Photo by Alex U. Griffin
Milo the Magnificent®
Milo the Magnificent® was awarded a 2017 Jim Henson Foundation grant.
Milo the Magnificent® was awarded a 2017 Jim Henson Foundation grant.
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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 touring engagements. Tech rider available upon request. |
2025 Milo performances
Photo by Ryan Maxwell Photography
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Milo the Magnificent® at the Lyric Theater with Pro-Art
St. Paul, Virginia February 12, 2025 at 1pm Milo the Magnificent® at the Center for Puppetry Arts
Atlanta, Georgia March 19 - 30, 2025 Tickets: HERE Milo the Magnificent® at Greenspring Community
Springfield, Virginia April 13, 2025 at 2:30pm Milo the Magnificent® at the Clarice Center for the Performing Arts
College Park, Maryland May 10, 2025 at 11am & 1pm, Tickets: HERE |
Photographs by Kintz and Alex U. Griffin and Sean Dennie Photography
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)
DC Theater Arts:
“Weird and wonderful… All in all, Alex and Olmsted’s Milo the Magnificent is a treat for the little ones, and for the adults, an innovative romp through the nature and paradoxes of puppetry itself. It is clear why Alex and Olmsted have the Henson Foundation’s support — their work is a delight that pushes the boundaries of the art.”
- Jennifer Georgia, DC Theater Arts (Sept 14, 2022)
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)
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)
"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)
DC Theater Arts:
“Weird and wonderful… All in all, Alex and Olmsted’s Milo the Magnificent is a treat for the little ones, and for the adults, an innovative romp through the nature and paradoxes of puppetry itself. It is clear why Alex and Olmsted have the Henson Foundation’s support — their work is a delight that pushes the boundaries of the art.”
- Jennifer Georgia, DC Theater Arts (Sept 14, 2022)
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)
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)
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:
The 2015 Puppeteers of America Festival. Photo by Chuck Robinson.
Vermont Vaudeville in Hardwick, VT, 2013.
With the Diego Rivera Industry murals at the Detroit Institute of Art
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INTERNATIONAL:
IMMAGINA Festival Internazionale di Teatro di Figura di Roma (Rome, Italy) - 2023 Die Puppenstars Live Television Show (Cologne, Germany) - 2022 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:
Reston Center Stage (Reston, Virginia) - 2024 Workhouse Arts (Lorton, Virginia) - 2024 Mt. Gretna Playhouse (Gretna, Pennsylvania) - 2024 The National Theatre (Washington, D.C.) - 2023 Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival (Chicago, Illinois) - 2023 Montgomery County Parks (Maryland) - 2023 The Puppet Co. Playhouse (Glen Echo Park, Maryland) - 2022 Puget Sound Puppetry Fest (Seattle, Washington) - 2022 Port Discovery (Baltimore, Maryland) - 2022 & 2023 & 2024 Mayo Street Arts (Portland, Maine) - 2022 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 & 2022 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 |
TELEVISION:
DIE PUPPENSTARS
October 2022
We are thrilled to finally announce our television debut with Milo the Magnificent on RTL's DIE PUPPENSTARS! We flew to Germany in August 2022 to film our live segment and met amazing people working at the Bildergarten Studios and some incredibly talented puppeteers. You can watch the show streaming on Germany's RTL+!
DIE PUPPENSTARS
October 2022
We are thrilled to finally announce our television debut with Milo the Magnificent on RTL's DIE PUPPENSTARS! We flew to Germany in August 2022 to film our live segment and met amazing people working at the Bildergarten Studios and some incredibly talented puppeteers. You can watch the show streaming on Germany's RTL+!
