Guest Puppeteer David Stephens Set for Theater Works, 9/17-18

"Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman"... professional puppeteer David Stephens is coming to Theater Works to present the classic story Jack and the Beanstalk. He will also be teaching a Hand and Rod Puppet Manipulation Master Class. On September 18th, Stephens, puppeteer from Sesame Street and Citation of Excellence award winner of the Jim Henson Union Internationale de la Marionette will instruct the Puppeteering Master Class. On September 17th at 12 p.M. Stephens will perform his puppet play, Jack and the Beanstalk on the Gyder Stage. The Master Class is open to adults and teens 14+. Registration is now open - please call the Box Office at 623.815.7930 to register today! Tickets are also on sale for the Jack and the Beanstalk performance and are only $10/person.

As a child, David Stephens was spellbound by Jim Henson's Muppets. Determined to become a puppeteer, himself, he started creating original puppet characters as a young teenager and performed regularly for his high school classmates. While studying dramatic arts at Troy University (BS, 1999), he apprenticed under Richmond-based master puppeteer, Terry Snyder, who taught Stephens how to approach the art of puppetry as a solo artist.

During his first summer as a grad student, he created a one-man show, "Billy Goats Gruff and Other Stuff," which toured libraries in his home state of Alabama. Billy Goats Gruff and Other Stuff" was awarded a 2004 UNIMA-USA (Union Internationale de la Marionette) Citation of Excellence. Created by Jim Henson, who founded the US chapter of UNIMA, the Citations honor outstanding works in the art of puppetry. With this award, Stephens joined the ranks with some of puppetry's most exceptional practitioners. He also worked as a puppet assistant for several Sesame Street Home Video productions (Abby Caddabby In Wonderland and Think Green 2008) and became a day-player on season 39 of Sesame Street, performing Anything Muppets.

Tickets and registration are now available both online at theaterworks.org and at the Peoria Center for the Performing Arts. The Box Office is open from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. daily and may be reached at 623-815-7930. Jack and the Beanstalk performs September 17th at 12 p.m. tickets are $10.00/person. Hand and Rod Puppet Manipulation Master Class is on September 18th from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. and is $100.00/participant. This master class is open for ages 14 and up. Theater Works is located in the Peoria Center for the Performing Arts (the theater with the copper roof) at 8355 W Peoria Avenue, Peoria.

 

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