Photo by Alex Griffin at the 2015 National Puppet Slam in Storrs, Connecticut.
MILO THE MAGNIFICENT (Available for Virtual Performances)
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!
40 minutes. Wordless. No Intermission. All ages.
Available for virtual live performances as well as tours!
40 minutes. Wordless. No Intermission. All ages.
Available for virtual live performances as well as tours!
PRESS:
The New York Times:
"Milo is a bit of a cardboard character, but you can’t blame him for that. He’s a puppet: specifically, a huge cutout fellow, whose arms, hands and feet belong to one of his creators, and whose changing facial expressions are recorded on flippable circular cards. The duo Alex & Olmsted — Alex Vernon and Sarah Olmsted Thomas — invented his world, which includes other puppets made of cleverly repurposed materials. Milo, appearing here as part of the Just Kidding series, aspires to be an illusionist, and while his tricks and experiments rarely work out as planned, children will still find them magical."
- Laurel Graeber, The New York Times (Jan 5, 2018)
Mon Théâtre (Montréal, Canada):
"L’ensemble demeure d’une superbe cohérence avec sa charmante enveloppe surannée (de la musique rétro dont le célébrissime In The Mood de Glen Miller, la présence d’un 45 tours, les diverses expressions faciales de Milo reproduites sur divers cartons blancs). Nous sortons le cœur léger après cette rencontre avec Milo le magnifique."
- Olivier Dumas, Mon Théâtre (March 11, 2018)
The Puppetry Journal:
"The anchor of The National Puppet Slam, this piece amazed audiences in more ways than one... Performed so masterfully and effectively, the audience is swept away in Milo's quick changes of expression as he struggles and achieves each feat."
- Jamie Donmoyer, The Puppetry Journal (Fall 2015)
"Milo is a bit of a cardboard character, but you can’t blame him for that. He’s a puppet: specifically, a huge cutout fellow, whose arms, hands and feet belong to one of his creators, and whose changing facial expressions are recorded on flippable circular cards. The duo Alex & Olmsted — Alex Vernon and Sarah Olmsted Thomas — invented his world, which includes other puppets made of cleverly repurposed materials. Milo, appearing here as part of the Just Kidding series, aspires to be an illusionist, and while his tricks and experiments rarely work out as planned, children will still find them magical."
- Laurel Graeber, The New York Times (Jan 5, 2018)
Mon Théâtre (Montréal, Canada):
"L’ensemble demeure d’une superbe cohérence avec sa charmante enveloppe surannée (de la musique rétro dont le célébrissime In The Mood de Glen Miller, la présence d’un 45 tours, les diverses expressions faciales de Milo reproduites sur divers cartons blancs). Nous sortons le cœur léger après cette rencontre avec Milo le magnifique."
- Olivier Dumas, Mon Théâtre (March 11, 2018)
The Puppetry Journal:
"The anchor of The National Puppet Slam, this piece amazed audiences in more ways than one... Performed so masterfully and effectively, the audience is swept away in Milo's quick changes of expression as he struggles and achieves each feat."
- Jamie Donmoyer, The Puppetry Journal (Fall 2015)
AWARDS:
2017 Jim Henson Foundation Workshop Grant
2017 Greenbelt Community Foundation Grant
2017 Jim Henson Foundation Workshop Grant
2017 Greenbelt Community Foundation Grant
PRODUCTION HISTORY:
At the 2015 Puppeteers of America Festival. Photo by Chuck Robinson.
At Vermont Vaudeville in Hardwick, VT, 2013.
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INTERNATIONAL:
Festival of Wonder (Silkeborg, Denmark) - 2019 Festival of Animated Objects (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) - 2019 Puppet Festival Chuncheon (Chuncheon, South Korea) - 2018 Festival de Casteliers (Montréal, Québec, Canada) - 2018 UNITED STATES:
Center for Puppetry Arts (Atlanta, Georgia, USA) - 2020 Goat on a Boat (West Sag Harbor, New York) - 2019 Ballard Institute & Museum of Puppetry (Storrs, Connecticut) - 2019 The Greenwoods Puppet Festival (Norfolk, Connecticut) - 2019 Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan) - 2019 Sandglass Theater (Putney, Vermont) - 2019 Unexpected Stage Company (Bethesda, Maryland) - 2019 First Night Talbot (Easton, Maryland) - 2018 Puppets off Broad Street (Richmond, Virginia) - 2018 The Columbia Marionette Theatre (Columbia, South Carolina) - 2018 Puppet Showplace Theater (Boston, Massachusetts) - 2018 University of Maryland (College Park, Maryland) - 2018 Mayo Street Arts (Portland, Maine) - 2018 Symphony Space (New York City) - 2018 Dragon Con (Atlanta, Georgia) - 2017 Black Cherry Puppet Theater (Baltimore, Maryland) - 2017 10 MINUTE SLAM (International & USA):
The Dolly Wiggler Cabaret (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) - 2019 Festival de Casteliers Slam (Montréal, Québec, Canada) - 2018 Dragon Con Puppet Slam (Atlanta, Georgia) - 2017 Puppet Homecoming (Kerhonkson, New York) - 2016 Strathmore (Bethesda, Maryland) - 2016 La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (New York City) - 2015 Bread and Puppet Theater (Glover, Vermont) National Puppet Slam (Storrs, Connecticut) - 2015 Puppeteers of America Festival Fringe (Storrs, Connecticut) - 2015 The Shakespeare Theater (Washington, D.C.) - 2014 Dragon Con Puppet Slam (Atlanta, Georgia) - 2014 National Puppet Slam (Atlanta, Georgia) - 2014 Vermont Vaudeville (Hardwick, Vermont) - 2013 Clown Cabaret (Washington, D.C.) - 2012 |
