We created characters, tied green fabric into a beanstalk, and got the story going at Arts Discovery Week in August. At some point the beanstalk became horizontal — oops!
Summer fun, Arts at the Armory
“Badger Meets the Fairies” at ACA, March 4
Saturday, March 4 at 2 pm
Arlington Center for the Arts, 41 Foster Street
Mr. Badger flies off to help the fairies build a playground. Then it gets complicated: the fairies won’t use cement, and Mr. Badger wants to learn to fly. Best for ages 3 to 10.
I perform this fairy story with multicultural fairy puppets because I’ve found fairy stories from every continent. Arlington artist Sandra Pastrana helped make the fairies and sets; Alison Plante of Berklee School of Music created lilting music based on Celtic melodies.
Come for the show; stay for puppet-play and coffee!
Tickets $7; 3 for $20 at the door.
Jack and the Beanstalk coming to ACA
February 4, 2017 at 2pm, Arlington Center for the Arts, 41 Foster Street
Join Dream Tale Puppets for a joyous romp through the classic tale of poor Jack, the cow and the magic beans. Dream Tale Puppets director Jacek Zuzanski creates the story with physical comedy, hand puppets, masks and a marionette. Margaret Moody provides narration and voices for the production.
Stay after the show to create your own hat or mask with paper strips. (This mini-workshop is included with admission.) Tickets are $7, available at jack-and-the-beanstalk-tickets.eventbrite.com
Dream Tale Puppets was founded in 2003 at the Cape Cod Children’s Museum and now includes actors, puppeteers and visual artists who enjoy working with both traditional and innovative styles of puppetry. Troupe director Jacek Zuzanski is a theatre artist and acting teacher with over 30 years experience in Poland and the US. He earned his MFA from the Ludwik Solski State Theatre School.
Puppeteer and voice actress Margaret Moody loves old stories and the characters that inhabit them. She studied traditional Taiwanese puppetry with the I Wan Jan Puppet Troupe in Taiwan, and often uses its choreography and small puppets in her work with Galapagos Puppets and as a solo artist.
Puppets Together Class at Arlington Center for the Arts
I will be teaching a 5-session workshop at Arlington Center for the Arts, once a week from January 18 to February 15, from 3 to 4:30.
We will create puppet characters — with felt, socks, paper plates and fabric — and have a lot of fun teaching them to walk, run, dance, fly, talk and sing. Each class will include time to explore and play with puppets and props.
I hope your 5 to 8-year old will join me!
To see the course catalog and registration:
The fee is $100 for ACA members; $120 for non-members
“Cow and Mouse’s Picnic” ON at ACA, Today at 2 pm
I’ll perform “Cow and Mouse’s Picnic” at Arlington Center for the Arts today at 2 as planned. Please join me if the weather doesn’t get in your way. Safety first, always. Stay to play with puppets and have some coffee or tea! Tickets $7 at the door.
Arlington Center for the Arts is at 41 Foster Street in Arlington and has ample parking.
Families and their puppets at ACA, 12/3
At “Making Puppets Together” on December 3 I had the fun of watching parents make puppets along with their children. Lots of look-alike puppets, a family dog, and some robots, too. When I asked to take photos of puppets only for privacy reasons, the kids, moms and dads immediately dropped to the floor and held their puppets up high. They’ve drilled a “best practice” for photo privacy.
Making Puppets Together
Saturday, December 3, 2016 at 2 pm
Make your own puppet character and start expressing its personality in this 1 1/2 hour workshop at Arlington Center for the Arts. We’ll use prepared felt puppets and then add paper and cloth features to make lively, sweet, snarky, amazing characters. Children 5 and under should be accompanied by a parent, who is welcome to make a puppet too. Best for ages 4 and up.
Tickets are $5.
This workshop is limited to 25 people. Please reserve your spot through Eventbrite.
Directions: http://www.acarts.org/hours-directions
“Leopard Learns a Lesson” at ACA on March 5
Mama Leopard gets what she wants by frightening smaller animals — until Rabbit turns the tables on her with the help of her son and the jungle’s two largest beasts, Elephant and Rhinoceros. Leopard learns that cooperating with friends works better than bullying. Maggie Whalen performs this story with stunning puppets she built of fabric and paper mache. “Leopard Learns a Lesson” is based on a Malawi folktale and features original music by Alison Plante. Come for the show, stay to make your own animal puppet and enjoy puppet-play. Best for ages 4 and up.
Maggie Whalen is the creator of Magpie Puppets, a one-woman puppet theater based in Stoneham, Massachusetts. She has been creating and performing puppet shows for children since 1969. In addition to performing, Maggie builds customized puppets for theater and film and has taught puppet-making workshops at schools, community centers, and at Club Med Mini-Clubs in the Caribbean. She is featured on the PBS Curious George show in the Sock Monkey Opera episode.
Year of the Monkey, Year of Mischief
Monkey Makes Mischief in Heaven
Saturday, February 6 at 11am & 2pm
Arlington Center for the Arts, 41 Foster Street
Tickets $7, 3 for $20, cash or check at the door
Welcome the Year of the Monkey with a story about the Monkey King himself. In this episode of the epic Journey to the West Monkey is thrilled to have a job in the heavens. But when he is left out of the Jade Emperor’s banquet, he flies off to make mischief in the banquet hall and in Lao-tse’s studio. Margaret Moody performs the story with acrobatic Taiwanese puppets. Stay after the show to dance with a lucky lion and try out traditional hand puppets! Best for ages 4 and up.
If you’d like to reserve tickets, email Margaret at [email protected] or call (781)643-1228.
Squeaky Clean Piglet at Arlington Center for the Arts
“Mathilda’s Bath,” Saturday, January 9 at 11am & 2pm
Arlington Center for the Arts, 41 Foster Street
Only Mrs. Piggle Wiggle’s magic can convince the grimy Mathilda to take a bath in this light-hearted adaptation of a Betty MacDonald story. The story features needle-felted pig puppets created by Sandra Pastrana and me, and lots of gentle humor. Come for the show; stay to make a simple sock puppet and play with puppets afterward! Best for ages 3 to 7.
Mathilda’s Bath is the second show in this season’s Saturdays with Puppets series at Arlington Center for the Arts. The series, which began in 2009, presents lively puppet shows for families on fall and winter Saturdays. Tickets are $7; 3 for $20. To reserve tickets email me at [email protected] or call (781)643-1228.