Dixon Place announces its Spring 2021 Production Season, premiering four commissioned puppetry productions performed for in-person and virtual audiences, with video on demand (VOD) streaming available immediately following the live premieres. In-person performances will take place at 161A Chrystie Street, New York, NY. Tickets are $10.50-$35 and can be purchased online http://dixonplace.org/productions-2021/.

Bill’s 44th by Andy Manjuck & Dorothy James
June 2, 3, 4, 5, 2021 at 7:30pm EST (Live performances with limited in-person audiences)
Available to stream through June 15, 2021
The streamers are hung, the punch has been spiked, and the cake is just begging to be eaten! Now all Bill has to do is wait for his guests to arrive. But waiting is hard. Bill’s 44th is an original comedic show that brings two puppeteers together to create one (very worried) protagonist. Many styles of puppetry, raucous balloons, and a cheeky piece of crudité all collide to examine the pitfalls of impatience and the wonder of loneliness. Approx. run time: 55 minutes. Rated PG.

This Dixon Place Commissioned Production is made possible with private support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Cheryl Henson & the Jim Henson Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Scherman Foundation, and Shubert Foundation; and public funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs with the City Council, and the NY State Council on the Arts w/the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the NY State Legislature. 

About the Artists
Andy Manjuck is a Brooklyn-based puppeteer, director, and voiceover artist. Recent work: Puppetry: Chimpanzee (Nick Lehane); The Plastic Bag Store; The Pigeoning (Robin Frohardt); Made in China; Baby Universe; Saga (Wakka Wakka); UAE 48th National Day (Betty Productions); Petrushka (NY Philharmonic Orchestra, Giants Are Small), VO: Adam Ruins Everything (TruTV); Unavowed (Wadjet Eye Games); Whispers of a Machine (Clifftop Games); MooseTube (GoNoodle). Bill’s 44th, co-created with Dorothy James, was developed with Puppet Lab at St. Ann’s Warehouse, the New York State Puppet Festival, and Dixon Place, with support from the Jim Henson Foundation. Saturday nights, Andy is an intern on the Late Night Puppet Talk Show with Special Guest, a 100% live, 100% improvised puppet catastrophe on Saturday nights at 10pm on twitch.tv/talkpuppet2me. For more info, visit www.andymanjuck.com or @andymanjuck on Instagram. 

Dorothy James is a Brooklyn-based puppeteer, educator, and maker of tiny things. She’s performed with Basil Twist (Hansel & Gretel, Michigan Opera Theatre), Wakka Wakka (Made In China, The Immortal Jellyfish Girl), the Columbus Symphony Orchestra (Petrushka, Giants Are Small), the Rockettes (The New York Spectacular, Radio City), and puppeteers for the new BBC children’s series Moon and Me. Her work has been seen at the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, Jim Henson Carriage House, St. Ann’s Warehouse, 59E59, Dixon Place, La MaMa, and overseas in Norway and the Czech Republic. Dorothy is a co-creator of Bill’s 44th, for which they received a Jim Henson Foundation Grant; and is co-creator/intern of the Late Night Puppet Talk Show With Special Guest, a 100% live, 100% improvised puppet catastrophe on twitch.tv/talkpuppet2me. More info: dorothy-james.com and Instagram @instadeej.