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> Brer Rabbit & Friends
Photo © Center for Puppetry Arts
2012-13 Family Series
Previews: Apr 9 & 10 - 10am & 11:30am
Mainstage Theater
Recommended for ages 4+
•Tues-Fri: 10am & 11:30am
•Sat: 12pm & 2pm
•Sun: 1pm & 3pm
Live music and delightful stories about Brer Rabbit and his friends fill the stage. The fun begins as the gang gathers to sing an early morning ditty. But competition gets the best of them when the characters begin a battle for bragging rights. Who is the swiftest? The strongest? The smartest? Brains beat brawn when Brer Bear, Brer Fox, Brer Rabbit, and Sister Mud Turtle find themselves in a briar patch of trouble. So, join the whole gang for this fun-filled Southern romp.
Puppetry Style:
Hand-and-Rod, Rod, Body, Shadow
Create-A-Puppet Workshop:
Make your own Brer Bear Hand Puppet!
 
Check our Special Offers page for more info and directions to The Wren's Nest!
The clever Brer Rabbit is a trickster character, first appearing in the early American South, and adapted from the oral traditions of the African trickster spider Anansi and the Native American trickster Hare. Trickster tales appear in the folklore of cultures around the world and illustrate classic standoffs between the downtrodden and the powerful.
Having spent four years working on a plantation as a young man, newspaper reporter and folklorist Joel Chandler Harris, who made his home at the Wren's Nest in the West End neighborhood of Atlanta, grew up amongst the stories and the storytellers and recorded the tales of Brer Rabbit as he heard them told. He collected the stories as a way to preserve these unique cultural traditions and gave voice to the African-American folklore movement. In turn, director Spencer G. Stephens will bring these important folktales to life through song, dance, puppetry, and live original music based on African American traditions.
Brer Rabbit & Friends comes to life with hand-and-rod puppets, shadow puppets and costume characters. A puppeteer operates a hand-and-rod puppet by placing one hand inside the head of the puppet to turn the puppet’s head and open and close its mouth. The puppeteer’s other hand operates the control rods attached to the puppet’s hands (or paws). The shadow puppets in the show are projections of the 3D puppets, hand shadows and painted plexiglass. Character voices and animal sounds are all performed live by the cast. Each puppeteer wears a wireless Shure microphone to amplify his or her voice.
| Dolph Amick (Brer Fox), musician and actor, is extremely happy to be in Brer Rabbit & Friends, performing these wonderful stories that he’s loved literally for as long as he can remember. Recent work includes composing the theme for Retroblasting (http://retroblasting.com/) and the score for The Tortoise, The Hare, and Other Aesop’s Fables (Center for Puppetry Arts); founding the AleCon Performing Arts Convention with his band, Three Quarter Ale; and performing as Professor Rhinoceros Beetle in Mighty Bug (Center for Puppetry Arts). He is currently recording an album with electronica/ ambient band burndollies, and narrating a thirteen-book series of Dungeons and Dragons works for ListenUp! Audiobooks. Special thanks to our hilarious cast and crew for keeping me laughing through rehearsals, to my glorious wife, Kara, and to my own sticky little baby, Valentine. |
| Jared Brodie (Brer Rabbit) is honored and thrilled to be making his debut at the Center for Puppetry Arts in this amazing and fun-filled show, Brer Rabbit & Friends. Originally starting at GA Perimeter, he finished earning his B.A. degree in theatre at Brenau University. He thanks God for the many blessings and opportunities, his family and friends for their love and support, and the patrons who continue to come out and support the arts. Thank you all and enjoy the show! |
| S. Renee Clark (Narrator/Pianist/Music Director) is thrilled to be back at the Center for Puppetry Arts. Her career spans across many genres of music including touring Europe, the Middle East, and Africa for twelve years as a solo vocalist/pianist Ms Clark’s theatrical credits include Horizon Theatre (Avenue Q—2011 Suzi Award for Outstanding Music Director, Madeline’s Christmas, Three Sistahs, The Thing About Men, Cafe Puttanesca);Theatrical Outfit (Big River--- 2009 Suzi Award for Outstanding Music Director, Gee’s Bend, Waiting To Be Invited, Ain’t Misbehavin’); Alliance Theatre (Jesus Christ Super Star Gospel, Jacques Brel); Theatre In The Square (His Eye Is On The Sparrow, Mahalia); Shakespeare Tavern (Hamlet: the Musical, Irma Vep, Cabaret); Center for Puppetry Arts (Brer Rabbit); The New Jomandi (Ain’t Misbehavin’); Youth Ensemble of Atlanta (Endangered Species, Colors of Love, Urban Holiday Soup); Jomandi Productions (Josephine Live, El Hajj Malik, Queen of the Blues, Dunbar’s Fantasy). She was the co-writer and composer of Travelin’ Black which premiered last year. Center for Puppetry Arts (Ruth and the Green Book, Brer Rabbit); She was the co-writer and composer of Travelin’ Black. Big thanks to my daughter Lene and my mother for your love and support. But God gets all the glory. |
| Janeé Ann Smith (Sister Mud Turtle, Brer Buzzard, Baby Rabbit) is thrilled to join the Center in this production of Brer Rabbit & Friends. Janeé is fairly new to the Atlanta area having made her local debut in A Year with Frog and Toad with Synchronicity Theatre. She studied theatre at Wayne State University in her hometown, Detroit, MI. Past credits include A Song for Coretta, Doubt, The Bluest Eye, Pretty Fire and Anne of Green Gables to name a few. Janeé is also a vocalist and trained dancer with experience as a choreographer. When not performing, she loves teaching. |
| Tim Sweeney (Brer Bear) is thrilled to be back for another Center production. Past Center performances include The Adventures of Mighty Bug, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Space!, The Little Pirate Mermaid, Peter Pan, Rumplestiltskin, Aladdin, Rainforest Adventures, Cinderella Della Circus, and The Ghastly Dreadfuls. In addition, he has performed in various touring shows with Swazzle in California. |
Gillian Wilson
Bryan Mercer and Jo Banner
S. Renee Clark
S. Renee Clark
S. Renee Clark and Company
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Michael Stauffer
Gregory Montague
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Gregory Montague, Liz Lee
Erik Teague
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Jason von Hinezmeyer, Chris Brown, Chimera Productionss
Chris Brown, James Scottie Rowell, Amy Sweeney
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Jason von Hinezmeyer
Bill Jones
Gregory Montague
Liz Lee
Michael Haverty
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Stephanie McCoy
Ryan Sbaratta
Gillian Wilson
Kristin Haverty
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