Alva Rogers' THE HARLEM DOLL PALACE To Headline Puppetopia 2025 At HERE Arts Center

HERE's Dream Music Puppetry will present the World Premiere of The Harlem Doll Palace, written by Alva Rogers (Artistic Director of Alva Puppet Theater; Topsy-Turvy at BAM) and directed by Ash Winkfield (NYC, Toronto & US Tour of The Walk with Little Amal; Rite of Spring and Sister's Follies with Basil Twist), as part of Puppetopia 2025, a two week puppetry state of mind with new work curated by HERE co-founder Barbara Busackino and Dream Music Artistic Director and star Alum Basil Twist.

The festival will run May 19-June 1 in the Mainstage and DOT at HERE Arts Center. Tickets (First 10 tickets for $10; $35-$100) are available for advance purchase now. Additional Puppetopia 2025 projects will be announced in the coming weeks.

"We couldn't be more excited to host our first Puppetopia!" said HERE Co-Directors Jesse Cameron Alick and Annalisa Dias. "As a form, puppetry disarms us with magical whimsy and has a unique ability to open up the heartspace. The Harlem Doll Palace is the perfect example of how this artform breathes life into things once thought lost and a timely reflection on gentrification, loss, and a life well-lived."

Welcome to Aunt Len's Doll and Toy Museum! Behind the pink door of a three story Harlem brownstone lies a world created by Lennon Holder Hoyte - affectionately known as Aunt Len. The dolls from her "dollection" seek to keep Aunt Len, their beloved museum founder, alive before the outside world can invoke its realities of life, ashes and dust. As Harlem deteriorates around her beloved doll museum, the dolls recreate their journeys to the museum in an effort to keep Aunt Len's memory alive. Enter the world of the Harlem Doll Palace.

Performances will take place on:

Wednesday, May 21 at 7pm

Thursday, May 22 at 7pm

Friday, May 23 at 7pm

Saturday, May 24 at 2pm & 7pm

Sunday, May 25 at 2pm

Tuesday, May 27 at 7pm

Wednesday, May 28 at 7pm

Thursday, May 29 at 7pm

Friday, May 30 at 7pm

Saturday, May 31 at 2pm & 7pm

Sunday, June 1 at 2pm

Alva Rogers (Playwright) the Artistic Director of ALVA PUPPET THEATER, is a dramatist, puppeteer, and multidisciplinary artist. The company's most recent work, Topsy-Turvy, was presented at The 2024 Brooklyn Academy of Music's Gala at the request of Creative Trailblazer honoree, Solange Knowles and The Museum of Modern Art in 2023. Her work with Rodeo Caledonia High Fidelity Performance Theater ignited an early career as a performance artist and film actor (School Daze, Daughters of the Dust). Later, she concentrated more on writing, earning MFAs in Musical Theatre Writing (NYU/Tisch) and Playwriting (Brown); she also holds an MAT in History (Bard).

Ash Winkfield (Director) (xe/xem/xyr) is a multi-disciplinary artist working primarily in theater and the puppetry arts. Winkfield specializes in new and devised work presented in New York City, and has toured domestically and internationally with Basil Twist (Rite of Spring, Sister's Follies, Book of Mountains and Seas), The Walk with Little Amal (NYC, Toronto, US Tour), and most recently Yaa Samar Dance Theater's world premiere of "Gathering". Winkfield is passionate about creating work that speaks to the emotional experience of humanity in the face of injustice.

Bruce Monroe (Music, Lyrics & Scoring), a DGA member, has been writing with Alva Rogers since they first met at the Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU (including the musicals Sunday, Mermaid, and nightbathing). A Seattle-based composer, lyricist, librettist, orchestrator, dance arranger, music director, and conductor, he has also scored independent films and audio/video series for Battleground Productions (credits on imdb.com). He is married to Seattle Times arts writer, and novelist, Moira Macdonald.