested in building, performing with or just talking about puppets, you are invited to join us. The incubator is a great place to share puppet projects in progress, or to learn from others with a range of experience from fans to professionals.

In addition, we're working on an Incubator group project, a short puppet performance to debut at the next puppet slam on May 22. It's not too late to join in! The group project is a wonderful way to get your feet wet. We'll be covering all aspects of putting a short puppet show together, from writing through design, building and rehearsal.

The Incubator is free to the public, but donations are always appreciated.

-Brad Shur
Artist in Residence
Puppet Showplace Theatre

Starring...the AUDIENCE!

As the new Artistic Director at Puppet Showplace Theatre lot of my job has been to get to know our performers and their work. Equally as important, I have been watching and getting to know our audiences.

Unlike in movies or television, the audience plays a huge role in live performance. A puppeteer can instantly tell whether his or her work is making an impact: are people laughing in the right places? Are they engaging with the puppet when it asks questions? Do they “ooo” and “aaah” when something cool and unexpected appears?

Before coming to PST it had been a while since I worked with audiences primarily composed of children, and I had forgotten how amazing it is to perform for them. Children are incredibly honest audience members. If they are bored, they will tell you. If they are having a great time, they will laugh and cheer. If they think a puppet character has done something wrong, they will cry out for justice. It’s incredible to watch how our puppeteers harness children’s attention and engage their emotions in such a pure and unfettered way. If only all theater could be like this!

Help Us Make PST One of the 1,000 Greatest Places in Massachusetts

YOUR VOTE COUNTS! The Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism wants your input in assembling a list of the 1,000 Greatest Places in Massachusetts!

With 35 years as New England's Puppet Theatre, we think the Puppet Showplace Theatre should be on the list.

But we're not content to simply make the list. Our goal is to make the top 100! If you agree, and would like to see the Puppet Showplace Theatre included among the top 100 greatest historic sites, cultural venues, and natural landscapes that the state has to offer, nominate us for inclusion by submitting this free online form (It's really simple and quick). Voting concludes in early May.

Thank you for supporting New England's puppet theatre!

Bunnies for Sale at the PST Puppet Store!

The Store at the Puppet Showplace Theatre is overflowing with our floppy-eared friends — of the puppet variety.

Folkmanis Puppets produces a great line of rabbits including: White Rabbits, Dutch Rabbits, Jack Rabbits, a Rabbit in a Hat and more! They range from small finger puppets to large hand and stage puppets.

And they can all be found here at the Puppet Showplace Theatre. Store hours are Tuesday — Sunday from 10AM to 4PM.

More About... Matthew Leonard & Lionheart Puppet Company

Here's something you may not know about the Puppet Showplace Theatre: We're a presenting venue, which means we contract with outside performers to bring their shows to our stage. Yes, Brad Shur is our Artist in Residence, but he doesn't put on all the shows here at the theatre. That would be a lot of shows for one person to do — over 350 a year, to be somewhat exact.

We bring performers in from around Massachusetts, New England, the rest of the United States, and occasionally from international points, as well.

This week's performer is Matthew Leonard, who joins us with his troupe Lionheart Puppet Company. Based in Connecticut, Matthew has been performing since 2001, and is a graduate of the dramatic arts program at the University of Connecticut.

He has performed with The Great Arizona Puppet Theatre, Purple Rock Productions, and the Paper Moon Marionettes, has served as an officer for the Garden State Puppet Guild in New Jersey, and is active with the Connecticut Guild of Puppetry and the Puppeteers of America.

The Reluctant Dragon is the second PST Premiere show from Lionheart Puppet Company. Last summer, they brought a PST Premiere of their show The Little Red Hen.

Leonard also performs as part of Saltamontes Puppet Arts, which will visit the Puppet Showplace Theatre stage on May 1 and 2 with their show Babui.

We hope you're able to join us for the show!

Tickets are available by calling our Box Office at (617) 731-6400 or by clicking on the link below.

BUY TICKETS

Muppet Madness Tournament

Do you like Muppets? Do you watch college basketball? If you answered Yes to either of these questions (okay, it would be helpful if you at least answered Yes to the first question) then you are guaranteed to love the all-new, never-before-attempted Muppet Madness Tournament!

Designed after the NCAA basketball tourney, the brave and daring proprietors of MuppetCast.com and ToughPigs.com have joined forces to present what will surely be a spectacular Muppet online fan event! Your favorite characters from The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and Jim Henson’s other productions will face off each week as YOU vote the winners!

Follow the tournament here and on ToughPigs.com, and listen to The MuppetCast each week as Steve, Ryan, and Joe run down the winners and losers, and review the matchups in the week ahead. Let the games begin!

3/20 PuppetSLAM & Three Billy Goats Gruff

It's a busy weekend at the Puppet Showplace Theatre.

Pumpernickel Puppets performs the classic folk tale, "Three Billy Goats Gruff." This is the type of silly that everyone can enjoy. Shows are at 1pm and 3pm, Saturday and Sunday. I personally guarantee that you will love it.

And if you're planning on attending the PuppetSLAM Saturday evening, make your reservations now! The SLAM will sell out, so buy your tickets in advance. Tickets can be purchased here, or by calling our Box Office between 10am and 4pm at 617-731-6400. The SLAM begins at 8:00pm (so find a sitter for the kids).

Puppet Showplace Theatre on "The Sunny Side of the Street"

Artistic Director Roxanna Myhrum and Executive Director Kris Higgins join host Tod Gross on "The Sunny Side of the Street," which can be seen on NewTV, Newton Cable Access at the following times: Mondays at 2:30PM; Tuesdays at 9AM & 6:30PM; Wednesdays at 12:30AM & 9:30AM; Fridays at 5AM; and Saturdays at 9:30AM & 2:30PM.