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The Black Forest Fancies Puppet Theatre of New Orleans
cordially invites you to attend their award-winning work The Pomology of Sweetness and Light
at Austin's BLUE Theatre, 916 Springdale Rd June 10 - 12 at 8 p.m., June 13 at 3 p.m. and June 16 - 18 at 8 p.m., June 19 at 3 p.m. Tickets - a suggested $10- $15 To purchase tickets now follow this link. Tickets also available at the door.
The Pomology of Sweetness and Light, follows the tale of Johnny "Appleseed" Chapman, an American folk hero whose wholesome identity is complicated by the esoteric fact of his thwarted engagement to a ten year old girl. Legend has it Chapman ended the engagement when he saw the girl flirt with a boy her own age. It was Chapman's belief that every creature and action on Earth is an echo of the realm of the ‘Spirit.’ Our story is told from the child bride's perspective. Her understanding of the world and Chapman's philosophy are expressed through puppet craft and acrobatics. This is a story of exceptional beings. Inspired by the journey of the apple on the frontier, our work is an exercise in selective adaptation. Onto the backdrop of the American Eden, we graft the figures of Dionysus and Snow White, of St. Lydwina and the Big Bad Wolf. These scenes are interwoven with an ongoing view of the apple’s journey from precious obscurity to domestic staple on the frontier. We put these fables into conversation to tell a story of misfits seeking their place in the new world.
Length: 1 hr 00 mins with no intermission Seating: General admission - You choose your seats when you get to the theatre.
Parental Advisory: This show contains adult themes
The Black Forest Fancies is a non-profit organization, puppet troupe, musical laboratory and cabaret collective. Their work explores history and human experience through a lens of fable, waging a whimsically playful and morbidly serious battle for alternative modes of being from the realm of the possessed and dispossessed. The Black Forest Fancies learn from the past. Tales of mistake, misfortune and the misbegotten lifted from history shine light on the folly of the future. Their star crossed narrative valentines explore tales of ecstasy and horror across time, invoke the collective childhood and spin depravity into hopefulness. Acknowledging the digital death of the earth and enact rituals for memory. Their marionettes, shadow puppets and sets are manufactured using methods from the archaic to the innovative. Aesthetic reverberations from the computer era are infused with classical stagecraft. As a non-profit, the organization serves to enhance the local arts community of New Orleans. "The Black Forest Fancies Incorporated" acts as an umbrella to individual artists and groups seeking grants for artistic endeavors, tours, equipment, venues and residences.
Rumplestiltskin, the funny little man from the classic fable by the Brothers Grim, stars in a brand-spanking' new play by Ric Averill! This fairy tale blends the line between original puppets puppets, and actors, creating an up-side down world that the young (and the young at heart) are sure to enjoy. It all begins with a mysterious and magical trunk. From inside this trunk spring all of the puppets, props, costumes and laughs! The story is brought to life by two actors and a live musician who provide the faces, voices, and dance moves of more than half-a-dozen characters. In this story, everyone wants something they don't need, and somehow they all end with something worth more than gold!
Received directly, from Ricki Vincent of the now-defunct Geppetto Dreams Puppet Company:
After losing their beloved Eastside Art Center , Geppetto Dreams returns to Austin with a brand new show funded in part by the COA and The Texas Commission of the Arts, as well as the last donation from long time benefactor Steve Spencer:
The Death Show
Saturday, March 20 at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., Sunday, March 21 at noon and 1:30 p.m. The Off Center, 2211 Hidalgo St.
is GDPC’s first collaboration with Austin’s music scene favorites That Damned Band, and it's unlike anything they’ve presented before. This unique puppet operetta is a mixture of 7 vignettes, some dark and deep, some introspective, and some quite silly. But all of them deal with that most final of curtains. And all of them underscored by the haunting sounds of That Damned Band, an accordion-driven group of multi-talented songsters who pay musical tribute to eastern European, Yiddish, and old-time vaudevillian-era music and styles. Video cameras trained on the stage action will give the audience up-close views of the detail of each puppet as well as the artistry of puppeteers and musicians at work. The show runs 50 minutes, followed by a 10 minute Q and A to satisfy the curiosity of audience members who want a closer look at how the show operates.
The Troupe is performing at their favorite venue, The Off Center located at 2211 Hidalgo Austin 78702. Opening Night is March 20th with 2 shows at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Ticket’s are $12.00 in advance or 1$5.00 the day of the show. Sunday there will be two Pay-What-You-Can Matinees at noon and at1 p.m.
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Due to the rapidly failing health of our largest benefactor, and the scarcity of grants in the failing economy, Geppetto Dreams Puppet Company is forced to close its doors September 27th 2009.
In the same month that we received our first critics choice for “best place for fluffy dreams” in the Best of Austin edition from our good friends at the Chronicle. Can you spell irony?
But although we will no longer be able to run our workshops, films series, and kids programs, we will still be performing. So help us out by coming to a Garage Sale with items so eclectic, so cool, and so weird you could only find it in Austin ! Make your own fluffy dreams!
On sale from our coffers, stage props, stage risers, light board & dimmer box, folding chairs, tons of blank sock and muppet style puppets, tons of finished sock and muppet style puppets, puppet mouth mechanisms and other assorted puppet guts and pieces, the kids' puppet theater, flats, costumes, doll wigs, glass eyes, etc.
Unfortunately we are also forced to sell of most of our professional puppets from our Goblin Show.
You’re invited to help us celebrate the opening of our new Puppetry Arts Center . Yes, friends, no longer will we be known as the puppet place behind the Peacock Lounge, as we’re now at 1715 E 7th St. Austin TX 78702.
So please join us Saturday, March 21st from 6 to 11pm for our art show “The Puppets of Geppetto Dreams,” a presentation of 10 years of the puppets, toys, music, and live performance from Geppetto and his fellow puppet geeks.
Then come back with the whole family on Sunday, March 22nd for a big open house and BBQ. There will be free paper and sock puppet workshops, a theater to try out your new creations, a puppet story time, and free BBQ.
This is our way letting you know all the cool and exciting things we have planned for this summer, make some new friends, and also a way to say thanks to everyone who has supported us for the past two years.
For more info please feel free to contact us at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or call us at 512 358- 4632.
Received directly:
