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!

The Tale of Juan Bobo Sneak Peek!

Our new show, The Tale of Juan Bobo, opens April 17th! Here is a quick peek at the hand puppets of  main characters.

Juan Bobo, his mom, and their grumpy neighbor

We'll be sharing more pictures in the run up to the show, and tickets are still available- info below!

The Tale of Juan Bobo
April 17 - April 20, 2013
11:00 am and 2:00 pm 
At the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA
Tickets $5- tickets can be purchased over the phone at 413-658-1126

Little Red Ridding Hood Sneak Peek!

We are excited for the opening of Little Red Ridding Hood on Monday, and thought we would share a few pictures of the puppets in the workroom to give you a little preview!

Here is the hand puppet version of the wolf:

and here he is as a shadow puppet:


This is the hand puppet Little Red and Grandma:

and here they are as shadows with Red's mom as a shadow too:

The show runs Aug. 8-13 at 1pm each day at the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst, MA. Tickets are $5, and you can pre-order them at 413-658-1126. Hope you get a chance to see the show, and check back here later this week for more pictures from the show!

Just So Stories Sneak Peek!

Our performances of Just So Stories at the Eric Carle Museum start next week! The show runs April 18-22 at 1pm each day, and tickets are $5 or $4.50 for museum members. Tickets may be purchased at the Admissions Desk or by calling (413) 658-1126.


We are currently hard at work putting the final touches on the show, and thought it would be fun to share a few pictures from the workroom of puppets we made for the show.


Here is the Djinn from How the Camel Got Its Hump


This is the Hedgehog shadow puppet for The Beginning of the Armadillos.




This guy is the man from How the Rhino Got His Skin.


Hope to see you get a chance to see the show next week!

Building the Seagull Puppet

We recently finished a seagull puppet for the The August Company's upcoming show in Northampton, MA, and thought it would be fun to share some pictures from the building process.

We started out by sketching some designs, and decided on this one.

Then we built the moving parts of the puppet. The wings flap on this puppet, and we rigged them first to make sure they would work before adding the other details.

Then we started on the more decorative parts. Here is the paper mache head being painted.

Finally, we put all the pieces together for the complete, working puppet.

If you would like to see the seagull in action, or just see some great theater, the show runs April 14-16 and tickets and more information can be found here.

Beauty and The Beast Pictures

We went to see O.H. Platt High School's production of Beauty and The Beast on Friday night, and really enjoyed the show. Congratulations to the cast, crew and everyone involved ! We also took some pictures of the puppets and wolves in action to share with you. These were taken from our seats, with no flash, so they aren't the best photos in the world, but you can at least see how they were used.


The Enchantress

The Beast


The Wolves

Workshops & Classes

CactusHead Puppets offers workshops as well as shows. We have taught workshops for many different groups, and can tailor them so you get a fun and educational workshop that fits your needs. We offer:

-Classes for all ages- We have taught workshops for ages 4- adult!
-Workshops ranging in length from1 hour to classes that meet multiple times over several weeks
-Workshops in hand, shadow, or rod puppets about puppet making or performance or both!
-Classes tailored to fit the theme your group is studying



Email cactusheadpuppets@gmail.com for more information about workshops and performances!