What to Know
- "Puppet Up! — Uncensored," a made-for-adults live show from The Jim Henson Company
- The Chaplin Stage at Henson Studios in Hollywood
- July 14 through 23, 2023 (select dates); tickets available but selling fast
If you have a knack for banishing a mopey mood with a heaping helping of "Mana Mana," all while waving your arms as if they were made of green felt, then you likely were raised, in playful part, by a quirky cadre of mirthful Muppets.
But growing up adoring the iconic characters created by the Jim Henson Company doesn't mean that your Muppet-centered fancies must cease when you finally don the Serious Veil of Adulthood.
That is the very time, in fact, when we need Muppet-delivered merriment the most.
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With that imaginative idea in mind — and everything that comes out of the Jim Henson Company has "imagination" near the top of the ingredients list — "Puppet Up! — Uncensored" was blithely born.
This is, first and foremost, a snappy show with a sizzling side of sauce. It is a bit randy, wonderfully winky, and it boasts far more "humina humina" than "Mana Mana," let it be pointedly stated.
The "Uncensored" portion of the title really does live up to its promise, in short.
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So should the young ones stay home with a favorite babysitter and catch up on episodes of "The Muppets Mayhem"? Most definitely, or even the original episodes of the magnificent "The Muppet Show," which remains the banter-iest phenomenon to ever wocka wocka across the small screen.
The place is the fabled Jim Henson Studios, and if you go with the VIP ticket option, you'll be able to enjoy an in-depth look-around, with a guide at the lead, before the show begins.
And the place to watch talented puppeteers crack-wise while deftly operating a line-up of strange puppets? Which, by the by, are MISKREANT puppets, a name that says so much?
Let's break out the "fabled" again: It's the Chaplin Stage, an ode to the cane-twirling, industry-changing legend who built the Tudor-twee property, one of Tinseltown's oldest dream factories.
"Puppet Up! — Uncensored" returns every now and then, and it has pupped up, er, popped up at places beyond the Jim Henson Studios in recent years.
So this studio-based engagement is especially special given that it will take place at the "Puppet Up!" cast's home, or at least the location where the cloth-based actors "hang out" during their downtime. (Or perhaps "hang up" would be more fitting.)
Tickets? Wave your green arms, noodle-style, high in the air: Seats are still available for the shows, which will run on select dates from July 14-23, 2023.
