Summertime Saturday Puppet Shows at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, 6/28-8/9

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will once more present its popular Summertime Saturday Puppet Shows for family audiences on seven successive Saturdays, June 28-August 9, 2014. Each show will be performed twice, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. All performances will take place at the Ballard Institute at Storrs Center. Admission is $5 for children, $7 for adults. Tickets will be sold at the door on the day of performance.

The series begins on June 28 with special guest performances of Raccoon Tales by Boston-based puppeteer Brad Shur, artist-in-residence at Brookline's Puppet Showplace Theater. It continues with new works by UConn Puppet Arts students and alumni through August 9.

The schedule of Summertime Saturday Puppet Shows includes the following:

June 28 - Raccoon Tales: a handpuppet show performed by Brad Shur, written by Paul Vincent Davis.
July 5 - George & Martha: performance by Puppet Arts student Gavin Cummins, based on the stories of James Marshall.
July 12 - Bits & Pieces Puppet Show: performances by Puppet Arts students Anatar Marmol and Ana Craciún.
July 19 - A Show of Shadows: shadow puppets from western and Chinese traditions by Puppet Arts alumni Xing Xin Liu.
July 26 - Lisa the Wise & Other Tales: shadow puppet performance by Puppet Arts student Sarah Nolen.
August 2 - Toy Theater Extravaganza: new works for toy theater by Penny Benson, Gavin Cummins, Sarah Nolen, and Dana Samborski.
August 9 - Family Friendly Pot-Pourri: marionettes and handpuppet performances by Puppet Arts students Krista Weltner, Anatar Marmol, and Sarah Nolen.

Families attending the Summertime Saturday Puppet Shows can also see two exciting exhibitions at the Ballard Institute: The World of Puppetry: From the Collections of the Ballard Institute, an exhibition of over fifty puppets celebrating the magnificent variety of global traditions from Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas represented in the Ballard Institute's permanent collections, and Opera and Giant Puppets: Amy Trompetter's "Barber of Seville", an array of stunning giant figures used in Trompetter's production of the famous comic opera. And don't forget to sample UConn Dairy Bar ice cream at Le Petit Marché Café, just a few steps from the Ballard Institute.

The new Ballard Institute at Storrs Center is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and is located at 1 Royce Circle in the new downtown Storrs, just off the Town Square. For more information about summer programming, including public puppet construction workshops, see bimp.uconn.edu, or Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry on facebook.

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