The Elephants are very excited about this week of puppetry. We are honored to be performing so many wonderful places (see “May Performances” post).
In celebration, we are releasing an audio recording of our Overture from “How The Elephant Child Got It’s Trunk,” by Rudyard Kipling. This track will be available to you free all this week at BandCamp (after that = $1). Enjoy!
It’s Spring, and the Elephants are frolicking on daffodils. In the greater-New England area you have 7 chances to see Elephant Tango perform this month! The 3rd week in May we will be performing everywhere we can! Here are the details:
Elephant Tango Tales: A full-ensemble, one-hour show on May 21st & 22nd at the Puppet Showplace Theatre in Brookline (1pm & 3pm on both days). All performances will feature Aesop’s Fables, The Couch & Baby Zombie. Tickets are now available.
PRESS: Tickets are $10 for Kids and Adults, or $8 for Members
This puppet show features old stories and new creations fill an exciting hour of puppetry & music! With Aesop’s Fables (Mice In Council, Mountain In Labor & The Lion’s Paw), The Couch (an original … story of a child’s imaginative adventures by Jill Gibson), and a series of delightful vignettes by the adorable Baby Zombie. Features shadow puppetry, ball & scarf puppetry, projector puppetry and hand puppetry – all accompanied by a live music ensemble!
Recommended for ages 4 & up.
Saturday, May 21st at 1pm & 3pm
Sunday, May 22nd at 1pm & 3pm
Baby Zombie will be traveling during the week to:
Sprout Spaghetti Dinner: Wednesday, May 18th @ Sprout; 339R Summer Street, Somerville MA 02144
Blood From A Turnip: Friday, May 20th @ Perishable Theatre 95 Empire Street Providence, RI 02903
Puppet Showplace Slam: Saturday, May 21st @ 8pm at Puppet Showplace Theatre. “
Baby Zombie returns Friday, April 8th as part of MonkeyHouse’s: Against The Odds (Stories of Adaption, Translation & Survival); 7:30pm at SpringStep (98 George P Hassett Dr, Medford, MA 02155).
Against the Odds is moving smorgasbord with a rotating array of opening acts, master classes, and guest artists alongside a smattering of Monkeyhouse pieces (including premieres choreographed by Eva Dean and Lynn Schwab). Each wee…k holds a different adventure for audience members through Friday Nights Out and Sassy Saturday Classes.
Friday Night Out #3 (April 8th @ 7:30pm)
with performances by Karen Krolak, Nicole Harris, Courtney Wagner & Caitlin Meehan
Opening Act: A puppetry performance curated by Roxanna Myhrum, Artistic Director of Puppet Showplace Theatre featuring Elephant Tango!
Guest Artists: Anne Howarth & Bari Rosenberg
Spork (Post Show Talk)
lead by Allison Fiske
Also, the musical Elephants will be performing as the house band for BENT WIT CABARET, Sunday April 10th; 8pm @ ClubOberon. Tickets now available.
from STORY TIME PRESERVATION HOUR, a one-hour, ALL AGES SHOW at the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre: February 10th-26th (BUY TICKETS HERE)
And video:
In our premiere collaboration, The Elephant Tango Ensemble (ETE) joins forces with New Exhibition Room on STORY TIME PRESERVATION HOUR, a one-hour, ALL AGES SHOW debuting at the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre: February 10th-26th (BUY TICKETS HERE)
Fresh off our installation at the Mikhail Zakin Gallery in New Jersey for a Contemporary Puppetry Exhibit (showcasing the best new work in puppetry across America and beyond), ETE is pleased to announce our newest original piece, Baby Zombie!
Inspired by an idea from New Exhibition Room’s Dawn Simmons, Baby Zombie is a hilarious romp through the day in the life of an infant zombie. Utilizing shadow puppetry, hand puppets, slide projection, and live music, Elephant Tango brings their unique combination of music, multimedia puppetry, and a huge dose of fun that both kids and adults will enjoy to the stage. Puppeteer and Co-Director Karin Webb says, “I’m excited about this project because it is our most sophisticated venture yet into general audience puppetry… there really is something for everybody!”
The Elephants are back at Lincoln Elementary (19 Kennard Road, Brookline MA) this Sunday, the 24th of October (2pm showtime) for a spectacular one-hour puppet extravaganza! We’ll be showingcasing a new piece by Karin Webb (The Crunkruckle), as well as performing The Couch, by Jill Gibson and our rendition of three Aesop’s Fables. This performance will also feature the debut of our new musical interstitials. It’s going to be great fun for the whole family, and only $5. Come on down!
Press Release:
The Elephant Tango Ensemble returns to bring you more classic and original bedtime stories with live music. This hour-long performance will debut a new work by Karin Webb that uses shadow puppets, projector puppetry, bunraku and more. It will also showcase “The Couch” by Jill Gibson and a shadow puppet interpretation of three Aesop’s Fables (Mice In Council, Mountain In Labor, and The Lion’s Paw). Original music compositions will be provided by the ensemble featuring guitar, cello & MIDI marimba.
The Elephant Tango Ensemble is a collective of musicians, actors, puppeteers, designers and dancers who are committed to the preservation of Storytime through the use of original music, puppets and creative storytelling. For more information on The Elephant Tango Ensemble visit www.elephanttango.com.
Tickets are $5 per person and all ages are welcome. For advance tickets call Brookline Music School at (617) 277-4593.
Pen & Ink Drawing by Karin Webb
The Elephants are very excited to participate in Brookline’s Puppet Showplace Theatre’s Incubator series. We will be sharing a new piece written by Karin Webb and opening the floor to questions & comments. This is our latest work “in-progress” and we’d love it if you can be there.
When: Tuesday, September 21st 7-9pm
Where: Brookline Puppet Showplace Theatre
32 Station Street
Brookline, MA 02445
More info about the Incubator Series:
Incubator (in ku ba´ ter) n : A place or situation that permits or encourages the formation and development, as of new ideas.
Every other Tuesday from 7 – 9 pm the Puppet Showplace Theatre hosts a “drop-in” session where emerging artists, veteran puppeteers, teachers, and puppet enthusiasts gather to discuss and develop creative ideas in a casual, informal environment.
Here artists of all media and genres, experienced or not, can experiment with new puppetry ideas, materials and styles. It’s a place where knowledge is shared, constructive critique is the norm, and collaborations are born.
No matter where your interests lie, from traditional theatre to the avant garde, you’re welcome at these sessions.
Similar workshops have developed and flourished in places like Atlanta and New York, adding breadth and richness to the puppetry of those cities, and now the same thing is happening here!
Join us in this exciting project!
A $5 donation is suggested to cover costs, but no one is turned away. For more information, call 617.731.6400, or email us at artistic@puppetshowplace.org with “incubator” in the subject.
The Elephants took a field trip this summer to visit the Mikhail Zakin Gallery, where our piece was being displayed in an exhibit on Contemporary Puppetry. We were thrilled to meet John McGurk (curator) & Mary Gagler, who helped assemble and present our piece. The Gallery was beautiful, and we are honored to be surround by such great artists.
Below are a few photos from our excursion (be sure to check out the panorama).
The Elephant Tango is proud to announce it will be featured in an exhibit of contemporary pupperty at Mikhail Zakin Gallery from July 26 – September 8, 2010. The official opening, with live performances and video screenings, will take place August 7th, from 2-4pm. The show is wheelchair accessible and free to the public.
ETE will be displaying a custom piece 8′ x 2′, showcasing scence from 3 previous works: The Elephant’s Child, Aesop’s Fables, & The Couch. Featuring puppet designs by Dylan Gould and Brendan Burns, with arrangement assistance from Karin Webb & Valerie Thompson. The installation will include an audio selection composed by Brendan Burns (Guitar) & Valerie Thompson (Cello), along with Vessela Stoyanova (MIDI Marimba), Brendan Higgins (Clarinet), Rachel Jayson (Strings) and Nate Greenslit (Percussion); engineered by Lainey SchoolTree.
The exhibit will feature other masterful puppeteers: Sandow Birk & Elyse Pignolet (Long Beach, CA), Serra Hirsch (NY, NY), Tine Kindermann (NY, NY), MiWha Lee (Cresskill, NJ), Jason Leinwand (NY, NY), Richard Mansfield (London, UK), Robin McCahill (Thomaston, CT), Sean Meredith (Los Angeles, CA), Leslie Rogers (Philadelphia, PA), Jamie Shannon (Toronto, CA), Laura Strausfeld (NY, NY), Miss Pussycat and Quintron (New Orleans, LA), Wonderspark Puppets (NY, NY).
ABOUT THE MIKHAIL ZAKIN GALLERY AT THE ART SCHOOL AT OLD CHURCH
The Art School at Old Church is a non-profit cultural that houses the Mikhail Zakin and Café Galleries. The school and galleries provide community access to experiences in the arts. The school offers over 90 art classes and workshops for adults, teens and children each semester as well as free gallery exhibitions. The Art School’s programs are made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as contributions from foundations, corporations, businesses and individuals.
561 Piermont Road
Demarest, NJ 07627
201-767-7160
Gallery hours:
9:30 AM – 5:00 PM, Monday – Friday
9:30 AM – 12: 00 PM, Saturday
Call for weekday evening hours
The Elephant Tango will be taking their puppet show on the road in May for two performances!
Friday, May 21st at Pershiable Theater’s: Blood From A Turnip (showtime 10pm)
Saturday, May 22nd at Brookline’s Puppet Showplace for Puppet Slam (showtime 8pm)
