Pied Piper Performance 2/15

We are excited to perform The Pied Piper of Hamelin tomorrow (2/15) at 11am at the Quinebaug Valley Council for the Arts and Humanities in Southbridge, MA! Ticket prices and more info can be found on their website: http://www.qvcah.org/puppet-and-marionette-shows/

Later in the day, we will take part in the Holyoke Winter Carnival Night Parade. More info on that event here. We'll share some pictures of the parade here next week!

2014 News and Announcements

Hope everyone is having a great 2014 so far! We had a wonderful time performing at The Carle in December (as we always do!), and are now gearing up for our upcoming events this year.

Our big news is that our new show this spring will be the Bremen Town Musicians! We are in the early stages of planning the show, but you can look forward updates and pictures of the building process over the next few months. For now, here is the info about the opening week performances:

The Bremen Town Musicians
CactusHead Puppets tells the classic tale of a donkey, dog, cat, and rooster who set off on a journey together to start new lives as musicians, and the exciting adventures they have along the way.

Performances at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
Wednesday, April 23 through Friday, April 25
11:00 am and 2:00 pm
Saturday, April 26, 2014
11:00 am and 1:00 pm
$5 (Members $4.50); Museum Admission extra

After these performances, The Bremen Town Musicians will be available to book as a touring show.

Speaking of touring shows, we are now booking performances for winter/spring 2014. Please contact us at cactusheadpuppets@gmail.com if you are interested in scheduling a performance or workshop.

We also have a few dates already booked if you'd like to come out and see a show!

2/8/2014- The Tale of Juan Bobo
1pm at Holyoke Heritage State Park 221 Appleton St. Holyoke, MA
This performance is part of the Holyoke Winter Carnival, which we are very pleased to be part of. You can find out more about the carnival here: holyokewintercarnival.org

2/15/2014- The Pied Piper of Hamelin
11am at  Quinebaug Valley Council for the Arts and Humanities 111 Main St, Southbridge, MA

2/19/2014- The Tale of Juan Bobo, workshop to follow
2pm performance,workshop 3:00 – 3:45 pm at Avon Free Public Library 281 Country Club Rd., Avon,CT .

Tickets for Little Red Riding Hood On Sale!

Tickets are on sale now for our performances of Little Red Riding Hood at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art on Dec. 27th and Dec 29th! Tickets are $5 each, and can be purchased over the phone at 413-658-1126.

Here is the performance schedule for both of those dates: 

12/27/2013- Little Red Riding Hood
11:00am & 1:00pm, Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA (tickets $5)

12/29/2013- Little Red Riding Hood
1:00pm & 3:00pm, Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA (tickets $5)

We hope lots of you get a chance to come out and see the show! 

Fall Schedule Update!

Hello!

We hope everyone is having a wonderful fall so far! We've just updated our Upcoming Performances Schedule with these new dates:

10/16/2013- The Tale of Juan Bobo
1:30pm, Newfield Branch Library in Bridgeport ,CT

10/16/2013- The Tale of Juan Bobo
6:00pm, Burroughs Saden Memorial Library in Bridgeport, CT

11/14/2013- Little Red Riding Hood
3:30pm, Winchester Public Library in Winchester, MA

11/20/2013- The Tale of Juan Bobo
10:30am, Mason Square Library in Springfield, MA

11/20/2013- The Tale of Juan Bobo
3:30pm and workshop to follow, Indian Orchard Library in Springfield, MA

12/27/2013- Little Red Riding Hood
11:00am & 1:00pm, Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA (tickets $5)

12/29/2013- Little Red Riding Hood
1:00pm & 3:00pm, Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA (tickets $5)

Come join us for one of these shows, or email cactusheadpuppets@gmail.com to book at show near you!

Little Red Riding Hood Shows Aug. 25th

We will be performing one of our favorite shows, Little Red Riding Hood, again this Sunday, July 25th, at 1pm & 3pm, at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA. Tickets are $5 each, and you can purchase them at the door or over the phone at 413-658-1126. 

These are our last performances at The Carle until winter, so now is your chance to come see a great show and enjoy the summer!

Two Performances of The Tale of Juan Bobo Next Week

We had a wonderful time performing Just So Stories last weekend, and it was great to meet so many nice people after the shows!

This week we are getting ready for our performances of The Tale of Juan Bobo at two Connecticut libraries. Here is the info for those shows:

8/12/2013- The Tale of Juan Bobo, 6:30pm, Cheshire Public Library, Cheshire, CT
8/14/2013- The Tale of Juan Bobo, 6pm, workshop to follow, Woodbridge Town Library, Woodbridge, CT

Please contact the libraries to register if you are interested in attending the performances.

The Tale of Juan Bobo
Meet Juan Bobo! He always tries to do the right thing, but often makes mistakes. For Juan even the smallest task can lead to the silliest of results. But can Juan Bobo's seemingly foolish actions end up saving the day?

Aug 2-4 Performances of Just So Stories

This week, Friday Aug. 2 - Sunday Aug. 4, we will be performing Just So Stories at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA! On Friday and Saturday show times are 11am and 1pm,  and on Sunday they are 1pm and 3pm. Tickets are $5 each, and you can purchase them at the door or over the phone at 413-658-1126. 

Our show includes silly adaptations of three of the classic stories by Rudyard Kipling, How the Camel Got His Hump, How the Rhino Got His Skin, and The Beginning of the Armadillos. We also use three types of puppets, hand puppets, rod puppets, and shadow puppet, so you get to see a great mix of puppets in this show. Here are a few pictures to give you a little preview:

You can also check out this post from when we were building the show.


Looking forward to seeing you at the show!

July 21st Performances of Little Red Riding Hood

We will be performing one of our favorite shows, Little Red Riding Hood, this Sunday, July 21st, at 1pm & 3pm, at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA. Tickets are $5 each, and you can purchase them at the door or over the phone at 413-658-1126. 

Here are a few pictures from the show. We do our own silly adaptation of the story using hand and shadow puppets.

Hope you are able to come! A puppet show and visit to the museum is are great ways to spend your day when its too hot to be out.

Photos by Kristin Angel

The Tale of Juan Bobo is Ready to Tour!

We enjoyed performing The Tale of Juan Bobo last week, and are excited to be adding it to our list of shows available to tour. Did you know we have 5 different touring shows to choose from? A full list and info about each of the shows can be found here.

We still have dates available this summer if you are interested in having us come to your location. Please email cactusheadpuppets@gmail.com for more info.

If your not interested in booking a show, but would like to see one of our performances this summer, check out our list of upcoming shows to see when we will be in your area!

6/8/2013- The Emperor's New Clothes, 6:30pm, Artswalk, Easthampton, MA
6/22/2013- The Emperor's New Clothes, 11:30am, Norwalk Public Library in Norwalk, CT
7/21/2013- Little Red Riding Hood, 1pm & 3pm, Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA (tickets $5)
8/2/2013-8/4/2013- Just So Stories, Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA. Shows at 11am & 1pm on the 2nd and 3rd, shows at 1pm & 3pm on the 4th (tickets $5)
8/12/2013- The Tale of Juan Bobo, 6:30pm, Cheshire Public Library, Cheshire, CT
8/14/2013- The Tale of Juan Bobo, 6pm, workshop to follow at Woodbridge Town Library Woodbridge, CT
8/25/2013- Little Red Riding Hood, 1pm & 3pm, Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA (tickets $5)

Pictures of The Tale of Juan Bobo

We have pictures from our new show, The Tale of Juan Bobo, to share! We had great audiences for both performances yesterday, and still have tickets available for today and tomorrow's shows. 

The Tale of Juan Bobo

April 18 - April 20, 2013

11:00 am and 2:00 pm 

At the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA

Tickets $5- tickets can be purchased over the phone at 413-658-1126

Juan Bobo shows for April 17th are cancelled.

      Due to a death in the family, the Juan Bobo shows at The Eric Carle Museum on Wednesday the 17th are cancelled.  Shows for Thursday, Friday and, Saturday are still on.

      We appreciate your understanding.

The Tale of Juan Bobo Sneak Peek!

Our new show, The Tale of Juan Bobo, opens April 17th! Here is a quick peek at the hand puppets of  main characters.

Juan Bobo, his mom, and their grumpy neighbor

We'll be sharing more pictures in the run up to the show, and tickets are still available- info below!

The Tale of Juan Bobo
April 17 - April 20, 2013
11:00 am and 2:00 pm 
At the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA
Tickets $5- tickets can be purchased over the phone at 413-658-1126

Tickets for The Tale of Juan Bobo

Tickets for our upcoming show,The Tale of Juan Bobo, are now available! Here are the details:


The Tale of Juan Bobo
Meet Juan Bobo! He always tries to do the right thing, but often makes mistakes. For Juan even the smallest task can lead to the silliest of results. But can Juan Bobo's seemingly foolish actions end up saving the day? Join CactusHead Puppets as they bring this classic Puerto Rican folktale to life and decide for yourself.
April 17 - April 20, 2013
11:00 am and 2:00 pm 
At the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA
Tickets $5- tickets can be purchased over the phone at 413-658-1126

Hope to see you at the show, and check back next week for a sneak peek at some of the puppets for the show!

The Pied Piper at the Simsbury Public Library

We will be performing the Pied Piper at 2pm the Wednesday, Feb. 20th at 2pm at Simsbury Public Library in Simsbury, CT. We will also have a puppet making workshop after the show! Please contact the library to register.

Hope everyone has a great vacation week!

The Tale of Juan Bobo Performance Dates

We have set the dates and times for our Latino Folktales show this spring, which is going to be be The Tale of Juan Bobo! Here are the details:

The Tale of Juan Bobo
April 17 - April 20, 2013
11:00 am and 2:00 pm 
At the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA
Tickets $5
Meet Juan Bobo! He always tries to do the right thing, but often makes mistakes. For Juan even the smallest task can lead to the silliest of results. But can Juan Bobo's seemingly foolish actions end up saving the day? Join CactusHead Puppets as they bring this classic Puerto Rican folktale to life and decide for yourself.

Mark your calendars! These performances are during the April school vacation week, and would be a fun activity to include in your vacation.

After these performances are over, The Tale of Juan Bobo will also be available for touring shows. Please contact us via email if you are interested in a performance at your location.

Emperor's New Clothes Tickets Now on Sale!

Tickets for our performances of The Emperor's New Clothes on Dec. 26th are now on sale. The shows are at 11am and 2pm, Dec. 26th at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased by calling 413-658-1126. 

Hope you get a chance to come see the show. Its a great winter break activity!


Photos by Kristin Angel

Our Next New Show!

We are excited to announce that our next new show will be a collection of Latino Folktales! We will have our first performances in April, and the show will start touring in May 2013. Right now we are researching  and selecting the folktales, and over the next several months we will share our design and building process here.

If you are interested in booking the show you can contact us by email, and our four other great shows are all available for touring too.

Looking forward to sharing more news about the show with you here soon!

Upcoming Shows and Booking for Fall!

 We are now booking shows for the fall, and already have a couple of performances on the schedule to share with you!

9/29/2012- The Emperor's New Clothes, 2pm, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT
12/26/2012- The Emperor's New Clothes, 11am & 2pm, The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Amhest, MA 

If you are interested in having us come perform at you location, please email us at cactusheadpuppets@gmail.com for more information. All four of our shows, The Pied Piper, Just So Stories, Little Red Ridding Hood, and The Emperor's New Clothes, are available and we also offer puppet making workshops. You can read more about the shows on our Current Touring Shows page.

One More Day of Pied Piper Shows

Tomorrow, Fri. Aug. 10th,  is our last day of Pied Piper performances at the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst, MA. The shows are at 11:30am and 2 pm. Tickets are still available for both show times, so if you are looking for something fun to do tomorrow, come on by!

We have had a lovely time performing there this week, and a fantastic time touring this summer. In the next few weeks we will be adding fall touring dates to our schedule, announcing our next new show, and sharing another thing or two that we are working on, so check back soon!

More Pied Piper Show Times!

We have added a few more show times to our upcoming week of Pied Piper performances at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art! Our schedule is now:

1pm on Sunday 8/5
11:30 am & 2pm on Monday 8/6
2pm on Tuesday 8/7
2pm on Wednesday 8/8
2pm on Thursday 8/9
11:30 am & 2pm on Friday 8/10

 Tickets are $5, and you can buy them at 413-658-1126. Hope these added times allows more people to see the show!