W&L Presents Puppetry Masterclass by Joshua Holden Holden, an actor and puppeteer who hosts "The Joshua Show," will lead the masterclass on Nov. 8 at W&L.
Holden is is the puppet wrangler on “Sesame Street.” The Department of Theater, Dance and Film Studies at Washington and Lee University presents a free puppetry 101 masterclass facilitated by Joshua Holden on Nov. 8 from 6:30 -10:30 p.m. in the Johnson Theatre.
The class is free and open to the W&L community. Participants are required to wear masks.
Holden, an actor and puppeteer who hosts “The Joshua Show,” will lead the masterclass. He is also known for his time on the Broadway National Tour of “Avenue Q” and is the puppet wrangler on “Sesame Street.”
This introductory workshop, suitable for all experience levels, will cover the basics of hand and rod-style puppeteering (Muppet style), including technical skills such as lip-synch, focus and emotional truth. Through group exercises and solo presentations, this workshop will give participants the confidence to express themselves through a puppet and authentically connect to an audience.
Holden garnered an Arts Impulse award and an IRNE nomination for Best Actor in a Musical as Bill Snibson in “Me & My Girl.” He was also named one of the “20 Theater Workers You Should Know” by American Theatre Magazine.
While on campus, Holden will also work with actors in the winter production of “Thumbelina,” which will incorporate puppetry with a Japanese storytelling technique called kamishibai and live cameras to create a multi-media extravaganza.
“Thumbelina” will be performed for local elementary school students by W&L students and will also have two public performances on Feb. 12, 2022, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Read more about the play here.
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