La MaMa Kids: The Three Dolls
By Jane Catherine Shaw
A modern American musical folktale
Music by Clayton Daniel Briggs
Lyrics by Molly Reisman
Ziv, Hermione and Pippa are three dolls living in the dark. The sun should be up by now, but for some reason, it’s still pitch black. Through friendship, puppetry, songs and musical riddles, join us in an adventure to help the three dolls on their quest to turn darkness into light, and to make the world a brighter place for all of us to live. Audiences may recognize some characters from Jane Catherine Shaw’s The Blue Marble, a prequel focusing on space exploration and leaving the fate of the earth in the hands of our young people.
Join us for a new children’s puppet piece created by La MaMa Resident Artist Jane Catherine Shaw. The Three Dolls: a modern American musical folktale, with music by Clayton Briggs and lyrics by Molly Reisman, will bring you an array of puppet styles with original music and a fun filled imagery.
JANE CATHERINE SHAW (Creator/Director/Performer) is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and graduated on the Dean’s List with an MFA in Directing from Brooklyn College. She is curator of La MaMa’s Puppet Slam. Ms. Shaw was puppetry co-director and master puppeteer for Mabou Mines’ Peter And Wendy and built and directed the puppetry sequence for Lee Breuers’ Dollhouse. She often worked with Ellen Stewart to re-create costumes from historic La MaMa shows from the 60’s and 70’s. Ms. Shaw was nominated for a 2014 New York Innovative Theatre Award for her work with Theodora Skipitares on The Chairs. She creates and directs her own work for puppet theatre, among them, Calpurnia Coyote Comes To The Big City, The Blue Marble, Following The Wind, Folktales Of Asia And Africa, Pelandok The Mousedeer, as well as adult works: Thirst: Memory Of Water, The Lone Runner, Bed Of Light, and Universe Expanding, all of which premiered at La MaMa. She has worked with Theodora Skipitares since they met in 1989, helping to build her shows and puppets, and puppeteering in many of her productions. She is a member of the La MaMa Kids Committee, helping to grow sophisticated, age appropriate theatrical work, and workshops for young audiences. She is currently developing her next work for family audiences: Framed: The Mother Goose Files.
MOLLY REISMAN (Lyrics) is a Canadian writer, producer and performer who is endlessly curious about how humans connect, empathize and interact with the world around them. Molly is a graduate of NYU Tisch’s MFA Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program, and she completed her undergraduate studies at Toronto’s Ryerson University where she majored in acting with a minor in business entrepreneurship.
Writing credits include: “Electric Circus” (Pepperdine University 2019), “Heartbeat” (NYU Tisch 2019), “Keaton and The Whale” (NYU Tisch 2018), “Cow is Me” (LaMaMa Puppet Festival 2018), “TEDQUEST” (LaMaMa Puppet Festival 2017, NYC Summerfest), “WE WROTE THIS” (Ryerson New Voices Festival & Winner Best of Atlantic Fringe Festival, 2014), “The Other Side of The Curtain” (Canterbury Children’s Theater Festival, 2009). www.mollyreisman.com
CLAYTON DANIEL BRIGGS (Composer/Performer) is a musical theater writer based in Brooklyn, NY. His work has been featured Off-Broadway and internationally as both a writer and performer. Electric Circus, his latest musical commission with his collaborator Molly Reisman, will have its world premiere staged reading at Pepperdine University this April. Clayton made his La MaMa debut in the title role of TedQuest: an 8-bit musical at the 2017 Puppet Slam, and subsequently had his song Cow Is Me featured the following year. He has had equity workshops of his short musicals Before We Do (2016) and Winchester (2017), as well as his first full length musical Stop Clock (2018). Clayton is a graduate of Pepperdine University, New Musicals, Inc., and NYU Tisch’s Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program. Find his compositions and more at claytonbriggs.com
JENNIE EGERDIE (Performer) is a Canadian performer and writer. A graduate of the University of Toronto, she has since been shortlisted for PEN Canada’s New Voices award and is the recipient of a Metcalf Grant with Playwrights Guild of Canada. Currently based in New York City, her writing has been featured on Points and Case and The Belladonna and she can be found performing at People’s Improv Theatre and Upright Citizen’s Brigade.
La MaMa Kids
La MaMa Kids Online presents kids performances and hands-on workshops online, timed especially for “after school” viewing! La MaMa will continue to use emerging technologies to create a new venue for artistic expression that questions how art can function and how we as a society can survive challenging periods of history.