ALEX & OLMSTED
  • THEATER
    • Milo the Magnificent
    • Marooned! A Space Comedy
    • Homebodies
    • VARIETY ACTS
  • FILMS
    • Marianne's Onion
    • Kindred Spirits
    • 2020 Short Films
    • 2021 Short Films
    • World Puppetry Day Shorts
  • Build Videos & Tutorials
  • UPCOMING
    • 2022
  • SUPPORT
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
© RTL / Stefan Gregorowius & Frank Hempel
2022 PROJECTS:
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Photo by Kintz
NEW YEARS EVE SHOWS!
Milo the Magnificent 

Saturday, December 31, 2022 at 6 & 7pm
at The Avalon Theatre
MILO video trailer.
Easton, Maryland, USA
Tickets: HERE

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Alex U. Griffin photography
Milo the Magnificent 
Saturday, December 17, 2022 at 1 & 3 PM
at the Gaithersburg Arts Barn
MILO video trailer.
Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA
Tickets: HERE

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PUPPET SLAMWICH!
at Black Cherry Puppet Theater
Saturday November 19th, 2022
Two shows at 6:30pm & 9:30pm
Tickets: HERE

An evening of Puppetry & Performance for Grown-ups! 
Puppet Acts! A Musical Guest! Popcorn! More info to come!


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photo by Leslie Swan Photography
Preposterous! A Happenstance Circus
Friday Nov 18, 2022 at 6pm ET
at the Gaithersburg Arts Barn

PREPOSTEROUS! video trailer.
Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA
​Tickets: HERE


A SOPHISTICATED, FAMILY-FRIENDLY, POCKET-SIZED THEATRICAL CLOWN CIRCUS!

These charming VINTAGE clowns play circus ANIMALS, sing as a HUMAN CALLIOPE, do the classic circus MIRROR ROUTINE, invent a number of RIDICULOUS "entrées," perform LIVE MUSIC, and execute a very satisfying SLOW MOTION number involving a PIE!


Featuring Mark Jaster, Sabrina Mandell, Gwen Grastorf, Sarah Olmsted Thomas, and Alex Vernon. ​

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photo by Blonnie Brooks of WAGS Media.
POCKET MOXIE: A Happenstance Vaudeville
Oct. 27 - Nov 13, 2022
at Baltimore Theatre Project
POCKET MOXIE video trailer.
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
​Tickets: HERE

Happenstance Theater brings old Vaudeville back with POCKET MOXIE!, an homage to the style and spirit of the Great Age of Vaudeville with slapstick comedy, tight harmonies, and celestial charades. Five versatile players breathe new life into classic old routines. From a ventriloquist’s dummy to a magic act that goes awry, from novelty songs and a musical saw to waiters juggling meatballs, all acts are accompanied by live music and “foley” sound effects.


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Latest on our YouTube
Lose Your Soul - short puppet film
Released October 31, 2022
Watch it: HERE



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Encore Performances!
Milo the Magnficient 
Saturday, Nov 5 & Sunday, Nov 6 @ 11:30am
at The Puppet Co. Playhouse
Glen Echo, Maryland, USA
Tickets: HERE



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The Puppet Co.'s Puppet Slam
Saturday, Oct 15 at 7:30pm & 10pm
at The Puppet Co. Playhouse
Glen Echo, Maryland, USA
Tickets: HERE

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Marianne's Onion (FILM)
Friday, October 7th at 5pm on Coney Island, NYC
at Puppet Homecoming 2022: PofA Northeast Regional Festival
Marianne's Onion video trailer.
Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Tickets: HERE

This Puppeteers of America Northeast regional festival will be the first PofA Festival hosted in NYC since 1939!​  Coney Island has a 150 year history of puppetry in Brooklyn, NYC, and we are honored to share our puppet film "Marianne's Onion" as part of their opening night events.



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© RTL / Stefan Gregorowius & Frank Hempel
Our television debut!
MILO THE MAGNIFICENT
on DIE PUPPENSTARS
Oct 1, 2022 at 20:15 GMT+2 on RTL
streaming on RTL Germany

We are thrilled to finally announce our television debut with Milo the Magnificent on RTL's DIE PUPPENSTARS! We flew to Germany over the summer to film our live segment and met amazing people working at the Bildergarten Studios and some incredibly talented puppeteers. Be sure to tune in and check it out!

​

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Marianne's Onion (FILM)
Sept 9-18, 2022
at the Puppets in the Green Mountains Festival
Marianne's Onion video trailer.
Putney, Vermont, USA
Tickets: HERE

Charlotte by Zach Dorn
Cicada Princess by Mauricio Baiocchi
Marianne’s Onion and Earth Worm by Alex and Olmstead
Melvin the Birder by Spencer Lott
Robin & Wriggler by Linda Wingerter
The Memory Trade by Jon Riddleberger
Amal’s Journey by Basil Jones, Adrian Kohler & David Lan​

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The Jim Henson Foundation grant awarded
MILO THE MAGNIFICENT
Sept 1-30, 2022
Milo the Magnificent video trailer.
at The Puppet Co. Playhouse
in Glen Echo, Maryland, USA
Tickets: HERE

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!

​

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Alex U. Griffin photography
The Jim Henson Foundation grant awarded
MILO THE MAGNIFICENT
Saturday, August 27 at 12pm PT
at the Puget Sound Puppetry Festival
in Seattle, Washington, USA
Tickets: HERE

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!
​
Milo the Magnificent video trailer HERE.

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Honorable Mention!
Marianne's Onion, a short puppet film
at the International Fine Arts Film Festival
Marianne's Onion is a true story told through shadow puppetry based on an interview with Marianne Ross. Eighty-six year old Marianne hikes through the valley behind her house one day when she is in need of an onion and miraculously finds one in the woods. The film follows her journey from first discovery, to the reactions of her community, to her hilarious and poignant musings on the meaning of unexpectedly receiving a seemingly mundane gift.
Screening Online: August 2022
​Tickets and more information: HERE
​

Marianne's Onion video trailer HERE.

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Glenn Ricci photography
Jim Henson Foundation grant awarded show!
MAROONED! A Space Comedy
July 27 - 30, 2022
at the Santa Fe Playhouse
Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
​Tickets: HERE

We are thrilled to announce that our Jim Henson Foundation grant awarded MAROONED! A Space Comedy will be the opening show in the inaugural SKELETAL SERIES, a new-works festival at the Santa Fe Playhouse, the oldest continuously running theatre west of the Mississippi. MAROONED! is an innovative new puppet show, featuring music from the Voyager Golden Record, that takes place at the outer reaches of space. An astronaut crashes on an uncharted planet. Will she be able to survive strange creatures, anomalous atmosphere, and isolation in order to find her way home? See for yourself… in MAROONED!
MAROONED! video trailer HERE.

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Blonnie Brooks of WAGS Media
POCKET MOXIE: A Happenstance Vaudeville
Sun, Jul 24, 2022 @ 2 PM 
at the Camden Opera House
Camden, MAINE, USA
​Tickets: HERE

Happenstance Theater brings old Vaudeville back with POCKET MOXIE!, an homage to the style and spirit of the Great Age of Vaudeville with slapstick comedy, tight harmonies, and celestial charades. Five versatile players breathe new life into classic old routines. From a ventriloquist’s dummy to a magic act that goes awry, from novelty songs and a musical saw to waiters juggling meatballs, all acts are accompanied by live music and “foley” sound effects.
POCKET MOXIE video trailer HERE.

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Blonnie Brooks of WAGS Media
POCKET MOXIE: A Happenstance Vaudeville
Sat, Jul 23, 2022 @ 7:30 PM 
at the Celebration Barn Theater
Paris, MAINE, USA
​Tickets: HERE

Happenstance Theater brings old Vaudeville back with POCKET MOXIE!, an homage to the style and spirit of the Great Age of Vaudeville with slapstick comedy, tight harmonies, and celestial charades. Five versatile players breathe new life into classic old routines. From a ventriloquist’s dummy to a magic act that goes awry, from novelty songs and a musical saw to waiters juggling meatballs, all acts are accompanied by live music and “foley” sound effects.
POCKET MOXIE video trailer HERE.

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Blonnie Brooks of WAGS Media
POCKET MOXIE: A Happenstance Vaudeville 
​with Happenstance Theater
Sunday, July 10th at 3pm
at the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, New York
Tickets & Info: HERE

Happenstance Theater brings old Vaudeville back with POCKET MOXIE!, an homage to the style and spirit of the Great Age of Vaudeville with slapstick comedy, tight harmonies, and celestial charades. Five versatile players breathe new life into classic old routines. From a ventriloquist’s dummy to a magic act that goes awry, from novelty songs and a musical saw to waiters juggling meatballs, all acts are accompanied by live music and “foley” sound effects.
POCKET MOXIE video trailer HERE.

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Mukul Ranjan Photography
POCKET MOXIE: A Happenstance Vaudeville 
​
with Happenstance Theater
Saturday, July 9th at 11am & 7:30pm
at the Waterfront Museum in Brooklyn, New York
Tickets & Info: HERE

Happenstance Theater brings old Vaudeville back with POCKET MOXIE!, an homage to the style and spirit of the Great Age of Vaudeville with slapstick comedy, tight harmonies, and celestial charades. Five versatile players breathe new life into classic old routines. From a ventriloquist’s dummy to a magic act that goes awry, from novelty songs and a musical saw to waiters juggling meatballs, all acts are accompanied by live music and “foley” sound effects.
POCKET MOXIE video trailer HERE.

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BROUHAHA with Happenstance Theater
Friday, July 8th at 7:30pm
at the Waterfront Museum in Brooklyn, New York
Tickets & Info: 
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.
BROUHAHA video trailer HERE.

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Puppet Film Screening!
MARIANNE'S ONION
at BONNAROO
Fri, Jun 17 8pm
& Sat, Jun 18 9pm ET

Our shadow puppet film MARIANNE'S ONION will be part of the Handmade Puppet Dreams late night film screening in the House of Yes on June 17-18 at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. 

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Maya Jackson Photography
Shadow Puppetry Workshop with Alex!
for the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival

Session 2: May 9-15, 2022
Shadow Puppetry 2 (Level 2) with Alex Vernon


Shadow Puppetry 2 (Level 2) focuses on the introduction of different mechanism for shadow puppets beyond the basic jointed puppet. The realization of ideas in shadow puppet form stem from concepts and design.

Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat, and Sun:
7 – 9pm CST

Cost: $225
Register: HERE
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Alex & Olmsted's The Unseen World (2021)

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Original Poster by David Plunkert
Jim Henson Foundation grant premiere at Baltimore Theatre Project!
​Alex and Olmsted's Jim Henson Foundation grant awarded MAROONED! A Space Comedy is an innovative new puppet show, featuring music from the Voyager Golden Record, that takes place at the outer reaches of space. An astronaut crashes on an uncharted planet. Will she be able to survive strange creatures, anomalous atmosphere, and isolation in order to find her way home? See for yourself… in MAROONED!

​
MAROONED! video trailer HERE.
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Glenn Ricci Photography

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Official Selection!
Marianne's Onion, a short puppet film
at the Maryland Film Festival in Baltimore, Maryland
as part of the UNORTHODOCS SHORTS program:
This innovative collection of shorts showcases non-fiction work that is on the cusp of multiple genres. Beyond mere documentary, these works astutely blend aspects of narrative, animation, comedy and the avant-garde into markedly non-traditional frameworks. 
Thu, Apr 28 at 8:45 PM at the SNF Parkway Theatre 3
Sat, Apr 30 at 11:15 AM at the SNF Parkway Theatre 2
​Tickets and more information: HERE
Marianne's Onion video trailer HERE.

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Blonnie Brooks of WAGS Media
Happenstance Theater's
POCKET MOXIE: A Happenstance Vaudeville
April 10, 2022 at 2pm
Garrett College Auditorium in Garrett County, MD
Tickets: $15 HERE
​
POCKET MOXIE video trailer HERE.

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The Jim Henson Foundation grant awarded
Milo the Magnificent
at the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library
Collaboration Through Puppetry in the 21st Century
University of Maryland, College Park
Friday, April 8, 2022 at 10am, 12pm, & 3pm
Tickets: FREE. First come, first served. More info here.

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!
Milo the Magnificent video trailer HERE.

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Mukul Ranjan Photography
Pocket Moxie with Happenstance Theater
at Baltimore Theatre Project
March 24 - April 3, 2022
Tickets: HERE

​A theatrical collage inspired by the Great Age of Vaudeville, infused with the joys and struggles of its performers' lives. In homage to the style and spirit of this immensely popular theatre from the late 19th Century, Happenstance Theater brings old Vaudeville back. 

Featuring: Gwen Grastorf, Mark Jaster, Sabrina Mandell, Sarah Olmsted Thomas and Alex Vernon.
POCKET MOXIE video trailer HERE.

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Alex U. Griffin Photography
The Jim Henson Foundation grant awarded
Milo the Magnificent
at Port Discovery in Baltimore, Maryland
Saturday, March 19 at 11am
Tickets: FREE with price of museum admission.

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!
​Milo the Magnificent video trailer HERE.

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Alex U. Griffin Photography
The Jim Henson Foundation grant awarded
Milo the Magnificent
Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 7pm
at Mayo Street Arts
in Portland, Maine
Tickets: HERE

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!
Milo the Magnificent video trailer HERE.

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Leslie Swan Photography
Off-Broadway Debut!
BAROCOCO with Happenstance Theater
Feb 9 - March 6, 2022
Tickets: Tickets HERE for Barococo in NYC 

BAROCOCO dives into the late Baroque and flaunts 18th century finery, wigs, panniers, gestural styling, elaborate ornamentation, and the excesses of Rococo in this unique physical comedy. A charming and charismatic six-person ensemble exposes an indulgent aristocratic lifestyle precariously perched on the edge of its extinction. Happenstance Theater invites you to experience the charade — from parlor games to pantomime, from the exquisite to the revolting — in this delightful comedy of manners.

Featuring Gwen Grastorf, Mark Jaster, Sabrina Mandell, Sarah Olmsted Thomas, Alex Vernon and musician Caleb Jaster.
BAROCOCO video trailer HERE.

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Official Selection!
MARIANNE'S ONION
Montréal International Animation Film Festival - ANIMAZE
Dec 17, 2021 - Jan 16, 2022

This is our Québec premiere!
Tickets: HERE
Marianne's Onion video trailer HERE.

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THE JUXTAPOSE TENEMENT
with Happenstance Theater!
ONGOING: NOW PLAYING ONLINE
​
Join us HERE for this unique online experience.

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.
Juxtaposer Tenement video trailer HERE.
We are incredibly grateful to the organizations below for their support:
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All content © Copyright 2011 - 2023 Alex and Olmsted |  All Rights Reserved
  • THEATER
    • Milo the Magnificent
    • Marooned! A Space Comedy
    • Homebodies
    • VARIETY ACTS
  • FILMS
    • Marianne's Onion
    • Kindred Spirits
    • 2020 Short Films
    • 2021 Short Films
    • World Puppetry Day Shorts
  • Build Videos & Tutorials
  • UPCOMING
    • 2022
  • SUPPORT
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT