Pied Piper is returning to the Puppet Showplace Theater!

/
We are excited to be heading back to the Puppet Showplace Theater in September to perform The Pied Piper of Hamelin! Shows will be 1pm & 3pm on Sept. 12th and 13th, you can get tickets and more info on the Showplace's website here.

 The Pied Piper of Hamelin

The town of Hamelin has a rat problem, and there's only one person who can help! CactusHead Puppets brings the story of the Pied Piper to life with a cast of colorful characters in this comedic adaptation of the traditional folktale. Not only does the town find a musical solution to pest control, but the kids of Hamelin also teach the grownups a lesson about generosity. In the end, the townspeople all come together in celebration. This production features multiple puppetry styles, a silly hat contest, and plenty of dancing rats!




Little Red Riding Hood and Pied Piper Performances this Week!

/
We are excited to have several shows this week!

First, we will be performing Little Red Riding Hood on Weds. 7/29 at 11am at the Springfield Museums.  This performance is free with admission to the museum! Visit the museum's website for more info: http://www.springfieldmuseums.org/
- Note: There is an error on the museum website calendar that lists our performance as 7/30, but it is on 7/29. 


Little Red Riding Hood's anxious mother sends her off into the woods with some treats for her dear old grandmother, but to get home safely she and her grandmother will have to outsmart the Big Bad Wolf.  Are Little Red and Grandmother in trouble, or has the wolf bitten off more than he can chew? Join CactusHead Puppets for their modern adaptation of this classic story, told with hand puppets and shadow puppets. 


Then we will have performances of The Pied Piper of Hamelin at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art on Sat. 8/1 and Sun. 8/2! Here are the showtimes and ticket info for those dates:
August 1, 2015
11:00am

 August 2, 2015
1:00pm and 3:00pm
Tickets $5, call 413-658-1126 to purchase.


The town of Hamelin has a rat problem, and there's only one person who can help! CactusHead Puppets bring the story of the Pied Piper to life with a cast of colorful characters in this comedic adaptation of the traditional folktale. Not only does the town find a musical solution to pest control, but the kids of Hamelin also teach the grownups a lesson about generosity. In the end, the townspeople all come together in celebration. Join puppeteers John and Megan Regan as they present this classic tale, told with multiple puppetry styles, and plenty of dancing rats!

2015 Upcoming Public Performances

/
Want to come see a CactusHead Puppets show? Check out our list of public performance dates to see if there is a show near you!

 2/20/2015- The Pied Piper of Hamelin, 11am & 2pm, The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Amherst, MA (tickets $5, call 413-658-1126 to purchase)

3/14/2015- The Pied Piper of Hamelin, 11am & 3pm, Goat on A Boat Puppet Theater, Sag Harbor, NY (purchase tickets)

3/18/2015- The Bremen Town Musicians, 3:30pm, Winchester Public Library, Winchester, MA

7/29/2015- Little Red Riding Hood, 11am, Springfield Museums, Springfield, MA

 Hope to see you at a show soon!

Interested in having us come perform at your location? Check out the list of touring shows we offer here, and email cactusheadpuppets@gmail.com for info about availability and pricing.

Last Weekend of Pied Piper at The Puppet Showplace Theater

/
This coming weekend, 1/24 - 1/25, is our last weekend of performances of our new Pied Piper show at the Puppet Showplace Theater in Brookline, MA! Its a great show, and we've had a lot of fun performing there. If you haven't gotten a chance to see it yet, we hope you can come this weekend. Here are the showtimes and ticket info:

The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Sat. 1/24
1pm & 3pm

Sun. 1/25
1pm & 3pm

Purchase tickets

The show is also now available for touring! We've got a few dates already lined up (more info on those soon), and you can contact us at cactusheadpuppets@gmail.com if you are interested in having us come do a show.


Tickets on Sale Now!

/
There are a several opportunities to see CactusHead shows coming up! 

 First, we will be performing Bremen Town Musicians at The Carle in Amherst, MA 12/27 and 12/28. Here are the details:
The Bremen Town Musicians
December 27, 2014
11:00am and 1:00pm
December 28, 2014
1:00pm
$5 (Members $4.50); Museum Admission extra
CactusHead Puppets tells the classic tale of a donkey, dog, cat, and rooster who set off on a journey together to start new lives as musicians, and the exciting adventures they have along the way.
Tickets may be purchased in advance at the Museum Admissions Desk or by calling 413.658.1126.
Then in Jan. 2015 we will be premiering our brand new Pied Piper show at the Puppet Showplace Theater in Brookline, MA! Details for those performances and a link to purchase tickets are here:
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
by CactusHead Puppets
Saturday January 10 - Sunday January 25
The town of Hamelin has a rat problem, and there's only one person who can help! CactusHead Puppets bring the story of the Pied Piper to life with a cast of colorful characters in this comedic adaptation of the traditional folktale. Not only does the town find a musical solution to pest control, but the kids of Hamelin also teach the grownups a lesson about generosity. In the end, the townspeople all come together in celebration. Join puppeteers John and Megan Regan as they present this classic tale, told with multiple puppetry styles, and plenty of dancing rats!

Hope you are able to join us for these shows!



Upcoming Shows and Booking for Fall!

/
It's hard to believe it's already September, but we have lots of exciting things coming up to look forward to!

Saturday, 9/13 we will be performing The Tale of Juan Bobo at the Springfield Museums as part of their LittleFest. Our shows will be at 11:30 and 1:45, and a schedule of all the great events that day can be found here. It looks like all the events are included in museum admission that day, and if you are Springfield resident, WGBY, or Springfield Museum member, its free!



We are also now booking for shows for the fall and winter! If you would like to have us come and perform at your location, please email cacusheadpuppets@gmail.com for info about pricing and availability.  You can choose from any of our touring shows, and we also offer puppet making workshops that can stand alone or be booked along with a show. You can learn more about all the shows we offer here.

The last bit of news is that for our next new show, we are actually remaking our first show, The Pied Piper of Hamelin! It will be a little longer, have more scenery, more puppets, and of course more RATS! The show will premiere in Jan. 2015 at the Puppet Showplace Theater in Brookline, MA and then be available to tour. Check back here soon for more info about how we are creating this new and improved show.




One More Day of Pied Piper Shows

/
Tomorrow, Fri. Aug. 10th,  is our last day of Pied Piper performances at the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst, MA. The shows are at 11:30am and 2 pm. Tickets are still available for both show times, so if you are looking for something fun to do tomorrow, come on by!
We have had a lovely time performing there this week, and a fantastic time touring this summer. In the next few weeks we will be adding fall touring dates to our schedule, announcing our next new show, and sharing another thing or two that we are working on, so check back soon!

More Pied Piper Show Times!

/
We have added a few more show times to our upcoming week of Pied Piper performances at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art! Our schedule is now:

1pm on Sunday 8/5
11:30 am & 2pm on Monday 8/6
2pm on Tuesday 8/7
2pm on Wednesday 8/8
2pm on Thursday 8/9
11:30 am & 2pm on Friday 8/10

 Tickets are $5, and you can buy them at 413-658-1126. Hope these added times allows more people to see the show!

CactusHead Puppets Summer Schedule

/
Hope everyone's summer has started off great! We have several performances lined up this summer, and and we are excited to be going to several new places.

We will be performing Little Red Riding Hood on Sunday July 8th and Sunday July 22nd at 1pm each day at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA. Tickets are $5, and you can pre-order them at 413-658-1126. 

Then we are back at the Eric Carle Museum August 6-10 performing The Pied Piper at 2pm each day. Tickets are $5 for these shows too, and they can be purchased at 413-658-1126.

We also have several performances at libraries coming up. Check the list to see if we are going to be near you, and then contact the library to find out how to register to attend.
7/11/2012 - The Emperor's New Clothes, 6:30 pm, Woodbridge Town Library, Woodbridge, CT
7/13/2012- The Pied Piper, 10am Norwalk Public Library in Norwalk, CT
7/25/2012- The Emperor's New Clothes, 10:30am, Enfield Public Library, Enfield, CT
7/25/2012- The Pied Piper, 6:30 pm, Goshen Public Library, Goshen, CT
7/26/2012- Little Red Ridding Hood, 10 am Southington Public Library & Museum, Southington,CT

Hope to see you at our shows!

Pied Piper on June 18th!

/
We will be performing The Pied Piper Sat. June 18th @ 1pm at the West Springfield, MA. Celebrate The Arts festival, which takes place at Landmark @ Monastery Heights, Monastery Ave. If the weather is bad the festival will be at Grace Lutheran church, Westfield Street in West Springfield. It should be a fun day with all kinds of great activities!

CactusHead Puppets in the News!

/
Our show at the Danbury Library got a nice write up in the local Danbury Patch! Here is a link to the article and photos by Christine Rose. This is what she had to say about the show:

"The mini set enjoyed a puppet show from University of Connecticut Puppetry grads, John and Megan Regan. The story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin was adapted from the original fairytale, though here with a much happier ending. There was a lot of laughter from parents as well as the kids, and many were inspired to go off afterwards and host a puppet show of their own."


Here are a couple of the pictures she took after the show during our workshop, and you can see more in the article's photo gallery.
Photos by Christine Rose

Pied Piper Performance this Saturday!

/
Sorry for the short notice, but this coming Saturday, 3/19/11, we will be performing The Pied Piper at the Danbury Library in Danbury CT and offering a puppet making workshop afterward! The show at 11 am, and it is free but registration is required. More information and details on how to register can be found here. If you are in the area we would love to see you there!

Pied Piper Performance Pictures

/
These are a few photos from our performances of The Pied Piper at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. We had a blast performing, and the audiences really loved the show too. The show itself was half an hour, and then we did about 10 minutes of Q & A and demonstrating how the puppets work. The photographer said she was laughing too hard during the show to take clear pictures, but these came out very well.
Enjoy the peek at the show!



The rats and the banana slide.

Rats are tempted by the cheese costume.


The Mayor unveils his moon ladder plan.


Photos by Kristin Angel

The Making of The Pied Piper of Hamelin

/
We had our first performances of our show The Pied Piper of Hamelin at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art a few weeks ago. It was a lot of fun to perform, and we had great audiences all week! For this post, we are going to share some behind the scenes pictures of how we made the puppets and built the stage.


The first step in making the puppets is to sculpt the heads out of clay, and then papier mache over the clay to make a hard shell. Here are some of the heads during the papier mache process.

The next step is to sand and paint the papier mache so they are very smooth.

Here are some of the heads before the hair is added, and a pair of hands carved out of foam.

We made all the hands out of foam, and then papier mached them to add strength. Here they are all ready to be sanded smooth and then painted.


The puppets' bodies are cloth sleeves which you can see here, and the costumes are sewn and then attached to the sleeves. Here is Sally getting her costume fitted!


Here is the whole cast costumed and ready to go!



Our stage is made of hinged wooden frames that we put a curtain around. Here you can see the frames that will become the front of the stage, and in the bottom corner are the frames that will become the sides of the stage.

A shot of the stage from the side with the curtain.


This is a view from backstage as we set up for rehearsal.


We also use shadow puppets in this show, and this is our shadow screen lit up in the backdrop of the stage.

Here is another picture from the side of the stage so you can see the shadow screen, curtains and down into the stage a little bit.

Hope you enjoyed the peek into how we made everything for the show. Our next post will have pictures from the performances!

CactusHead Puppets also now has a page on facebook. You can check it out here, and be sure to "like" the page for news and updates about upcoming shows.