Really Quite A Lot of Mechanisms *

Alex and Olmsted

Photo by: Original theater poster by David Plunkert.

Baltimore Theatre Project
45 W Preston St, Baltimore, MD 21201
Baltimore, MD
https://theatreproject.org/really-quite-a-lot-of-mechanisms/

REALLY QUITE A LOT OF MECHANISMS is a darkly comedic puppet show set in the not too distant Now when nations are at war, bad things happen to good people, and dropped toast always lands butter side down. Life is illogical but you know what isn’t? Mechanisms! The Lever! The Pulley! And, O! Hail the Inclined Plane! Life is full of chaos and confusion but, good people, take solace in the knowledge that just beneath the world we see, there are…Really Quite A Lot of Mechanisms.

* Recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Family Grant (2026)

March 12 - 29, 2026
March 12 @ 7:30pm (Pay-What-You-Can)
March 13 @ 7:30pm
March 14 @ 3:00pm
March 14 @ 7:30pm
March 15 @ 3:00pm
March 19 @ 7:30pm
March 20 @ 7:30pm
March 21 @ 3:00pm
March 21 @ 7:30pm
March 22 @ 3:00pm
March 26 @ 7:30pm
March 27 @ 7:30pm
March 28 @ 3:00pm
March 28 @ 7:30pm
March 29 @ 3:00pm

General Admission – $25; Students, Seniors & Artists – $15; March 12 (Pay-What-You-Can)

Song of the North at Passadena Playhouse *

Hamid Rahmanian

Photo by: Richard Termine

Pasadena Playhouse
39 South El Molino Avenue
Pasadena,, CA
https://www.pasadenaplayhouse.org/event/song-of-the-north/

With more than 90 performances and 80,000 spectators worldwide, Song of the North arrives at the Pasadena Playhouse in California.

This visually stunning, large-scale production fuses handcrafted shadow puppetry with cinematic projection to bring to life the heroic tale of Manijeh from ancient Persia. When her beloved Bijan falls into danger, she must summon her courage and ingenuity to save him—and help prevent a war.

Featuring 483 handmade puppets and a dynamic ensemble of nine actors-puppeteers, this epic love story blends tradition and innovation in a bold multimedia reimagining of the Persian classic Book of Kings (Shahnameh).

* Recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Production Grant (2021)

March 20 - 29, 2026
83 minutes and 10 minutes of backstage introduction after the end of each show.

$50-$29

Pete the Cat

Center For Puppetry Arts

Center For Puppetry Arts
1404 Spring St. NW, at 18th
Atlanta, GA
https://puppet.org/programs/pete-the-cat/

Experience Pete the Cat at the Center for Puppetry Arts! Based on the New York Times Best Seller series, this groovy puppet show features Pete the Cat’s most awesome adventures, inspired by some of the coolest books around. Come see everyone’s favorite skateboarding, surfing, rocking blue cat and his fine friends come alive on stage!
January 27-March 15 2026
Includes Museum Admission, Create-a-Puppet Workshop, and FREE Midtown parking
Tickets starting at $20 for children and $26 for adults
Tickets at https://puppet.org/programs/pete-the-cat/
1404 Spring St. NW, at 18th, Atlanta, GA 30309
Ticket Office 404-873-3391 Ext 0

January 27 - March 15, 2026
Tuesday - Friday 10:00am - 12:30pm Timezone: EST
Sat: 11:00am - 2:00pm Timezone: EST
Sun:1:00pm - 4:00pm Timezone: EST

$20 for children and $26 for adults

HedgeHearts: A Woodland Puppet Rom Com

Written by Liz Hara, Directed by Stacey Weingarten

Photo by: Eric Wright

Bryant Lake Bowl
810 W Lake Street
Minneapolis, MN
https://www.bryantlakebowl.com/theater

The Minneapolis Premier with Live Puppetry Acts!

Lily the Hedgehog finds herself stuck in a love triangle with her best friend Marco, and Rebecca... the cactus of his dreams. Created by Liz Hara (Sesame Street, Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur) and starring Liz Hara, Victor Yerrid (Crank Yankers, Dark Crystal), and Camille Chen (Game Night, Renfield)

Featuring Live Puppet Acts by Kurt Hunter, Yvonne Freese, and Erica Warren

Join us March 15th for an Oscar party Red Carpet event! Feel free to dress fancy and take your picture with the puppet stars of HedgeHearts.

March 15 - 22, 2026
Sunday March 15 at 3pm
Sunday March 22 at 7pm

$15 Advance/$18 Door

She Thinks She’s Queen Elizabeth But She’s Dirty Gerts To Me

PuppetKabob

Photo by: Photo courtesy of Sarah Frechette

Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry
1 Royce Cir
Storrs, CT
https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/bimp-0/dirty-gerts-puppetkabob

She Thinks She’s Queen Elizabeth But She’s Dirty Gerts To Me by PuppetKabob is a paper doll and pop-up extravaganza: a groovy blend of historical fiction, 60s pop culture, and colorful confetti in a one-of-a-kind show for families. Come on, get happy!—with middle schooler Carol Lee Bell as she finds the fold to fitting in and discovers the best way is to not actually fit at all!

Ticket Prices: Adults: $12; Members/Seniors: $10; Students: $8; Kids: $6 (12 years and under). Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, by calling 860-486-8580, or online at ticketleap.events/tickets/bimp-0/dirty-gerts-puppetkabob. A surcharge will be added to any purchases made online. Tickets may also be purchased at the Ballard Institute on the day of the performance starting at 10 a.m. There will be open seating and no reservations. Visitors can park in the Downtown Storrs Garage located at 33 Royce Circle. For more information about these performances or if you require accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

March 21, 2026
11 A.M. & 2 P.M.

Adults: $12; Members/Seniors: $10; Students: $8; Kids: $6 (12 years and under)

weather reports of the future

abandoned ships

Photo by: Caitlyn Ridenour

CANOA
4210 St Claude Ave
New Orleans, LA 70116
new orleans, LA
https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/abandoned-ships/wrotf

weather reports of the future is an experimental puppet show examining the idea of small talk, often thought of as inconsequential and unimportant. But as larger forces start to disappear the information needed to make sense of the world, we realize that we can start to understand how everything is changing by making small observations. This is the fourth and final vignette in the "how to read a storm" series.

weather reports of the future has received support from the MAP Fund and the Puffin Foundation. Ages: adult (14 and up)

April 8 - 10, 2026
April 8th 7pm
April 9th 7pm & 9pm
April 10th 7pm & 9pm

$15-20

Razia's Shadow: A Puppet Rock Opera

Phantom Chorus Theatre

Photo by: illustrated by Marc Berg

The Hive Collaborative
677 Hamline Ave N
Saint Paul, MN
https://phantomchorus.com

Razia’s Shadow: A Puppet Rock Opera is a fantastical tale told through puppetry & song, full of wild characters and eye-popping spectacle. The show features the talents of 10 amazing puppeteers/vocalists, and over a dozen unique puppet characters – including a vengeful Satyr, a gigantic technicolor Spider, a pair of reptilian Witch Sisters, a mechanical Mad Doctor, and more! Performing April 10 - 25 2026 at the Hive Collaborative in Saint Paul, with select Live-Streaming dates available!

April 10 - 25, 2026
April 10, 7pm (live-stream available!)
April 11, 4pm
April 11, 7pm
April 18, 4pm (sensory friendly performance!)
April 18, 7pm
April 19, 3pm (live-stream available!)
April 23, 7pm (live-stream available!)
April 24, 7pm (live-stream available!)
April 25, 4pm (ASL interpretation)
April 25, 7pm

Flexible $7-35

“Becoming Modern: U.S. Puppetry in the Twentieth Century” Forum

Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry

Photo by: Photo credit: Jack Rowell

Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry
1 Royce Cir
Storrs, CT
https://bimp.uconn.edu/2026/02/12/becoming-modern/

This forum will celebrate the Ballard Institute’s new exhibition of the same name,?with acclaimed puppet scholar Dr. Claudia Orenstein of the CUNY Graduate Center in New York, UConn Puppet Arts Program Head Bart?Roccoberton, and John Bell, Director of the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry. The speakers will explore the ways that puppetry in the United States?transformed?during the?twentieth?century from a popular low-culture entertainment?to an accepted form of legitimate theater?and?a massively influential mass-media phenomenon.
The?Becoming Modern?exhibition,?curated by Professor Bell,?includes examples of early 20th-century work by?Yiddish puppeteers Zuni Maud and Yosl Cutler,?and?Russian?émigré?Basil?Milovsoroff; but?focuses specifically on?innovations?in puppetry beginning in the 1960s by such puppeteers as?Bob Baker,?Robert Anton, Charles Ludlam,?Brad Brewer, Dan Hurlin, Stephen Kaplin, Janie Geiser, Larry Reed, Theodora Skipitares, Sandy Spieler, Amy?Trompetter,?and Charles Ludlam. What made U.S. puppetry?“modern,”?and how has?twentieth-century U.S. puppetry affected what we see today in person and on our screens??To learn more about the speakers and the forum, visit bimp.uconn.edu/2026/02/12/becoming-modern/.
Admission to this event is free (donations greatly appreciated!), and refreshments will be served. This forum will also be broadcast via Ballard Institute Facebook Live.?

April 22, 2026
7 P.M.

Free, donations greatly appreciated!

Symphonie Fantastique * - Film

Basil Twist

Photo by: Richard Termine

HERE - URHERE, online
here.org/shows/symphonie-fantastique-urhere/

Twenty years ago in 1998, Basil Twist debuted his boundary-breaking response to Berlioz’s 1830 “Symphonie Fantastique” to universal acclaim. In this revival, accompanied live by virtuosic pianist, Christopher O’Riley, the exquisite Liszt transcription, Symphonie floats and swirls in a 1,000-gallon water tank neatly disguised as a puppet stage. For the many who never saw it, and for those who relish seeing it again and again, the return of this tour de force to HERE is the event of the season. Watch on-demand on URHERE.

* Recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Production Grant (1998) and Workshop Grant (1996)

Available on-demand on URHERE

9000 Paper Balloons * - Film

Maiko Kikuchi & Spencer Lott

Photo by: Richard Termine

HERE - URHERE, online
here.org/shows/9000-paper-balloons-urhere/

Inspired by the stranger-than-fiction secret weapons that floated over America during World War II, 9000 Paper Balloons is a poetic and eerie performance that examines distance – the distance between two friends, between two enemies, two cultures and two generations. Japanese artist Maiko Kikuchi and American puppeteer Spencer Lott blend puppetry, animation and mask as they weave their own family histories into a surreal and visually stunning collage that speaks to the past and the future. 9000 Paper Balloons is available on demand on URHERE, a one-of-a-kind, rigorously curated virtual platform for outdoor and digital premieres. URHERE aims to occupy an important part of the art ecosystem which nurtures experimentation, sparks dialogue, and creates engagement with the local community.

* Recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Production Grant (2020) and Workshop Grant (2019)

Available on-demand on URHERE

The Fortune Teller * - Film

by Phantom Limb Company | Jessica Grindstaff and Erik Sanko With Music by Danny Elfman

HERE - URHERE, online
https://here.org/shows/urhere/

Seven strangers’ twisted tales are brought to life in this marionette play and woven with haunting music to tell an eerily comic story of fate and fortune. On a dark night, the strangers are invited to the mansion of a deceased millionaire, and learn that their inheritances will be based not on a will, but on the readings of a fortune teller. Each soon meets a gruesome end in this production developed through HERE’s Dream Music puppetry program. The Fortune Teller played at HERE November 28 - December 4, 2010. The Fortune Teller is available on demand on URHERE, a one-of-a-kind, rigorously curated virtual platform for outdoor and digital premieres. URHERE aims to occupy an important part of the art ecosystem which nurtures experimentation, sparks dialogue, and creates engagement with the local community.

* Recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Production Grant (2006)

Available on-demand on URHERE

The Scarlet Ibis - Film

Beth Morrison Projects

HERE - URHERE, online
urhere.art/archive/ibis

The Scarlet Ibis is an opera about family, illness, and the power of the imagination to soar above what’s considered “normal.” This world premiere by composer Stefan Weisman (Darkling) and librettist David Cote (Blind Injustice) fuses singers, puppetry, and multimedia stagecraft to tell the story of a remarkable disabled boy nicknamed “Doodle,” whose older brother pushes him to be like other kids. Set in rural North Carolina a century ago, The Scarlet Ibis contrasts notions of physical wholeness with mystical otherness The narrative (inspired by the short story by James Hurst) draws on elements of Southern Gothic, boy’s adventure, and domestic tragedy. Mallory Catlett directs; Steven Osgood (Dead Man Walking, Metropolitan Opera) conducts the American Modern Ensemble. For audiences 10 and up. The Scarlet Ibis was a part of the 2015 PROTOTYPE Festival, co-produced with Beth Morrison Projects

Available on-demand on URHERE

Spirited Away (Live on Stage) - Film

Based on the animated feature film by Hayao Miyazaki

On Demand
gkids.com/films/spirited-away-live-on-stage/#watch-now

Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award®-winning animated feature film comes to life in this first-ever stage adaptation, full of dazzling sets, captivating musical numbers, and wondrous puppets of beloved characters. Adapted and directed by Tony Award®-winner John Caird (Les Misérables), two unique casts and performances were filmed during the show’s acclaimed 2022 run at Tokyo’s historic Imperial Theatre, featuring Kanna Hashimoto and Mone Kamishiraishi as Chihiro.

Send for the Million Men * - Film

Joseph Silovsky

HERE - URHERE, online
urhere.art/archive/sftmm

The “crime of the century” of the 1920s jolts to life in modern-day New York City in Joseph Silovsky’s micro-history multimedia tale, Send for the Million Men. With a compelling command of animatronics, robotics, puppetry, and handmade projectors, Silovsky examines the controversial executions of notorious anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti. Their bleak fates intertwine with Silovsky’s own micro-tragic biography in a humorous and captivating history-rethink.

* Recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Production Grant (2010) and Workshop Grant (2009)

Available on-demand on URHERE