There are some really fun things going on in Westport Connecticut. I love supporting local organizations and this is one of them. Here is the latest press release from the Westport Cinema Initiative:
Hot on the heels of the sold-out screening of Farmageddon, Westport Cinema Initiative (WCI) presents Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey on January 28 at 4:00pm at Christ & Holy Trinity Church in Westport.
WCI is expecting a large turnout to see this acclaimed documentary that has garnered numerous film festival awards including Sundance, Dallas, Boston, Seattle and Nantucket and received rave reviews. Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey captures the unique story of puppeteer Kevin Clash, and how a shy child with an unusual hobby created a beloved international icon.
Making his first puppet at the age of 10 (using his father’s raincoat to fashion a monkey from the furry fabric) Clash says he recognized that he had wanted to be a puppeteer ever since his early childhood. In 1984, after years of staging performances and creating puppets, he was noticed by the Muppet designers and eventually became an official puppeteer on Sesame Street. The following year Clash was given a puppet character to develop. Its name was Elmo and previous writers and puppeteers who worked on Elmo were not satisfied with their characterization.
Clash more than succeeded; he created a character who was in essence, a puppet version of the child in each of us.
Clash never looked back and he went on to win or share seventeen Emmys. Elmo remains so beloved that today, one-third of each Sesame Street episode is dedicated to “Elmo’s World”. While Kevin Clash is unknown to the world, Elmo is one of the most popular characters ever created, a household name with children and their parents around the globe.
Rare behind-the-scenes-footage of Sesame Street and the Jim Henson Workshop highlight the story of Clash, the realization of his dream and the creation of Elmo, one of the most beloved characters in popular culture.
Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey screens January 28, 4pm at Christ & Holy Trinity Church, 75 Church Ln, Westport. Tickets are $10 each – available at westportcinema.org or at the door. The Westport Cinema Initiative is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to bringing an independent movie theater back to Westport CT. Westport’s last theaters closed in 1999 after 83 years of continuous operation. For additional information; visit westportcinema.org or facebook.com/WestportCinema.
