Italian Premiere! Milo the Magnificent® by Alex and Olmsted at the IMMAGINA Festival Internazionale di Teatro di Figura di Roma Milo video trailer. Rome, Italy Friday, May 12th at 6pm in Teatro del Lido di Ostia - Via delle Sirene 22 Saturday, May 13th at 6:30pm in Teatro Villa Pamphilj - Largo 3 Giugno Sunday, May 14th at 11am in Museo delle Civiltà - Piazza Guglielmo Marconi, 14 Sunday, May 14th at 5pm in Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo - Via Ostuni, 8 Tickets:SOON
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.
This Old Town: A Cabaret with Geraldine the Band at the Museum of Howard County History Ellicott City, Maryland Sunday, May 21 at 1pm ET feat. our crankie The Wonders of Bread!
Come gather ‘round in This Old Town! Join us for a very special afternoon of storytelling and song as we celebrate the sights and sounds of our historic town. The soundtrack of the afternoon will be provided by some of the areas best local talent - music by The Honey Dewdrops, Charlie Cole, and Geraldine, crankies by Alex and Olmsted, storytelling by Joe Belknap Wall, puppetry by Danny Joe's Treehouse, and Master of Ceremonies by local surveyor of dreams, Edward Glawe, plus a few more surprises. It all goes down at the beautiful Howard County Historical Society Museum in the heart of this old town…Old Ellicott City. There will be a cash bar, food, and goods for sale from local artists. Tickets are $25. Doors at 12:00. Show at 1PM. Come early, browse the museum, and be a part of this unique event. Advance tickets recommended. (Banner modified from Scott Dennison poster)
Ryan Maxwell Photography
Tennessee Premiere! MAROONED! A Space Comedy by Alex and Olmsted at the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts MAROONED! video trailer. Murfreesboro, TN, USA June 4, 2023 at 7:30pm ET This is a closed performance for the students of the Governor's School.
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!
Photos by Kintz
Milo in the Montgomery Parks! Milo the Magnificent® by Alex and Olmsted for the The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission of Montgomery County, Maryland, USA Milo video trailer.
June 13 at Germantown Center Urban Park 10am 19840 Century Boulevard Germantown, MD 20874 More info for Germantown Center show HERE. Tickets: FREE!
June 14 at Falls Road Local Park 10am 12600 Falls Rd. Potomac, MD 20854 More info for Falls Road show HERE. Tickets: FREE!
June 15 at Ellsworth Urban Park 10am 621 Ellsworth Drive Silver Spring, MD 20910 More info for Ellsworth show HERE. 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.
Leslie Swan Photography
Milo the Magnificent® by Alex and Olmsted at Port Discovery in Baltimore, Maryland, USA Milo video trailer. June 17 Tickets: FREE with admission to the museum.
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.
Ryan Maxwell Photography
Midwest Premiere! MAROONED! A Space Comedy by Alex and Olmsted at the Detroit Institute of Arts MAROONED! video trailer. Detroit, Michigan, USA June 24, 2023 at 2pm ET Tickets: SOON
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!
July 6th at 6:30pm at The Foundry 2 Harris Street, West Stockbridge Massachussetts 01266 Tickets for The Foundry HERE.
July 7th at 6:30pm at the Highland Center for the Arts 2875 Hardwick St, Greensboro, Vermont 05841 Tickets for the Highland Center HERE.
July 8th at the Celebration Barn at 7:30pm 190 Stock Farm Rd, South Paris, Maine 04281 Tickets for the Celebration Barn HERE. July 9th the Waldo Theatre at 3pm 916 Main St, Waldoboro, Maine 04572, USA Tickets for The Waldo 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.
Leslie Swan Photography
Happenstance in the Montgomery Parks! PREPOSTEROUS! with Happenstance Theater for the The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission of Montgomery County, Maryland, USA PREPOSTEROUS! video trailer. 7400 Tuckerman Lane Bethesda, Maryland, 20817 July 15th, 2023 at 10am Tickets: FREE. More information 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.
Ryan Maxwell Photography
MAROONED! A Space Comedy by Alex and Olmsted at the 66th Puppeteers of America Festival College Park, Maryland, USA MAROONED! video trailer. July 19, 2023 at 9pm ET Festival Registration: HERE 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!
We feel incredibly honored to perform at the 66th Puppeteers of America Festival taking place at the Univeristy of Maryland, College Park.
Leslie Swan Photography
Virginia Premiere! BAROCOCO with Happenstance Theater at the Staunton Music Festival Staunton, Virginia, USA BAROCOCO video trailer. August 14th, 2023 Tickets: HERE
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.
Heather Keating Photography
The Wonders of Bread (crankie) by Alex and Olmsted at the New Jersey Crankie Festival in Historic Smithville Park, Eastampton, NJ, USA Saturday, September 9, 2023 Tickets: SOON
The Wonders of Bread serves to edify, enlighten, and enrich your mind with this look into Bread’s pivotal roll in our history. Alldough the puns might be crumby, we hope these morsels of wisdom will make your life a little butter.
Alex U. Griffin Photography
Milo the Magnificent® by Alex and Olmsted at Black Cherry Puppet Theater in Baltimore, Maryland, USA Milo video trailer. September 15, 16, & 17 Tickets: SOON!
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.
Leslie Swan Photography
CABARET MACABRE with Happenstance Theater at Baltimore Theatre Project Baltimore, Maryland, USA CABARET MARACBRE video trailer. Tickets: SOON Inspired by the illustrations of Edward Gorey, Victorian nightmares, dangerous croquet, gothic romance, afternoon tea and perils of the deep, Cabaret Macabre features music played live with deadly flare and Happenstance Theater’s witty, visual theatrical collage. Cabaret Macabre was nominated for three Helen Hayes Awards in 2014 for Outstanding Costume Design, Resident Production (Sabrina Mandell), Outstanding Movement, Resident Play, and The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical. Featuring Mark Jaster, Sabrina Mandell, Gwen Grastorf, Sarah Olmsted Thomas, and Alex Vernon.
Glenn Ricci Photography
Off-Broadway Premiere! ADRIFT: A Medieval Wayward Folly by Happenstance Theater November 29 - December 24, 2023 at 59E59 Theaters New York City, USA ADRIFT video trailer. Tickets: SOON Happenstance Theater is developing a new work inspired by medieval imagery and archetypes collected from the works of Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel, the Tarot, and reinterpretations of religious art. Drawing parallels between our current moment and the "dark ages," the ensemble will explore and exploit buffoonery, magic, notions of good, evil, and absurdity with angelic music, devised and existing text, puppetry and movement. Like a ship of fools, this pod of eccentrics will drift into the world to bring delight, share hopes and fears, find a way forward, and then parade away. Featuring Mark Jaster, Sabrina Mandell, Gwen Grastorf, Sarah Olmsted Thomas, and Alex Vernon.
PAST 2023 PROJECTS:
photo by Michael Kintzbranch
It's an A&O In-Person Workshop! How to Create a Puppet Slam Show (Level 1) with Alex & Olmsted for the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival Chicago, Illinois, USA April 30, 2023 10am – 2pm CST (4 hours) Cost: $80 REGISTER: Here.
How to Create a Puppet Slam Show (IN PERSON) is a workshop for those who would like to learn to create a short form puppet show. This workshop covers idea generation, overcoming writer’s block, refining the idea into a clear story, and then finding how puppetry best serves that story. This workshop includes writing in addition to hands-on exercises. We encourage participants to bring a puppet of their own or an object they may wish to explore within the context of a slam piece.
Chicago Premiere! Milo the Magnificent® by Alex and Olmsted for the Spring Living Room Tour of the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival Milo video trailer. Chicago, Illinois, USA April 27, 28, & 29 at 6:30pm 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.
Blonnie Brooks of WAGS Media
POCKET MOXIE! A Happenstance Vaudeville with Happenstance Theater at Riderwood Village Silver Spring, Maryland, USA POCKET MOXIE video trailer. April 21, 2023 Tickets: SOON
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. Featuring Mark Jaster, Sabrina Mandell, Gwen Grastorf, Sarah Olmsted Thomas, and Alex Vernon.
Southwest Premiere! HUBBA HUBBA by Alex and Olmsted at the Santa Fe Playhouse Santa Fe New Mexico, USA Hubba Hubba video trailer. April 6 - 15, 2023 Tickets: HERE
April 6 at 7:30pm April 7 at 7:30pm April 8 at 2pm & 7:30pm April 13 at 7:30pm April 14 at 11am & 7:30pm April 15 at 2pm & 7:30pm
Created and performed by the Jim Henson Foundation grant award winning Alex and Olmsted (Milo the Magnificent® and MAROONED! A Space Comedy) comes the world premiere of HUBBA HUBBA, a collection of vignettes that explores the different aspects of romantic love using puppetry and physical comedy. From the dawn of life to modern romance and everything in between, HUBBA HUBBA is a comedy that incorporates handmade puppets, dynamic masks, and innovative storytelling to investigate the many qualities of love’s triumphs and obstacles. Suitable for all ages!
Original poster design by David Plunkert
WORLD PREMIERE! HUBBA HUBBA by Alex and Olmsted at Baltimore Theatre Project Baltimore, Maryland, USA Hubba Hubba video trailer. March 23 – April 2, 2023 General Admission: $20 Student/Senior/Artist/Military: $15 Tickets: HERE
March 23 at 8pm (Pay-What-You-Can) March 24 at 8pm March 25 at 3pm & 8pm March 26 at 3pm (ASL Interpreted) March 30 at 8pm March 31 at 8pm April 1 at 3pm & 8pm April 2 at 3pm
Created and performed by the Jim Henson Foundation grant award winning Alex and Olmsted (Milo the Magnificent® and MAROONED! A Space Comedy) comes the world premiere of HUBBA HUBBA, a collection of vignettes that explores the different aspects of romantic love using puppetry and physical comedy. From the dawn of life to modern romance and everything in between, HUBBA HUBBA is a comedy that incorporates handmade puppets, dynamic masks, and innovative storytelling to investigate the many qualities of love’s triumphs and obstacles. Suitable for all ages!
DJ Corey Photography
FRESH OFF THE PRESS! Alex & Olmsted: two people at play with the infinite possibilities of puppets. by Lisa Traiger in DC Metro Arts published February 15, 2023 Read: HERE
In a series called 'The Companies We Keep,' DC Theater Arts spotlights the good work done by theater companies in the DC region. This month we focus on two artists who use objects to make theater to express their hearts’ feelings.
We are feeling so grateful to Lisa Traiger and the fine folks at DC Theater Arts for this wonderful feature of our company.
Hieronymus Bosch's Ship of Fools, c. 1491-1500
WORLD PREMIERE! ADRIFT: A Medieval Wayward Folly by Happenstance Theater January 26 - February 5, 2023 at Joe's Movement Emporium 3309 Bunker Hill Rd. | Mt. Rainier MD Mt. Rainier Maryland, USA Tickets $25 General Admission | $15 Senior/Student Tickets: HERE
Happenstance Theater is developing a new work inspired by medieval imagery and archetypes collected from the works of Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel, the Tarot, and reinterpretations of religious art. Drawing parallels between our current moment and the "dark ages," the ensemble will explore and exploit buffoonery, magic, notions of good, evil, and absurdity with angelic music, devised and existing text, puppetry and movement. Like a ship of fools, this pod of eccentrics will drift into the world to bring delight, share hopes and fears, find a way forward, and then parade away.
Featuring Mark Jaster, Sabrina Mandell, Gwen Grastorf, Sarah Olmsted Thomas, and Alex Vernon.
WORLD PREMIERE! The Wonders of Bread (crankie) for the Baltimore Crankie Festival 2023 at Creative Alliance FRI JAN 6 at 8pm SAT JAN 7 at 4pm & 8pm SUN JAN 8 at 2pm Tickets: HERE
Watch the world’s greatest stories unroll before your eyes! Baltimore’s beloved festival of scrolled panoramas, known as “crankies,” returns for its 9th year of fireside wonder!
The festival, the largest of its kind in the country, works with artists to showcase crankies from Baltimore and beyond! A crankie is basic in concept: it is a scroll that provides the visual narration to a story or song. Versions of the crankie have been around for hundreds of years, if not longer; their most recent iteration is directly linked to moving panoramas popular in the 19th Century. In recent years, artists have begun to embrace the intimacy of the format, creating multi-layered, immersive experiences for audiences.
4 shows only!
DJ Corey Photography
Under the Puppet Podcast! EPISODE 79 feat. Alex and Olmsted Released January 1, 2023 Listen: HERE
Under the Puppet, hosted by Grant Baciocco, is a podcast that is preserving puppetry through the personal stories of professional puppeteers. Available wherever podcasts are found.
Alex & Olmsted is an internationally acclaimed puppet theater and filmmaking company than has been the recipient of two Jim Henson Foundation Grants. They create puppet magic in many different mediums and will be performing live at the 2023 National Puppetry Festival. I talk to Alex & Olmsted about their path to puppetry, their wonderful shows including Milo the Magnificent and much more on this episode of Under The Puppet.
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.
