EXTENDED! BY OVERWHELIMG DEMAND! ADRIFT: A Medieval Wayward Folly by Happenstance Theater at Baltimore Theatre Project 45 W Preston St, Baltimore, MD 21201 ADRIFT video trailer. March 15-17, 2024 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.
Ryan Maxwell Photography
Back by Popular Demand! HUBBA HUBBA by Alex and Olmsted at Baltimore Theatre Project 45 W Preston St, Baltimore, MD 21201 Hubba Hubba video trailer. March 21 - 31, 2024 Tickets: HERE
Created and performed by the Jim Henson Foundation grant award-winning Alex and Olmsted (Milo the Magnificent® and MAROONED! A Space Comedy) comes HUBBA HUBBA*, a new show about romantic love that is “...equal parts awkwardness and side-splitting laughter” (Broadway World). Using puppetry and physical comedy, from the sublime to the ridiculous, Alex and Olmsted present love and all its quirks. Suitable for all ages!
*HUBBA HUBBA was awarded a 2023 Creativity Grant from the Maryland State Arts Council
Alex U. Griffin Photography
Milo the Magnificent® by Alex and Olmsted at Port Discovery in Baltimore, Maryland, USA Milo video trailer. April 13 at 1pm 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.
Photo by Alex and Olmsted
World Premiere! Happy Birthday, Mon Ami by Alex and Olmsted at Black Cherry Puppet Theater 1115 Hollins St, Baltimore, MD 21223 May 30 - June 2, 2024 Tickets: Soon!
Class, cultures, and expectations clash when Henri's American cousin Jack visits him in Paris for a birthday celebration. Winner of a 2024 Jim Henson Foundation family grant award, Happy Birthday, Mon Ami will premiere at Baltimore's renowned Black Cherry Puppet Theater.
Ryan Maxwell Photography
Tennessee Premiere! HUBBA HUBBA by Alex and Olmsted at the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts Hubba Hubba video trailer. Murfreesboro, TN, USA June 9, 2024 at 7:30pm ET This is a closed performance for the students of the Governor's School.
Created and performed by the Jim Henson Foundation grant award-winning Alex and Olmsted (Milo the Magnificent® and MAROONED! A Space Comedy) comes HUBBA HUBBA*, a new show about romantic love that is “...equal parts awkwardness and side-splitting laughter” (Broadway World). Using puppetry and physical comedy, from the sublime to the ridiculous, Alex and Olmsted present love and all its quirks. Suitable for all ages!
*HUBBA HUBBA was awarded a 2023 Creativity Grant from the Maryland State Arts Council
Leslie Swan Photography
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.
Northeast Tour with Happenstance! PREPOSTEROUS! A Happenstance Circus with Happenstance Theater PREPOSTEROUS! video trailer.
June 28 at 11am & 2pm atStepping Stones Children' Museum 303 West Ave, Norwalk, CT 06850 Tickets for Stepping Stones SOON.
June 29 at 6:30pm at The Foundry 2 Harris Street, West Stockbridge, MA 01266 Tickets for The Foundry SOON.
June 30 at 3pm at the Camden Opera House 29 Elm St, Camden, ME 04843 Tickets for the Camden Opera SOON.
Photo by Walter Reeves
Back by Popular Demand! CABARET NOIR with Happenstance Theater Oct 24 - Nov 10, 2024 at Baltimore Theatre Project 45 W Preston St, Baltimore, MD 21201 CABARET NOIR video trailer. Tickets: SOON
Happenstance Theater’s CABARET NOIR is a Film Noir inspired theatrical montage. This series of dark, comic vignettes reveals Femmes Fatales and fedoras, trench coats and torch songs, physical comedy, object manipulation, and music played on multiple instruments. Featuring Mark Jaster, Sabrina Mandell, Gwen Grastorf, Sarah Olmsted Thomas, Alex Vernon, and guest musician Stephanie Baird.
A Documentary Film Available Now! People | Things Episode 17: Alex and Olmsted by Carlos Gonzalez-Fernandez Watch Carlos' film: HERE.
"People | Things" is a project by Carlos Gonzalez-Fernandez that profiles artists and their creative processes. Over the past 6 months, we've had the unique pleasure of getting to work with Carlos and our film shoots often waxed philosophical as we chipped away at the Why and How of making art.
PAST 2024 PROJECTS:
Ryan Maxwell Photography
NYC Premiere! MAROONED! A Space Comedy by Alex and Olmsted at the HERE Arts Center 145 6th Ave, New York, NY 10013 MAROONED! video trailer. March 5-10, 2024 Tickets: 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!
*MAROONED! was awarded a 2020 Jim Henson Foundation grant and a 2024 UNIMA-USA Citation of Excellence.
Glenn Ricci Photography
Just back from the triumphant Off-Broadway run! ADRIFT: A Medieval Wayward Folly by Happenstance Theater at Baltimore Theatre Project 45 W Preston St, Baltimore, MD 21201 ADRIFT video trailer. February 22 – March 3, 2024 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.
Ryan Maxwell Photography
Chicago Premiere! MAROONED! A Space Comedy by Alex and Olmsted at the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival Chopin Theatre (mainstage) 1543 W. Division St. Chicago, Illinois, USA MAROONED! video trailer. Monday, January 22 at 7 pm Tuesday, January 23 at 7 pm Wednesday, January 24 at 5 pm & 8pm (additional show just added!) Tickets: 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! *MAROONED! was awarded a 2020 Jim Henson Foundation grant and a 2024 UNIMA-USA Citation of Excellence.
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.