Fran Brill News

We're rounding up 26 tweets from the week of 3/8/2021 to 3/12/2021 from Broadway stars and theater fans!

Sesame Street got its start at the height of the civil rights movement and the war on poverty, in answer to a simple but powerful question: could television help prepare less advantaged children for school? In 1969, the show's founders tapped researchers, entertainers, and other visionaries to create a “street” like no other, where colorful monsters, humans, and even grouches lived side by side. Today, Sesame Workshop – the nonprofit organization behind the iconic show, which has grown to reach kids and families in more than 150 countries and 70 languages – is proud to announce the start of Sesame Street's landmark 50th season.

Focus Features is in negotiations to acquire rights to 'Street Gang,' Marilyn Agrelo's documentary exploring the 'Sesame Street' phenomenon, according to Variety.

Puppet enthusiasts are invited to celebrate Women's History Month at the Center for Puppetry Arts! On Saturday, March 3, the Center will host The Women of the Muppets, a special lecture and discussion with four of the women who made groundbreaking contributions to the work of The Jim Henson Company.

Light the Candles! Get the Ice Out! Blow the Bugle! The York Theatre Company, dedicated to the development of new musicals and preserving musical gems from the past, has announced Tony Award-nominee Stephanie D'Abruzzo (Avenue Q), Christine Pedi (NEWSical the Musical), and Stephanie Umoh (Ragtime) will lead the parade of the special Summer 2017 Musicals in Mufti presentation of the hit Broadway revue Jerry's Girls.

Light the Candles! Get the Ice Out! Blow the Bugle! The York Theatre Company, dedicated to the development of new musicals and preserving musical gems from the past, has announced Tony Award-nominee Stephanie D'Abruzzo (Avenue Q), Christine Pedi (NEWSical the Musical), and Stephanie Umoh (Ragtime) will lead the parade of the special Summer 2017 Musicals in Mufti presentation of the hit Broadway revue Jerry's Girls.

Center for Puppetry Arts is pleased to announce a 2017-2018 season unlike any other in the organization's history! With the Worlds of Puppetry Museum open for more than a year, the Center will begin to expand its program offerings from performances, workshops and films, to special exhibits and spectacular events as well.

Cleveland Play House shifts gears from playful (Ken Ludwig's Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery) to profound with the Pulitzer Prize-winning play How I Learned to Drive. Written by Paula Vogel - one of the preeminent figures in American theater today - How I Learned to Drive traverses taboo territory with humor, heart, and empathy.

Cleveland Play House shifts gears from playful (Ken Ludwig's Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery) to profound with the Pulitzer Prize-winning play How I Learned to Drive. Written by Paula Vogel - one of the preeminent figures in American theater today - How I Learned to Drive traverses taboo territory with humor, heart, and empathy.

Museum of the Moving Image and The Jim Henson Legacy will celebrate the publication of Jim Henson: The Biography (2013, Ballantine Books), by Brian Jay Jones, with a special event featuring a reception, screenings of rare clips, a panel discussion, and book signing tonight, October 1

The National Museum of American History received a new donation of more than 20 Jim Henson puppets and props on the anniversary of his birthday—Sept. 24, 1936—from the Henson family. Miss Piggy and the Swedish Chef from The Muppet Show, Bert and Elmo from Sesame Street, and Red Fraggle and Traveling Matt from Fraggle Rock are among the new additions. They will join the museum's current Jim Henson Collection, which includes Oscar the Grouch, Kermit the Frog and the cast of Sam and Friends.

Museum of the Moving Image and The Jim Henson Legacy will celebrate the publication of Jim Henson: The Biography (2013, Ballantine Books), by Brian Jay Jones, with a special event featuring a reception, screenings of rare clips, a panel discussion, and book signing on Tuesday, October 1. Jones's eagerly awaited biography, written with the cooperation of Jim Henson's family, covers the full arc of Henson's all-too-brief life, exploring the creation of the Muppets, Henson's contributions to Sesame Street and Saturday Night Live, his nearly ten-year campaign to bring The Muppet Show to television, and such non-Muppet projects as the richly imagined movies The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth.

Jim Henson's key collaborator and one of the original Muppet performers, Jerry Nelson's life and work will be celebrated today, October 27, 2012, at 2:00 p.m. in cooperation with The Jim Henson Legacy and Museum of the Moving Image. Mr. Nelson passed away on August 23, 2012 at his home in Truro, Massachusetts.

Jim Henson's key collaborator and one of the original Muppet performers, Jerry Nelson's life and work will be celebrated on Saturday, October 27, 2012, at 2:00 p.m. in cooperation with The Jim Henson Legacy and Museum of the Moving Image. Mr. Nelson passed away on August 23, 2012 at his home in Truro, Massachusetts.

Carl Goodman, Executive Director of Museum of the Moving Image, today announced a seven-week extension for Jim Henson's Fantastic World, the Smithsonian traveling exhibition that explores the creative process of the world-renowned puppeteer, filmmaker, and television pioneer.

Jim Henson's Fantastic World will be on view at Museum of the Moving Image for only one more week-closing on Sunday, March 4. The final weekend of the show, Saturday and Sunday, March 3 and 4, 2012, features several special programs to mark the close of the successful national tour of this Smithsonian traveling exhibition, organized in partnership with The Jim Henson Legacy. On these two days, the Museum will give away a free limited-edition commemorative bookmark to ALL visitors (while supplies last).

Jim Henson's Fantastic World will be on view at Museum of the Moving Image for only one more week-closing on Sunday, March 4. The final weekend of the show, Saturday and Sunday, March 3 and 4, 2012, features several special programs to mark the close of the successful national tour of this Smithsonian traveling exhibition, organized in partnership with The Jim Henson Legacy. On these two days, the Museum will give away a free limited-edition commemorative bookmark to ALL visitors (while supplies last).

Carl Goodman, Executive Director of Museum of the Moving Image, today announced a seven-week extension for Jim Henson's Fantastic World, the Smithsonian traveling exhibition that explores the creative process of the world-renowned puppeteer, filmmaker, and television pioneer.

A very rare personal appearance by Frank Oz, conversations with Brian Henson and illustrator Brian Froud, 25th anniversary screenings of Labyrinth, a preview of the new movie The Muppets, and rare showings of Jim Henson's experimental television works, are among the highlights of the next three months of programs to be presented by Museum of the Moving Image in conjunction with the exhibition Jim Henson's Fantastic World.

Museum of the Moving Image will present 'Jim Henson: Friends and Family,' a special program with discussion and rare archival material.