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To celebrate ten years of exciting puppetry and to raise funds to expand its remarkable array of programs and services for another ten more, the Asheville Puppetry Alliance (APA) presented "A GRAND PUPPET GALA" on May 9, 2009, at the Blue Ridge Motion Pictures Studio in East Asheville.

During the day APA hosted A VERY PUPPET BIRTHDAY for children, families, and the young at heart of all ages, which took the place of APA’s annual National Day of Puppetry event at the Folk Art Center. Activities included:

• puppet performances
• a tour of the set of Uncle Rhubarb (a new TV series
  featuring Harry Anderson and his puppet friends)
• puppet-themed games
• puppet making
• a Muppet Sing-A-Long led by Heather Henson
• Popular Sesame Street Character Telly will also be on hand for both the afternoon and evening events.

 

The evening GALA featured a series of selected short films produced by Ms. Henson’s IBEX company entitled Handmade Puppet Dreams. Heather introduced the films and was available to chat with guests afterward.

 

 

 

The evening also featured local gourmet delights, a lively not-so-silent auction, a tour of the motion picture studios and state-of-the-art screening room, and an all-around unique, historic, fun filled evening with like-minded guests who are patrons of the arts in our community.

The aim of the GALA was:

• To celebrate a decade of APA's service to the community and to the performing arts in Western North Carolina.
• To raise funds to support many more. Funds raised by the two events would make it possible for area puppeteers to bring performances and hands-on workshops into area schools and community venues in this time of increasingly restricted budgets for public schools, senior centers, and community center activities and transportation, especially in the more isolated rural counties in the region.
• To initiate a capital fund drive to support establishment of a permanent Center for Puppetry Arts to serve the Western North Carolina region--a “dream home” envisioned to include a theatre, museum, office, rehearsal space, storage, gift shop, and classrooms to share our passion for and knowledge of puppetry, fulfill its potential as a powerful tool for education and cross-cultural communication, and insure that knowledge, appreciation, and access reach into generations to come.

www.ashevillepuppetry.org
828-252-1692
e-mail Lisa
e-mail Susan

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