Salsa Cinderella Review by Arts A La Mode

Ann Marie Oliva recently wrote a lovely review of Salsa Cinderella for the online publication Arts a la Mode.  In it she says:

It’s always a wonder to see how Drew Allison can create a small world using various voices, and manage the puppets and changes by himself. The audience, even the young children, was attentive and responsive.

 Read the whole review at their website.   Thanks to Arts a la Mode!

Salsa Cinderella in The News

Check out theater critic Lawrence Toppman's article in today's Charlotte Observer about Salsa Cinderella.  In it, he calls the show "nacho traditional rags-to-riches story."  We always have liked our nachos best with cheese.  Be sure to check out the whole article on their website!

Salsa Cinderella will be at ImaginOn this Saturday and Sunday.  Ticket information is available at the Children's Theatre website.

Salsa Cinderella Comes To Children's Theatre of Charlotte!

It's been a long hot summer-- but we know just how you can cool off and spice things up at the same time! Come see Grey Seal Puppets perform Salsa Cinderella at Children's Theatre of Charlotte August 21-22!

This classic tale of love and footwear is told with a spicy twist! All the familiar characters are re-imagined as ingredients in a jar of salsa! Peppers, onions, garlic, and of course, tomatoes, all make up the ingredients of this spicy cast!

The salsa thickens when the stubborn Prince refuses to change the way he has always danced, despite the many different styles of dance going on throughout his kingdom. His way of dancing is the only way he recognizes. Until the big Palace Fiesta, that is. It’s there that Cinderella inspires the Prince to try other types of dancing. Cinderella learns that a certain amount of tradition is always a good thing too. And then the Bell Pepper tolls midnight. . .

Experience this timeless classic re-told with Latin American flavor! An original musical score by Charlotte composer John Alexander will have you fighting the urge to mambo in the aisles. A dazzling array of rod puppets and shadow puppets all join in the quest to find the foot that fits a simple sandal made out of tortilla chip. This show is sure to delight the salsa fan in everyone! Pass the nachos, please!

Tickets are available through the Children's Theatre website.

What a Nice Surprise!

We are honored and humbled to report that our show Tangle of Tales, performed by Drew Allison, won the Creative Loafing 2010 Theatre Award for Best One-Person Show. Thanks to Perry Tannenbaum and the staff of Creative Loafing for such a fine honor. To see a full list of the winners, please visit Creative Loafing's website.

Interview with Drew on the Port City Puppet Fest Blog!

Have you heard? The Southeast Regional Puppet Festival is in Wilmington, NC this summer, and it's going to be a blast! It's the Port City Puppet Fest, and it's happening July 15-18 on the campus of UNC Wilmington!

Our own Drew Allison is one of the artistic directors for the festival. Gina Gambony, festival director, recently did an interview with Drew on the festival blog. Have you ever wondered how Drew got started in puppetry? What was his first job out of college? (Hint: it wasn't as a puppeteer.) His favorite places to eat in Wilmington? Then head on over to the festival blog to check out Gina's interview.

And don't forget to send in your festival registration! We'll see you there!

Aw, Shucks!

We've gotten some awfully nice letters from our clients this week. We don't like to toot our own horn, but we wanted to share some of the kind words that we received.

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank the people at Grey Seal for applying their creative abilities in bringing my life's work to a realistic completion.

My sincerest thanks,
Lenny Friedman

I would like to thank you for your performances at Pines Elementary School and Creswell Elementary School. Our students and staff are still raving about your performance and the dialogue that it created when they returned to class about the importance of virtues. Some of the teachers have taken advantage of the lesson plans from your website and they have had great success in the classroom with these resources.

Your show, "A Show of Virtues" was truly inspirational. Although our students may not have been familiar with the words perseverance or tolerance, they understood the message through your puppetry.

Victoria Fields
Washington County Schools

How can I say thank you properly? Every year you share your talents and make our Dia de los Ninos event a hit with children and parents. It is a pleasure working with you and we appreciate you working with our families. We always receive positive feedback about your show.

Meryle A. Leonard
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library

We are so humbled and honored by your feedback. Thanks so much!

A Funny Thing Happened on Drew's Way to the Forum

Funny things are bound to happen when Drew addresses members of the Charlotte Senior Forum next Thursday, April 8th. The Charlotte Senior Forum was formed over 32 years ago for retired and semi-retired executives, professionals and community leaders with diverse backgrounds and experience.

Drew will be talking about his career in puppetry, demonstrating some of the puppetry styles that we use, and explaining our approach to performance on stage and on camera.

Meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month in the fellowship hall of Covenant Presbyterian Church on Morehead.

Bathtub Pirates Sails Into Charleston

Grey Seal is excited to be a part of the North Charleston Arts Festival! The festival runs from April 30 to May 8th at various locations around North Charleston. This celebration of the arts features something for everyone—concerts, theater & dance presentations, exhibits, childrens activities, Art Walk, art & craft vendors, demos & workshops, and more!

Grey Seal Puppets will present "Bathtub Pirates" at Otranto Road Regional Library on Wednesday, May 5, at 10:30am. For more information on the festival, visit their fan page on Facebook! And while you're at it, become our fan on Facebook, too!

Fire Station 2 From a Dog's Point of View

Fire Station 2 From a Dog's Point of View

Recently, Drew Allison lent his time to a worthy project whose goal is to preserve an historic fire station in Charlotte. The video, produced and directed by former Grey Seal puppeteer Donald Devet, features a dalmation whose great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great... great grandfather served as mascot at Fire Station 2. You can view the video at Donald's website, Now and Then Video.

Clothing Drive Begins!

The Emperor's New Clothing Drive has started! Thanks to the kids at Sardis Presbyterian, we have a super cool drop off box for the clothes to go in! Thanks, Sardis kids!

More on The Emperor's New Clothing Drive

Starting next Tuesday, you can drop off your new or gently used clothing donations at ImaginOn for The Emperor's New Clothing Drive. The clothes will all be donated to Crisis Assistance Ministry and will benefit needy families in the Charlotte area.

From Crisis Assistance Ministry's website:

We accept items of clothing for men, women and children, as well as household items such as blankets, kitchenware and personal care products. Please be mindful of providing clothing items that are clean and wearable.

Please note that we prefer in-season clothing, given our limited storage space.

We'd like to thank our partners at Sardis Presbyterian Church for their help with this clothing drive.

Join us and help make The Emperor's New Clothing Drive a success!

Newsflash: Saturday and Sunday shows Sold Out!

Our Saturday and Sunday performances of The Emperor's New Clothes at ImaginOn are sold out, but tickets are still available for Friday night! Contact the Children's Theatre box office for your tickets today!

Tickets Still Available!

Don't miss your chance to see The Emperor's New Clothes at Children's Theatre of Charlotte January 29th-31st. Tickets for the Saturday performance are sold out! Contact Children's Theatre for more information.

Here are clips from a performance of The Emperor's New Clothes:

Pig Out in Charlotte!

What's big and fat and pink and loves to dress up in fancy clothes? Give up? It's the Emperor in our adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes! We'll be presenting The Emperor's New Clothes at ImaginOn January 29-31. Tickets are available through the Children's Theatre's website. Don't delay-- seats are filling up fast!

You can read more about The Emperor's New Clothes on our website. And don't forget about The Emperor's New Clothing Drive that we're sponsoring in conjunction with the show. More details will be available soon!

The Emperor's New Clothing Drive

The Emperor has too many clothes-- so he's giving them away! You should, too. Join us the last week in January for The Emperor's New Clothing Drive. We're collecting new and gently used clothing to benefit needy families in the Charlotte area.

We'll be collecting clothes during our run of The Emperor's New Clothes at Children's Theatre of Charlotte. Stay tuned for more details on how you can help!