Children’s Theatre Company
Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster
Created by Manual Cinema
January 8-March 9, 2025
Children’s Theatre Company (CTC) is excited to announce the complete cast and creative team for the Minnesota premiere of Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster, created by Manual Cinema, which will run from January 8-March 9, 2025 on CTC’s Cargill Stage. Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster is inspired by the books Leonardo, The Terrible Monster and Sam, The Most Scaredy-Cat Kid in the Whole World by Mo Willems. The adaptation is by Sarah Fornace and Drew Dir, with music, lyrics and sound design by Ben Kauffman and Kyle Vegter. The production is directed by Sarah Fornace.
“At CTC we feel it’s important to nurture and activate a child’s creative life with ingenious storytelling, and Manual Cinema is one of the most imaginative theatre troupes working in America today,” said CTC Artistic Director Rick Dildine. “Using vintage overhead projectors, multiple screens, puppets, actors, live feed cameras, and a live music ensemble, Manual Cinema transforms the experience of attending the cinema and imbues it with liveness, ingenuity, and theatricality.”
Monsters have one job and it's to be SCARY! "Booga booga booga!" But as hard as he tries, Leonardo can't scare even a mouse. When the other monsters laugh and make fun of him, Leonardo goes in search of the most scaredy-cat kid in the whole world to try and scare the tuna salad out of him! Manual Cinema breathes innovative life into this beloved story (and its doubly charming sequel), using hundreds of puppets to magically create a movie before your very eyes. Will Leonardo finally become the scary monster he dreams of being? Or will he discover something even better to be? Inspired by the Books Leonardo, The Terrible Monster and Sam, The Most Scaredy-Cat Kid in the Whole World by Mo Willems, Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster was commissioned by The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts with additional commissioning support from Utah Presents.
“We are so thrilled to bring Leonardo! A Wonderful Show about a Terrible Monster to the Twin Cities,” said playwright and director Sarah Fornace. “The show adapts two books by everyone's favorite bedtime book author Mo Willems, and it tells an important story about empathy and choosing unexpected friendships. Minneapolis has such a wonderful arts scene and some of the best puppetry in the country! We always love performing here, because the audiences are smart and savvy and seem to love puppet shows! We use paper puppets, fuzzy Muppet-style puppets, live music, and video cameras to bring Mo's books to life in front of the audience's eyes. In every Manual Cinema show, we always show the process of making the performance, and I hope that we inspire the future generation to make their own art and tell their own stories! Also, as a parent, I am always excited to bring this show to other parents. There are jokes for all ages, and the songs are jams - I do not mind singing them 100 times.”
Leonardo! A Wonderful Show about a Terrible Monster runs from January 8-March 9, 2025 on CTC’s Cargill Stage. This show is best for younger audiences. Tickets can be purchased at childrenstheatre.org/Leonardo or by calling the ticket office at 612.874.0400. Ticket prices start at $15.
The cast of Leonardo! A Wonderful Show about a Terrible Monster features Karly Gesine Bergmann (Sam, Puppeteer), Leah Casey (Kerry, Puppeteer), Lily Emerson (Narrator, Character Voices, Musician), Kevin Michael Wesson (Leonardo, Voice, and Puppeteer), and Lindsey Noel Whiting (Leonardo, Voice, and Puppeteer).
From January 8 to February 9, the role of Leonardo will be played by Kevin Michael Wesson. From February 13 to March 9, the role of Leonardo will be played by Lindsey Noel Whiting.
In addition to Mo Willems, Sarah Fornace, Drew Dir, Ben Kauffman, and Kyle Vegter, the creative team and production staff for Leonardo! A Wonderful Show about a Terrible Monster includes Liz Breit (Hand & Rod Puppet Design), Mieka Van der Ploeg (Costume & Wig Design), Trey Brazeal with Nick Chamernik (Lighting Design), Megan Alrutz (Dramaturg), and Maydi Díaz (Stage Manager, Live Video, Sound and Light Cueing).
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets may be purchase online at childrenstheatre.org/Leonardo or by calling the Ticket Office at 612.874.0400. Ticket prices start at $15.
School groups interested in attending can contact schools@childrenstheatre.org for more information.
Leonardo! A Wonderful Show about a Terrible Monster has a run time of 45 minutes with no intermission.
This production is best enjoyed by younger audiences. Lap passes are available for children 3 years and younger.
Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster
Created by Manual Cinema
Inspired by the Books Leonardo, The Terrible Monster and Sam, The Most Scaredy-Cat Kid in the Whole World by Mo Willems
Images by Manual Cinema, Characters © Mo Willems.
Commissioned by The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts with additional commissioning support from Utah Presents
Directed by Sarah Fornace
Adaptation by Sarah Fornace and Drew Dir
Music and Lyrics by Ben Kauffman and Kyle Vegter
January 8-March 9, 2025
Cargill Stage
Best for younger audiences!
Creative Team & Production Staff
Director Sarah Fornace
Adaptation | Manual Cinema
Music, Lyrics & Sound Design | Ben Kauffman and Kyle Vegter
Storyboards and 2D Puppet Design | Drew Dir
Hand and Rod Puppet Design | Lizi Breit
Devised by | Drew Dir, Sarah Forance and Julia Miller with Leah Casey, Lily Emerson and Lindsey Noel Whiting
Costume & Wig Design | Mieka Van der Ploeg
Lighting Design | Trey Brazeal with Nick Chamernik
Dramaturg | Megan Alrutz
Stage Manager, Live Video, Sound and Light Cueing | Maydi Díaz
Cast
Narrator, Character Voices, Vocals | Lily Emerson
Leonardo, Voice, and Puppeteer | Kevin Michael Wesson
Leonardo, Voice, and Puppeteer | Lindsey Noel Whiting
Sam, Puppeteer | Karly Gesine Bergmann
Kerry, Puppeteer | Leah Casey
Manual Cinema Company
Manual Cinema is an Emmy Award winning performance collective, design studio, and film/video production company founded in 2010 by Drew Dir, Sarah Fornace, Ben Kauffman, Julia Miller, and Kyle Vegter. Manual Cinema combines handmade shadow puppetry, cinematic techniques, and innovative sound and music to create immersive stories for stage and screen.
Using vintage overhead projectors, multiple screens, puppets, actors, live feed cameras, multi-channel sound design, and a live music ensemble, Manual Cinema transforms the experience of attending the cinema and imbues it with liveness, ingenuity, and theatricality. The company was awarded an Emmy in 2017 for “The Forger,” a video created for The New York Times and named Chicago Artists of the Year in 2018 by the Chicago Tribune. Their shadow puppet animations are featured in the film remake of Candyman, directed by Nia DaCosta and produced by Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions. Recent productions include Leonardo! A Wonderful Show about a Terrible Monster, based on books by Mo Willems, and an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
In 2023, Manual Cinema completed production on their first self produced short film, Future Feeling, and toured with folk rock band Iron & Wine in 2024.
Children’s Theatre Company (CTC) is the nation’s largest and most acclaimed theatre for young people and serves a multigenerational audience. It creates theatre experiences that educate, challenge, and inspire more than 200,000 people annually. CTC is the only theatre focused on young audiences to win the Special Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre and is the only theatre in Minnesota to receive three Tony nominations (for its production of A Year With Frog and Toad). CTC is committed to creating world-class productions at the highest level and to developing new works, more than 200 to date, dramatically changing the canon of work for young audiences.
CTC is the most significant provider of theatre education opportunities in the region. Every year, thousands of children experience theatre for the first time at CTC. Our student matinees and education programs demonstrably benefit the community, from the intergenerational conversations sparked by our world premieres, to the sequential skill-building that happens in our Theatre Arts Training, to the pre-K focus of our Early Childhood Initiative. ACT One is CTC’s comprehensive platform for access, diversity, and inclusion in our audiences, programs, staff, and board that strives to ensure the theatre is a home for all people, all families, reflective of our community. childrenstheatre.org
TICKET GIVEAWAY
Enter to WIN Ticket Vouchers to Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster at CTC. Entries will be accepted from December 20, 2024 through January 10, 2025.
