Puppets galore will be showcased along with puppet shows, performances, and film screenings at the Museum of the City of New York, beginning on Friday, August 13. In Puppets of New York, the museum has selected Mrs. T, New Comer, Bad Idea Bears and Ricky puppets from Broadway’s Avenue Q and The Lion King, among the over 100 other characters that make up the exhibit.
The exhibition will partner with the International Puppet Fringe Festival, running August 11–16, offering some live programming for the opening ceremony August 12. The Museum will also host a special series of live, outdoor performances featuring local puppeteers, educators, and performance groups throughout the run of the exhibition.
The goal of the exhibit is to examine the impact of puppetry on the city and the influence of the city on this art form. Puppets of New York covers three themes: The Stage, looking at puppetry from the Yiddish theatre of the 1920s through modern Broadway; The Set, featuring puppets from television, including Jim Henson’s Muppets and Shari Lewis’ Lamb Chop; and The Street, showcasing the puppetry of the city’s community and streets, such as Chinatown’s Lunar New Year celebrations, puppets from the Village Halloween Day Parade and the work of the Bread and Puppet Theater.
Monxo López, the exhibition’s curator and a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the Museum advises that “Puppets are not just child’s play. They often reflect the cultural changes, diverse communities, and political events that impact urban life.” López adds that immigrants from around the globe have also influenced the cultural life of New York with puppetry traditions that both mirror their places of origin and blend with their new environments.
For more information, visit MCNY.org.
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