Friday, February 05, 2010

Henson's "Stuffed and Unstrung" Puppet Show Comes to NYC

WestBeth Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company's Henson Alternative have just announced the New York debut of "Stuffed and Unstrung", a live uncensored show that lets loose the perilous and provocative elements of comedic improvisation on stage with a bunch of puppets. Created by Brian Henson and Patrick Bristow, this one-of-a-kind comedy performance is set for a special 10-week limited engagement kicking off Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at the Union Square Theatre in New York. The official opening will then take place on Thursday, April 1 at 9:00 PM.

"Stuffed and Unstrung" is a madcap multimedia romp in which the skilled art of puppetry and comedic intelligent nonsense collide. Unpredictable, irreverent and rebellious, it’s never the same show twice as a team of expert puppeteers sets off on a trail of twisted sketches and songs at breakneck pace while interaction with the audience prompts the spontaneous storylines unfolding on stage.

"Stuffed and Unstrung" evolved from Henson’s previous production "Puppet Up! – Uncensored", which made its debut at the 2006 HBO Comedy Festival (Aspen, CO) and later toured the 2006 Edinburgh Festival (Edinburgh, Scotland), The 2007 Comedy Festival (Las Vegas, NV) and Australia’s Sydney Big Laugh Comedy Festival and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (both 2007). Most recently, "Puppet Up!" continued to be workshopped in monthly performances at Avalon Hollywood. The New York engagement of "Stuffed and Unstrung" marks the debut of a completely revamped production featuring all new technical wizardry and original music and staging.

With live musical accompaniment and Bristow as host, "Stuffed and Unstrung" features a cast of six puppeteers in an uninhibited live puppet performance, as never seen before. This production serves up “two shows in one” as the hilarious puppet action is projected on large screens flanking the stage, while the puppeteers display their skillful talents below all in full view of the audience.

For more information on the Jim Henson Company's "Stuffed and Unstrung," or to get your tickets for this must-see show, check out www.StuffedAndUnstrung.com. I will be sure to keep you posted as more information on this New York City stage show unfolds.

6 comments:

Hellfish said...

Based on the description, this is not an evolution of Puppet Up!, it IS Puppet Up!. Not that I'm complaining, The more Puppet Up!(-alikes) the better.

Vaughn Michael said...

I have to wonder thought, why the name change?

frogboy4 said...

They should take this show on the road. I can't make it to NY or LA, but San Francisco is considered a major arts city and would welcome this program. COME HERE TOO!

Hellfish said...

Only news I could find in the slim pickings of info is three new puppets (at least I havn't seen them before), two vultures and what looks like a female Mortimer counterpart. (Bottom left of this pic: http://www.stuffedandunstrung.com/images/bg.jpg)

So this probably means that SUDS has lost priority again,huh? :(

Shawnacy said...

Well it sounds like they are going to be adding new technical effects and lowering the number of puppeteers. They usually never had more than 6 performers on stage anyway so I guess this will just limit their rest time.
I'm going to miss them. I got to see a few shows in LA while they were during their year long run here. I hope they come back with this one.

xxltaco said...

check out the stuffed and unstrung casting tape!

i hear there's one more coming too!

HIGH-LARIOUS!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B14kpBCaX4