Puppeteer Tom Lee Retells Classic Lunar New Year Zodiac Tale in Live-Streamed THE GREAT ZODIAC ANIMAL RACE

Eighth Blackbird will continue their Winter 2021 Chicago Artists Workshop (CAW) live streamed event series with puppeteer Tom Lee: "The Great Zodiac Animal Race" 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26. Tickets are $20 (suggested) per household. For tickets and more information visit eighthblackbird.org.

The Lunar New Year, most commonly associated with the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, typically falls sometime between Jan. 21 and Feb. 20 annually. Lunar New Year 2021, the Year of the Ox, is on Feb. 12, and celebrations continue throughout the month.

Growing up in Hawaii, Lee's memories of Lunar New Year included narcissus blooms, tasty dim sum dishes and bowing to elders before running off to his room to open his lucky red envelope with money in it. In this show, Lee retells the classic Lunar New Year zodiac tale with shadow puppet animals inspired by Asian languages and pictograms in a program suitable for all ages.

About Tom Lee

Born in Seoul, Korea and raised in Mililani, Hawaii, Lee is a director, designer and puppet artist based in New York and Chicago. Lee began his career at La MaMa Experimental Theater in New York and later, the St. Ann's Warehouse Puppet Lab. His original puppet theater work includes "Shank's Mare" (La MaMa, Japan Tour), "Hoplite Diary" (St. Ann's, La MaMa), "Punch of the Dead" (St. Ann's Puppet Lab) "Odysseus and Ajax" (La MaMa) and "Ko'olau" (La MaMa/Hawaii tour). Lee has directed and designed puppetry for Giants Are Small with the New York Philharmonic, the Prototype Festival production of "The Scarlet Ibis" by Stefan Weisman and David Cote and for the National Asian American Theatre Company, among others. He collaborated with director Stephen Earnhart on a multimedia staging of Haruki Murakami's "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle," for which he designed the scenery, puppetry and projected puppet miniatures. The production was featured at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2011 and the Singapore Arts Festival in 2012.

Lee has performed extensively with other companies in New York, including "War Horse" at Lincoln Center Theater with puppetry by the Handspring Puppet Company of South Africa. He is a principal puppeteer of Cio-Cio-san's child in the late Anthony Minghella's production of "Madama Butterfly" at the Metropolitan Opera with puppetry by Blind Summit Theatre. Lee directed the puppetry for the Giants Are Small production of "Petrushka" with the New York Philharmonic on tour at London's Barbican Centre and was a puppeteer in "Le Grand Macabre" with the NY Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall. Other performance credits include Dan Hurlin's Obie-award winning puppet work "Hiroshima Maiden" and "Disfarmer," on tour and at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn and Lee Breuer's epic puppet opera "La Divina Caricatura" at La MaMa.

Lee studied with Koryu Nishikawa V, headmaster of Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo (cart puppet theater company) with whom he has maintained an ongoing creative relationship. Lee and Koryu Nishikawa V developed "Shank's Mare," a collaborative puppet theater work using the kuruma ningyo style. Lee's work has received support from numerous organizations including The Jim Henson Foundation, The Japan Foundation NY, The TCG/Andrew W. Mellon In the Lab Program, The TCG/ITI Travel Grant Program, The Trust for Mutual Understanding, The Ringling Museum of Art and The Jim Henson Carriage House. Lee was a guest faculty member at Sarah Lawrence College for 10 years and was co-director of the St. Ann's Puppet Lab from 2009-2011. Lee is currently co-director of the Chicago Puppet Studio.

Tickets

Eighth Blackbird Presents: The Chicago Artists Workshop (CAW) Part 2 February-March 2021. The live streamed events will be staged at the Eighth Blackbird production facility located at 4045 N. Rockwell St. There is also limited in-person seating. Suggested price per household is $20, but options include choosing a price as well as contributing as a supporter. All events include interviews and a Q&A with the artists. For tickets and more information visit https://www.eighthblackbird.org/product-category/caw-tickets.

Photo credit: Ayumi Sakamoto