Sean Dennie Photography in Calgary, Alberta.
Alex and Olmsted (Alex Vernon and Sarah Olmsted Thomas) is an internationally acclaimed puppet theater company. In recent years, they have toured abroad at the Festival of Wonder in Denmark, the Puppet Festival Chuncheon in South Korea, the Festival de Casteliers in Montréal, and The Festival of Animated Objects in Calgary. In the United States, they have played Symphony Space in New York City, The Detroit Institute of Arts in Michigan, the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, and Black Cherry Puppet Theater in Baltimore, among others. Alex and Olmsted was recently awarded the 2020 State Independent Artist Award for Performing Arts from the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC). Their puppet show, 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. They were recently awarded a 2020 Jim Henson Foundation Grant to further develop their outer space show, Marooned! A Space Comedy. Alex & Olmsted is a resident company at Baltimore Theatre Project. Vernon and Thomas are also proud company members of Happenstance Theater with whom they have created 10 productions since 2012.
awards & honors
2020 Quarantine Mini-Commission from Heather Henson's Handmade Puppet Dreams
2020 Regional and State Independent Artist Award for Performing Arts from the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC)
2020 Jim Henson Foundation Family Grant for "Marooned! A Space Comedy"
2020 Jim Henson Artist-in-Residence Program at the University of Maryland
2017 Jim Henson Foundation Workshop Grant for "Milo the Magnificent"
2017 Greenbelt Community Foundation Grant for "Milo the Magnificent"
2017 Lisa Simon Scholarship (for Olmsted) :: The National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center
2017 Eugene O'Neill Theater Center Scholarship (for Alex) :: The National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center
2015 National Puppet Slam at the Puppeteers of America Festival at UCONN
2014 National Puppet Slam at the Center for Puppetry Arts
2020 Regional and State Independent Artist Award for Performing Arts from the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC)
2020 Jim Henson Foundation Family Grant for "Marooned! A Space Comedy"
2020 Jim Henson Artist-in-Residence Program at the University of Maryland
2017 Jim Henson Foundation Workshop Grant for "Milo the Magnificent"
2017 Greenbelt Community Foundation Grant for "Milo the Magnificent"
2017 Lisa Simon Scholarship (for Olmsted) :: The National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center
2017 Eugene O'Neill Theater Center Scholarship (for Alex) :: The National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center
2015 National Puppet Slam at the Puppeteers of America Festival at UCONN
2014 National Puppet Slam at the Center for Puppetry Arts