JERRELL L. HENDERSON

Diamond’s Dream

A Toy Theatre Film Production with Chicago Children’s Theatre.

Created by Jerrell L. Henderson and Caitlin McLeod

Directed by Jerrell L. Henderson

Designed by Caitlin McLeod

Music and Sound Design by Daniel Ison

Cinematography and Editing by Jeff Paschal

Diamond: Davu Smith

Elder/Luella: Amira Danan

Producers:

Jacqueline Russell, Artistic Director

Will Bishop, Director of Production

Hamlin: La Revue Sombre

A Toy Theatre Film Production with Handmade Puppet Dreams

Dedicated to William R. Henderson, 1940 - 2012

Adapted by Jerrell L. Henderson based on The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning.

Puppet Design, Set Design, and Art Direction by An-Lin Dauber

Assistant Direction and Cinematography by Jeffrey Paschal

Original Music and Sound Design by Dan Ison

Edited by Jerrell L. Henderson and Jeffrey Paschal

Puppeteers:

Jerrell L. Henderson

Jeffrey Paschal

Will Bishop

Caitlin McLeod

Special Thanks to Blair Thomas, Jessica Thebus, and the Chicago Children’s Theatre

Executive Producer: Heather Henson

Producers: Sam Koji Hale, Alex U. Griffin, Jessica Simon

This film was made possible with support from The Green Feather Foundation.

AmericanMYTH: Unplugged. Flight - An Anamatic. As seen in this year’s Chicago International Puppet Theater Puppet Lab @chipuppetfest. A live cinematic experience in the works. The piece explores a child’s relationship with family through television and other media and arts. When creating, I discovered the piece did not only want to live in shadow, and so the puppets break free and play in front of the screen.

Also featured is @sharaina_latrice who partnered up with me as I translated this idea into a visual and sonic reality. Shout out to @quinnchisenhall for lighting and @augsb_musicetc for helping me flesh out my musical ideas re: the score. All thanks to other members of the Puppet Lab for their support and feedback and @graceneedlman, @tlee668, @vanessavalliere, and @aanastar_ for leading the way forward.

AmericanMYTH: Unplugged is the second movement in my AmericanMYTH series. AmericanMYTH: Crossroads, performed at Free Street Theater in ‘23, is the first. The third remains TBD. Thanks to @selfoto for capturing these images.

AmericanMYTH: Crossroads

Free Street Theatre

Featuring:

Jo Schaffer

J. Wade

Lexy Weixel

Darius Stubbs

Marcellus Burt

Sharaina (Shay) Latrice

Created and Directed by: Jerrell L. Henderson

Scenic and Projections Design along with collage images: Nina D’Angier

Puppet Design: Chio Cabrera

Lighting Design: Heather Basarab

Costume Design: Gregory Graham

Sound Design: Florence Borowski

Lead Musician and Performer: Fred Jackson Jr.

Production Electrician: Quinn Chisenhall

Stage Manager: Raine Saari

Assistant Stage Manager: Donna Gary

Images filmed by Director.

Date: 26 Sep 2022

Local Start Time: 6:00pm

Location: Bryant Park

Borough: Manhattan

In Bryant Park Amal is welcomed to a special performance of The Creation by James Weldon Johnson, celebrating an art movement by which NYC is known all over the world: the Harlem Renaissance.

When The World Sounds Like A Prayer

Created by Jerrell L. Henderson & The Classical Theatre of Harlem - Feat. Ty Jones, Tiffany Rae-Fisher and Emerge125, Baba Don Babatunde, Roen Emerson Jones,

Theatrical performance

Free – no booking required

Outdoor

Time: 6:00pm

All of Amal’s events are suitable for children and families

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Little Amal Walks NYC is a co-production between The Walk Productions and St. Ann’s Warehouse in association with Handspring Puppet Company. Between 14 September – 2 October Amal will be welcomed at 55 events across the five boroughs of New York City.

Butterfly puppets flutter in the wind as a musician plays. Drums sound as dancers enter. Puppetry, plus music, plus dance creates a sacred space meant for mourning and celebrating two men whose achievements represent the spirit of their generation.

Pop-up puppetry event organized by Art Of Spontaneous Spectacle (Jerrell L. Henderson, Jessica Thebus, and Tria Smith).

Artwork by Sydney Lynne.

Puppeteer: Jerrell L. Henderson

Puppets designed by Mikalina Rabinsky

Music by Fred Jackson

Dance by Move Me Soul

The Welcome Table: Featured in the New York Times (July 2020), The Welcome Table is a Juneteenth protest piece.

Ancestral spirits walk through the world carrying signs meant to question old traditions and raise awareness. The spirits then gather around a table set with food historically associated with Juneteenth, with open arms, while also encouraging the crowd to seek spiritual nourishment.

Pop-up puppetry event organized by Art Of Spontaneous Spectacle (Jerrell L. Henderson and Jessica Thebus).

Masks created by David O’Donnell.

Puppet food designed and built by Carolyn Rose (Sully) Ratke and Caitlin McLeod.

Music by Andre Pluess.

Puppeteers: Jerrell L. Henderson, Rachel Dubose, Lewon Johns.

Ancestral Procession: International Physical Theatre Festival. Nichols Park, Chicago.

Ancestral spirits walk through the world carrying signs meant to question old traditions and raise awareness. The spirits then gather around a table set with food historically associated with Juneteenth, with open arms. This moment of spiritual nourishment focuses on communion. Communion with our past. Communion with our present. Communion with ourselves and each other.

Masks created by David O’Donnell.

Puppet food designed and built by Carolyn Rose (Sully) Ratke and Caitlin McLeod.

Puppeteers: Jerrell L. Henderson, Kevin Aoussou, Jacinda Ratcliffe, Elliot Sims.