The Ballard Institute And Museum Of Puppetry Will Present Sidney Chrysler’s Miniature Puppet Operas Puppet Forum

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will present “Sidney Chrysler’s Miniature Puppet Operas” as part of its 2026 Spring Puppet Forum Series.

The event will take place on March 4 at 7 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Storrs, Connecticut, and will also be broadcast via the Ballard Institute’s Facebook Live.

Moderated by John Bell, the forum will focus on the work of Chaplin, Connecticut artist and puppeteer Sidney Chrysler (1915–1999), building on current research at the Ballard Institute. Participants include Puppet Arts alumnus Stefano Brancato, director Michael Goldfried, Victoria Northrup—who performed with Chrysler as a child—and Puppet Arts student and researcher Alfi Free.

Frank Ballard once described Chrysler as the best Connecticut puppeteer of his time, though his work remains relatively unknown. Chrysler created elaborate miniature puppet operas that were performed infrequently in a small shed theater that accommodated only a handful of audience members. Those who attended viewed operas such as Aida and Tosca through miniature opera glasses. A contemporary news account noted that Chrysler “turned paper doilies, netting from a produce bag and spray paint into Gothic cathedral windows; tiny hand-stitches are used to gather strips of draped crepe paper into full skirts and ruffles.” Ballard observed that “once the house lights die and the curtain goes up, it seems like you’re in the second balcony at the Met.”

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