Leslie Swan Photography
The Jim Henson Foundation Grant awarded
Milo the Magnificent
Outdoors at the Cabin John Amphitheater
7400 Tuckerman Ln, Bethesda, MD 20817
Saturday, June 11 @ 3pm
Tickets: FREE!

Alex and Olmsted's Jim Henson Foundation Grant awarded Milo the Magnificent is a highly engaging puppet show about an aspiring magician. This wordless comedy, inspired by turn of the century vaudeville entertainers, is as highly physical as it is charming. Using stunningly innovative puppetry, Milo presents a variety of magic tricks which don’t always go as planned. Great for all ages!
2021 PROJECTS:
THE JUXTAPOSE TENEMENT
with Happenstance Theater!
NOW PLAYING ONLINE
​
Happenstance has launched an interactive website called THE JUXTAPOSE TENEMENT. This virtual shadow-box tenement building, inspired by the works of Joseph Cornell, features portals through which visitors glean poetic glimpses of characters, environments, and fantasias.

Join us HERE for this unique online experience.
Official Selection!
MARIANNE'S ONION
Montréal International Animation Film Festival - ANIMAZE
Dec 17, 2021 - Jan 16, 2022

This is our Québec premiere!
​
Tickets: HERE
Official Selection!
MARIANNE'S ONION
live screening at the
Paris Film Art Festival in Paris, France
Saturday, December 4, 2021 at cinema L'épée de bois, rue Mouffetard 

This is our French premiere!

More info HERE to attend the festival!
BROUHAHA
with Happenstance Theater
​at Baltimore Theatre Project in Baltimore, MD 
October 28 – November 7, 2021
Tickets: HERE

BrouHaHa is a comedic, existential escapade inspired by images of refugees fleeing on foot, Edwardian workers, cinematic treasures like Fellini’s La Strada and Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, and the dark comedy of Samuel Beckett. In this devised, clown-esque piece, Happenstance Theater’s troupe of eccentrics walks the precipice at the end of the world. Their play lights up the darkness like a firecracker.
​Official Selection!
MARIANNE'S ONION
playing at the
Washington West International Film Festival in Virginia, USA
Live Screenings!
Friday, Oct. 22nd | 6:00pm ET
Sunday, Oct. 24th | 4:00pm ET

This is our Virginia premiere! Marianne's Onion is an official selection of the Washington West International Film Festival. We are featured in the 
"Shorts Program Two: Seek and You Will Find."

More info HERE to attend the festival online (or in person!)
Milo the Magnificent (Live, In Person!)
at InterAct Story Theatre in Wheaton, MD
Oct 16 at 11am ET & October 17 at 2pm ET
Tickets: HERE
Alex and Olmsted’s Milo the Magnificent is a highly engaging puppet show about an aspiring magician. This wordless comedy, inspired by turn of the century vaudeville entertainers, is as highly physical as it is charming. Using stunningly innovative puppetry, Milo presents a variety of magic tricks which don’t always go as planned. Milo the Magnificent, was awarded a 2017 Jim Henson Foundation Grant, a Greenbelt Community Foundation Grant, and received an excellent mention in the New York Times. Alex Vernon and Sarah Olmsted Thomas are also proud company members of Happenstance Theater with whom they have created ten productions since 2012. Great for all ages!
Photo by Kintz.
Meet Our Mentors
Interview with Art Gruenberger
Hosted by the Puppeteers of America

Join us in conversation with Art Gruenberger of The Puppeteers of America as we discuss our mentors both in and out of the puppetry world.

More Info HERE
Official Selection!
MARIANNE'S ONION
playing at the
LUNENBURG DOC FEST in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, CANADA
Sept 23 - 29, 2021

This is our Documentary Film Festival premiere! Marianne's Onion is an official selection of Nova Scotia's Lunenburg Doc Fest.

More info HERE to attend the festival online (or in person!)
Milo the Magnificent
at the Cherry Arts in Ithaca, NY
Live In-Person Show: Sat, Sept 4 at 10:30am ET

Join us for our FIRST IN-PERSON SHOW since March 2020 of our Jim Henson Foundation grant awarded Milo the Magnificent! We will be performing at the Cherry Arts in Ithaca, New York as part of the Lilypad Puppet Theater's fall series. 
​Potpourri (Open Mic) Hosted by Alex and Olmsted
Hosted by Alex and Olmsted
ONLINE OPEN MIC: Sat, August 21 from​ 8pm-9pm ET

The Potpourri is an open mic for puppetry for short puppet acts 3 minutes or less. You don't need to perform to attend! For material: It can be new, it can be old, just make sure it's family friendly and under 3 minutes. If you don't have an act, but you have a puppet you'd like to share, Alex and Olmsted are ready to give your puppet an interview! 
Virtual Field Trip! Black Cherry Puppet Theater in Baltimore
Documentary produced by Alex and Olmsted
FESTIVAL-ONLY ONLINE PREMIERE: Sat, August 21 at 5pm ET

For over 40 years, Black Cherry Puppet Theater has been an association of artists and performers committed to the advancement of the art of puppetry. Located in the historic neighborhood of Hollins Market in Baltimore, Maryland, Black Cherry is a sustaining organization that brings a unique theatrical experience across the Mid-Atlantic Region through residencies with artists of other disciplines, educational, and community art activities. In this Virtual Field Trip, you will get a chance to learn more about Black Cherry and visit the theater and workshop in addition to a live interview with Founder and Executive Director Michael Lamason.
Saturday Morning Puppet Shows (Show)
Curated by Alex and Olmsted
ONLINE PREMIERE: Sat Aug 21, 2021 at 9am-10am ET
​
The National Capital Puppetry Festival presents a FREE program for all ages inspired by Saturday cartoons of yore!  "Saturday Morning Puppet Shows" is an entertaining program of short-form puppet theater produced by The Puppet Slam Network and hosted by internationally acclaimed puppet duo and NCPG members, Alex and Olmsted!  Featuring the extraordinary talents of Katherine Fahey & The Lantern Sisters (Baltimore), Schroeder Cherry (Baltimore), Paige O’Malley (D.C.), Kurt Hunter Marionettes (Minneapolis), Tanya Nixon-Silberg (Boston), Jim (Nappy) Napolitano Hamden, CT), Mobi Warren (San Antonio, Texas), The Stringpullers (Ithaca, NY), AJ Taysom (Salt Lake City), and International guest artists Lormiga Títeres of Sonora, México.
The National Capital Puppet Slam
Curated by Alex and Olmsted
FESTIVAL-ONLY PREMIERE: Fri, Aug 20 at 8pm ET

The National Capital Puppet Slam highlights the excellence of contemporary puppet theater by showcasing the talents of Dirk Joseph's String Theory Theater (Baltimore), Tarish ‘Jeghetto’ Pipkins (Chapel Hill, NC), Linda Wingerter of The Stringpullers (Ithaca, NY), Myra Su (Chicago), Vanessa Valliere (Chicago), Lyon Hill (Columbia, SC), Balder Westein (the Netherlands), and Di Filippo Marionette (Italy). This program is produced by The Puppet Slam Network and hosted by internationally acclaimed puppet duo and NCPG members, Alex and Olmsted! 
The 2nd Virtual National Capital Puppetry Festival
with the National Capital Puppetry Guild
All events ONLINE: Thurs Aug 19 - Sun Aug 22, 2021

It's almost here! This ONLINE festival highlights the extraordinary talents of contemporary puppetry with 3 shows, 9 workshops, and much more for only $20-$25! We've been hard at work curating both puppet slams, creating all promo, and filming an original documentary about Baltimore's Black Cherry Puppet Theater, to name a few!
NYC PREMIERE!
Marianne's Onion
at the International Puppet Fringe Festival
In-Person AND Online Premiere: Friday, Aug 13 at 5pm ET

As featured in the New York Times, the International Puppet Fringe Festival NYC is a biannual puppet theater fringe festival hosted by Teatro SEA in the Lower East Side of New York City. The Puppet Fringe Festival is the first ever international fringe festival dedicated to puppetry.
This year, the Puppet Fringe joins efforts with the Museum of the City of New York to celebrate the exhibition Puppets of New York and celebrate for the first time ever Puppet Week in the city of New York. 
May Day Virtual Puppet Slam!
at Black Cherry Puppet Theater
Saturday, May 1, 2021 at 7pm EDT
Live on Black Cherry's YouTube: HERE

Mayday! Mayday! A puppet slam on May Day! Spring is here and puppets are back! Join us for a long over due puppet slam as we shake off the wintery cobwebs and celebrate the potential for future togetherness and the coming of spring. There will be dancing, there will be singing, and of course COLLECTIVE GLOOM RESISTANCE! Join us May 1st @ 7PM on YouTube to chat it up and see what all of our amazing performers have been up to/ working on over the last little while.
Performers: Sam Grossman & the Motherload, Jess Rassp, Valeska Populoh & Peter Redgrave, Marian Mclaughlin, Cecilia Cackley, Alex & Olmsted, Jia Le Ling, Abby Holgerson, Philip McKnight
Musicians: Alani Sugar, Marian McLaughlin, Naomi Davidoff
*Artwork by Molly Brett
Inside the Artist's Studio
with Old Trout Puppet Workshop
Thurs, April 29, 2021 8PM – 9:30PM EDT
FREE Tickets: HERE
​
The Canadian Academy of Mask and Puppetry (CAMP) is excited to host its new virtual series with Peter Balkwill of the Old Trout Puppet Workshop. Join us as Balkwill conducts interviews and studio tours in his inimitable style.

The free hour-long sessions will introduce you to Puppetry and Mask artists from around the globe over the year. The second incredible guests in this series are Alex and Olmsted, makers of original puppet works, physical theater, and mechanical wonder.
Official Selection!
MARIANNE'S ONION
Festival of Animated Objects in Calgary, Alberta, CANADA
April 2 & 3, 2021
MILO THE MAGNIFICENT
at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry (BIMP)
Saturday, March 27 at 4pm
​Tickets: Here
VERNAL EQUINOX PARADE
with Happenstance Theater!
Saturday, March 20, 2021
A parade with original masks.
Silver Spring & Takoma Park
Online Premiere!
Marianne's Onion
Saturday, Feb 27 at 6pm ET
A short film. A true story from the pandemic told through shadow puppetry based on an interview with Marianne Ross.
​produced by Heather Henson's Handmade Puppet Dreams
My Synesthesia Valentine
Saturday, Feb 13 at 8pm ET
A multi-sensory collection of Love via art, science, video & music!
produced by ONCE
Available: HERE
We are incredibly grateful to the organizations below for their support:
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