The Highway Puppet Theater

Puppets for Pages

Flora — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:51:32 +0000

Like free Puppet Shows and supporting Pittsburgh Libraries? Visit the website of the campaign I’m coordinating with Katrina Strueloff, Puppets for Pages. Let’s keep every Pittsburgh library open.

Go, pierogis, go!

Flora — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:20:17 +0000

Well, the pierogis have been made, the instruments set up and the shows have been rehearsed in the space. Looks like it’s almost go-time!

Special thanks to the city paper for the wonderful coverage. For more info on tomorrow’s festivities, check puppetsandpierogis.com Night!

Puppets and Pierogis

Flora — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:38:18 +0000

After two months of travel and instrospection, preparations are getting in gear for the next Pittsburgh puppet cabaret. Mark your calendars!!!

Puppets and Pierogis!
A Grown-up Pittsburgh Puppet Cabaret
Friday, Aug 21 and Saturday Aug 22: 7:30pm
Modern|Formations, 4919 Penn Avenue.
$6 suggested donation adults

And… Kid-Friendly Matinee: Saturday, Aug 22: 3pm; kids free!

Two nights of locally made puppet shows to be consumed alongside some locally made pierogis. In a Pittsburgh homage to Great Small Works and Bread and Puppet, feed your soul and your body. Friday and Saturday night shows to be followed by local puppeteer-led band, The Resistibles.

welcome back, Tom Sarver!

Flora — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:08:35 +0000

Pittsburgh puppeteer Tom Sarver is briefly returning from graduate school to do an awesome project at the upcoming Three Rivers Arts Festival. The project will include live puppet shows, puppet workshops and all sorts of fun stuff. I know I’ll be sure to check it out.

Awesome international puppeteers this weekend!

Flora — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:10:28 +0000

Thanks to the Pittsburgh International Children’s Theater Festival, we have some great acts from around the world coming into the burgh this weekend. I definitely recommend checking out all the puppets no matter how old you are. Check out the lineup here.

Update on tonight’s show

Flora — Sat, 09 May 2009 20:34:25 +0000

Looks like we’re scaling back the show tonight significantly. There will still be plenty of awesome music, but much less puppetry. This week, life got in the way of rehearsal and construction time. But we will continue to work on this project and hopefully will finish constructing our plans in the near future.

puppet show this Saturday night!

Flora — Wed, 06 May 2009 20:27:11 +0000

Craving more puppets? This week, the band Uni Sami (fellow puppeteers Ange and Coleton, from Fare Feather Family) and myself will be performing a 20 minute music and puppetry piece as part of a larger variety show.

I’m so excited about this project. Ange and Coleton have chosen a set-list of 6 songs, including the first song that Ange ever wrote. It’s sort of turned into an abstract, mini-puppet opera. I really, really can’t wait. I might even get to simulate a mini puppet-explosion. How fun is that?

Saturday, May 9th
Doors open at 8pm, but we’ll go on closer to 9pm.
Garfield Artworks
4931 Penn Ave. Pittsburgh, PA

Hope to see you there!

puppets in the alps!

Flora — Tue, 05 May 2009 13:02:48 +0000

I got this email from a puppeteer friend this week. Sophia’s company best known for building the puppets seen in the yearly New York City Greenwich Village Halloween Parade. If you have some extra cash and are looking for a truly incredible way to spend a vacation this summer, this is the trip for you.

8th ANNUAL PUPPETRY WORKSHOP IN THE ITALIAN ALPS
Learn to create large-scale puppets and other visual elements for site-specific community pageant in close collaboration with local residents of a small hamlet in the Italian Alps. The project creates new works each year for the event, drawing on oral histories, local folklore, and regional agrarian rituals. After 8 years, the festival and workshop are still going strong, and are now a much anticipated neo-tradition in the Maira Valley. Beyond the basic workshop in pageant-building, the week includes Occitan step-dancing sessions, trips to nearby Medieval churches and cheese farms, and other unpredictable wonders. The gourmet meals (3/day) are prepared with local “Slow Food” produce.
- Families/children welcome
- No Italian language or puppetry experience required.
- The workshop is conducted in English, and we speak Italian and French as well.
You can learn more through the Processional Arts Workshop website here.

back to the burgh

Flora — Mon, 04 May 2009 19:41:17 +0000

After a really wonderful cabaret, I flew home to New Orleans for some recovery time with the fam. Now, I’m rested, full of abita and crawfish and ready to work on all the pittsburgh puppet events we’re planning for the summer months. Stay tuned!

I love being in New Orleans, but Pittsburgh feels more and more like another home every day. Well, when it isn’t cold and raining!

It’s official: 2 Shows Tomorrow

Flora — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:49:09 +0000

Tomorrow the weather should be beautiful, more people keep saying they’re coming and…. we’re going to do TWO PERFORMANCES to accommodate everyone! The first show will start promptly at 8:30 because of our tight timeframe, but if you’d rather come later you can come for the second!

Grown-up Cabaret April 09: Modern|Formations, 4919 Penn Avenue
First Show: 8:30-9:45PM
Second Show: 10:30PM-11:45PM

You can always have a drink at Envy, the bar next door, while you’re waiting. Come early, come late… see you soon!