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Mum Puppettheatre announces unforgettable 2000-2001 season of annual favorites, special guests and other surprises

For Immediate Release: September 1, 2000

Philadelphia, PA - Mum Puppettheatre, the critically acclaimed touring company located in the heart of Old City, announces its 2000-2001 season of annual favorites, special guest stars and groundbreaking new plays. Mum Puppettheatre, often hailed as Philadelphia's most valuable "undiscovered gem", stands firm in their commitment to find fresh, never before seen ways to create theatre that matters. Mum aims to teach people the value of theatre by creating experiences, emotions and memories not found anywhere else. Theatre at Mum is universal, unique, well made and always leaves the audience wanting more. With careful attention to detail and vivid imaginations, Mum Puppettheatre creates a world that teaches, explores and knocks your socks off with incredible visual images worth a thousand words!

The season kicks off with Revenge of the Fantoccini, the fifth installment of Mum's annual Fantoccini series which has included I was a Teenage Fantoccini and Attack of the 50 Foot Fantoccini, to name a few. The Fantoccini series (based on the Italian word for puppet) has become an annual favorite among Philadelphia audiences because of its unique integration of simple objects and complex ideas. The simple being puppets made of a Styrofoam ball on a finger, gloved hands or symbolic yellow cones; the complex being the wonderfully delightful humor and the thought provoking propositions that leave audiences of all ages wanting more. Revenge of the Fantoccini is written, designed and performed by Mum Puppettheatre's three new staff members, Resident Artists Sondra Blanchard and Jarrid Masse, and Education Director Kali Lela Colton. Drawing from their varying talents and strengths including dance, movement theatre, clowning and improvisation, Revenge of the Fantoccini is a veritable grab bag of interludes and vaudevilles, each one different and each one pushing the edge of the envelope of what constitutes puppet performance, or any theatrical performance for that matter. Under the skilled direction of Artistic Director Robert Smythe, Revenge of the Fantoccini proves that theatre can express itself in varying lengths and forms and that one production can speak to all different ages on many different levels. The show runs Thursday, September 14 to Sunday, October 1.

Second in Mum's lineup is the family favorite, The Velveteen Rabbit. After playing to sold out audiences of ages 2-100, from Mississippi to Massachusetts, The Velveteen Rabbit returns to Philadelphia for its 7th annual holiday appearance. In this heartwarming adaptation of the beloved story about a plush velvet rabbit who discovers the meaning of life and love, Mum Puppettheatre combines the world of movement, original music and the imagination of the audience to create a thrilling and unique family theatre experience. Hand puppets, rod puppets, shadows and masks as well as Adam Wernick's award-winning original music create an enchanting, wordless narrative. It's time to revisit this annual tradition and ask the question "How can two people do all of that?" Don't miss the rabbit, playing Friday, November 24 through Sunday, December 31.

The third exciting addition to this season's lineup at Mum Puppettheatre is Luman Coad of Coad Canada Puppets. the world renowned puppet artist who has won over 14 prestigious awards for excellence in the Art of Puppetry and Interpretation. Most recently, Luman Coad offered his expertise by serving as puppeteer, technical consultant and John Cusack's body double for the Academy Award nominated film Being John Malkovitch, a movie that showed the world the power and emotional range of puppetry. Coad proves anything is possible as he explores a range of emotions in The Box? A Show of Feelings and Mr. Whipple's Whims, 2 productions he has toured throughout the world. Besides the power of expression of the puppets and the technical precision of the manipulator, the most significant aspect of Luman Coad's work is its ability to draw emotions more powerful than the ones obtained by many live actors. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wonder and you'll be amazed. Luman Coad will delight audiences from Thursday, January 25 to Sunday, February 11.

The fourth show continues the Mum tradition of developing new work and is still under wraps, but follows in Mum Puppettheatre's tradition of telling stories dealing with world myth, tales that educate as they explore new worlds, new ways of learning to live with each other and new possibilities of the imagination. This new show, as yet untitled, will be a show of firsts, created under the direction of Barrymore Award nominated director Deborah Block, who traveled to Alaska to study the legends and traditions of the Athabaskan people. Block will work with Mum Puppettheatre's Resident Artists to develop a play based on the story of two old women abandoned by their tribe and who must make their own way through the fierce winter. Award winning sculptor Stephen Layne will design and sculpt the puppets for this production, the first non-Mum artist to create puppets for the company. Keep your eyes open, for more information will be revealed in time. The artists begin creating the journey on October 1; the show will break ground in the Spring.

The season finale, The Adventures of a Boy and His Dog On the High Seas, follows years of success with Mum Puppettheatre's original Boy and His Dog stories. Previous years saw a Boy and His Dog in outer space battling aliens or in the primordial jungle, face-to-face with dinosaurs. This year follow this famous duo as they take on the high seas, chock full of messages in bottles, mermaids, girl pirates and all around out-of-control, belly-busting adventures. Artistic Director Robert Smythe and his co-collaborators and children, 4 year-old Harry and Maggie, 8, will draw from hundreds of letters collected from fans around the world who detailed what they would like to see a Boy and his Dog do next. No child or inner child will be able to resist the nail-biting danger and suspense a comedic drama like this entails. The ship sails Friday, May 4 to Sunday, May 20.

Mum Puppettheatre was founded by Artistic Director Robert Smythe in 1985 as a touring company dedicated to introducing audiences to the art of puppetry and theatre. Recognized for its innovative theatre productions, as well as its in-school-arts-education programs, Mum Puppettheatre quickly garnered national and international acclaim. To date, Mum Puppettheatre has earned three "Citations for Excellence" from Union Internationale de la Marionette and six Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre from the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, including the Philadelphia Inquirer Award for Excellence in Theatre Education. In 1999 Mum Puppettheatre won the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and Pennsylvania Department of Education Best Practices Award for the company's education programs. In addition, Mum Puppettheatre is one of the only theatres in Philadelphia and puppet theatres in the country that receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Mum Puppettheatre offers a truly unique and valuable experience to the Philadelphia region being the only theatre between Vermont and Atlanta that exists solely for puppetry. By incorporating dance, music, acting, and art into its work, Mum Puppettheatre takes risks that stretch far beyond the boundaries typical of most theatres. Not only is Mum one of the few theatre companies iin the region producing only original work, the company is extraordinary in that it creates its actors from scratch. Mum Puppettheatre productions are accessible to everyone from all walks of life; the deaf community, experienced theatre goers, people who have never seen a production, rich, poor, children and adults.

Like most memorable and fantastic experiences, Mum Puppettheatre is nearly impossible to put into words, as the audience is always left with a sense of wonder, amazement and wanting more. At Mum Puppettheatre a puppet is worth a thousand words for many reasons: not only do they inspire, provoke and entertain, they explore, refine, and present the world in multiple forms. That's something you can't get anywhere else!

Be amazed. Call 215-925-8686 for more information.

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