Cashore Marionettes' SIMPLE GIFTS Takes Stage at The Ware Center Today

Today, April 6, 11 AM, the Cashore Marionettes will present "Simple Gifts" which is the fifth performance of the season in Millersville University's Fam Fun Fest series. Originally scheduled for the Winter Center on the Millersville campus, this entertaining and beautiful show has been re-located to the Ware Center at 42 North Prince Street, Lancaster, PA.

The Cashore Marionettes have redefined the art of puppetry and the word most frequently used to describe them is "exquisite." "Simple Gifts" is a series of touching stories, portrayals and poignant scenes from everyday life set to stunning music by such composers as Vivaldi, Strauss, Beethoven and Copland.

The exquisite puppetry explores a range of emotions with characters and actions that are amazingly lifelike and convincing. Through a combination of virtuoso manipulation, beautiful music, theatrical illusion, and artistic insight, the original vignettes presented in Simple Gifts provide an entertaining and sensitive vision of what it is to be human. The marionettes are engineering marvels and the quality of movement is extraordinary.

The creative director and chief puppeteer is Joseph Cashore. He describes his evolution to a higher state of puppetry this way: "When I was ten or eleven years old, my parents took me into a large gift shop at the New Jersey shore while we were on vacation. This is where I first saw a marionette in person. It was hanging from the ceiling - a pirate, colorfully dressed. I remember looking at this marionette for a long time, imagining the possibilities. It was hanging high out of my reach. I was naturally shy, and my family had moved on to somewhere else in the store, so I had to work up all my courage to ask the saleswoman if I could try moving the marionette. She turned me down." The rest is history... Cashore graduated from University of Notre Dame - Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and went on to study portrait and figure painting at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

Among his many awards three stand out: the Henson Foundation Grant, which promotes puppetry to adult audiences; UNIMA Citation of Excellence, the highest honor a US puppeteer can receive, and a Pew Fellowship for Performance Art based on artistic accomplishment. The Cashore Marionettes were also featured on the cover of the Spring/Summer 2010 issue of Puppetry International.

Joseph Cashore has been designing and performing his remarkable marionettes for over 30 years. This performance will feature an introduction by Lancaster's most famous puppeteer Rob Brock, Artistic Director of "Hole in the Wall Puppet Theatre," located on Water Street.

The doors open at 10 AM. The 11 AM show will be preceded by an hour of hands-on activities for kids and their parents or grandparents, created by Barry Kornhauser, Director of the Fam Fun Fest series.

Ticket Information: This event is open to the public. All tickets cost $8. Tickets may be purchased by calling 717-872-3811 or 717-871-2307. Online, at Millersville.edu/MUARTS. Or in person, at the Ware Center Box Office (42 N. Prince St., Lancaster) and the Student Memorial Center Ticket Office (Room 103, 21 S. George St., Millersville). Ticket Offices are open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Advance reservations are strongly urged for this performance.

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