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HERE’s Dream Music Puppetry program presents PUPPETOPIA! A winter review of HERE’s puppetry state of mind; Dream Music’s annual celebration of imagination, possibility, exciting techniques and community creation. Featuring the World Premiere of PARCHED by Official Puppet Business, RUBY & CHARLIE by Jessica Simon & Co, and THE MAGNIFICENT MS. PHAM by Puppetual Motion. Puppetopia is presented with the support of The Jim Henson Foundation. 

PARCHED by Official Puppet Business

In the far-flung future, water scarcity has led to humanity’s extinction. A sentient mushroom, inhabiting plastic bottles like a hermit crab, is scouring the wastes for water. Getting lost in a sandstorm she stumbles upon a remnant of human technology, a deep well drill, and manages to turn it on. The earth trembles as the machinery is resurrected, succeeding in extracting some water, but also awakening something forgotten, buried deep in the sand. Something with an insatiable thirst…

From the team that brought you Bill’s 44th (2025 Drama Desk Nominee for Outstanding Puppetry, New York Times Critics’ Pick), Parched is a cinematic theatrical experience that uses intricate puppetry, stunning visuals, a live band, sharp humor, and no dialogue to explore ideas of revenge, scarcity, greed, and finding hope in a tumultuous ride among the tumbleweeds.

RUBY & CHARLIE by Jessica Simon & Co.

Ruby & Charlie is an award-winning piece of puppet theater featuring live music celebrating swing dance and the music of Ray Charles. Mining the iconic music’s themes of longing, love, and heartbreak, the work centers on a young couple in the 1950s brought together by swing dance. Highlighting the puppetry talents of Victor Ayala, Tau Bennett, Maria Camia, Monica Lerch, Kayta Thomas, and Ashley Winkfield, Ruby & Charlie follows the pair through a whirlwind courtship and the tensions of establishing a life together. Musicians Jordyn Davis, Jeremiah Flack, and Milton Suggs, drive the show which culminates in a swing dance celebration on stage with the audience.

Original photos by Isaak Berliner. 

THE MAGNIFICENT MS. PHAM by Puppetual Motion 

The Magnificent Ms. Pham is a fantastic retelling of the true story of boatperson Kim Pham and her unwitting journey to becoming American. Moving fluidly between lived experience, memory, literature, and myth, this work reframes her exodus from Saigon to Houston as a Country Western Musical with music direction and new music by downtown theatre marvel MUR and additional music by Vietnamese American composer Hao Le.

This story of self-discovery and resilience is told through humor, spectacle, and song, celebrating the bonds of sisterhood and feminine power. Legendary warrior Lady Trieu strides along in the story to fortify Kim’s instincts and situate her within Vietnam’s long, defiant history, while literary icon Lady Kieu offers lessons —sometimes welcome, sometimes dubious— on what it means to be “a lady.” Along the way, Kim encounters dragons, dances with lion dogs, meets boys, a husband finds her, all culminating into somehow raising four very different sons. In a world of cascading cause and effect, can there be anything other than unintentional consequences? The essential element of water in the story and performance reminds us that life essentially ebbs back and forth but always moves us forward.