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The Dreadfuls are Back!

Written and directed by Jon Ludwig and Jason Hines

This deadly ensemble of musicians, dancers, and puppeteers rises from the dead to take audiences into the world beyond this mortal plane with a cavalcade of creepy stories, frightful songs, and devilish dances unearthed from near and far.

Our seven talented phantoms play instruments, sing, dance, act, and incorporate various puppetry styles to tell their gothic tales. The stories are as wide-ranging as the puppetry, from marionettes and shadow puppets to hand, rod, and tabletop puppets. From fan favorite “The 11:59” (based on a short story by Patricia C. McKissack about a former Pullman porter who hears the ominous whistle of an infamous ghost train), to a fantastically silly graveyard dance set to Saint-Saëns’ “Dance Macabre,” join us for a deliciously old school cocktail of death and humor, a reminder of what has always made Halloween so creepy and fun.

This was great fun, intelligent humor and showmanship, wonderful puppets and stories. ~ GOArts

A splendid blend of humor and spookiness…BRILLIANT.  ~ Audience member

Tickets include admission to the Worlds of Puppetry Museum which opens 1 hour prior to the Performance each night.
“The Ghastly Dreadfuls” is for mature audiences only.
It contains crass humor, simulated nudity, violence, and horror elements.

The Ghastly Dreadfuls is a Signature Performance and is excluded from Member performance discounts
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Performance, Worlds of Puppetry Museum, and free onsite parking.

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The Ghastly Dreadful is a winner of the most prestigious award in puppetry.

Meet the Cast

Greg Hunter
Puppeteer
Greg Hunter is a Georgia native and has had many opportunities to perform around Atlanta; His credits include: The Color Purple (Aurora Theatre), Ruth and the Green book (Center for Puppetry Arts), Wait Until Dark (Georgia Ensemble Theatre), Beautiful: the Carole King Musical (Aurora Theatre), The Drowsy Chaperone (Atlanta Lyric Theatre), A Year with Frog and Toad (Synchronicity Theatre), and Beauty and the Beast (Center For Puppetry Arts), just to name a few. Greg is also the company manager at Aurora and is thankful to them for allowing him the opportunity to continue exploring his passion for puppetry with this hauntingly fun show. www.greg-hunter.com
T.T. Mahony
Musician
T.T. Mahony is a working musician based in Atlanta. Conversant in a variety of idioms and on piano, organ, harpsichord and synthesizer, he has been active as a teacher, concertizer, entertainer, arranger, composer, vocal coach and church musician for over twenty years. He holds degrees from Georgia State University and the University of Georgia and is an Associate of the American Guild of Organists.
Reay Kaplan Maxwell
Puppeteer
REAY KAPLAN MAXWELL is an Atlanta based actress and puppeteer, as well as the Education Initiatives Manager at the Center for Puppetry Arts. Reay holds a B.S. in Acting from Syracuse University and a M.A. in Puppetry from the University of Connecticut. Her work has been seen at the Center For Puppetry Arts, the Alliance Theatre, 7 Stages, Synchronicity Theatre, Dad’s Garage and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, to name a few. Reay’s work extends to audio book narration, and her voice can be heard in 30+ titles, available through Audible.com
Evan Hill Phillips
Puppeteer | Artist in Residence
Evan Hill Phillips is a graduate from Michigan State University with a BFA in Theatre.  Evan is also an Associate Artist of the Sense-Ability Ensemble and is currently developing an original musical geared towards neurodiverse audiences.

At the Center Evan was last seen performing in productions like Harold & the Purple Crayon, The Cat in the Hat, Sesame Street the Musical, Human, The Ghastly Dreadfuls, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer & more. Some of Evan’s other Atlanta credits include When Last We Flew (Out Front Theatre), The Speakeasy Encounter, The Student Body (Destination Theatre), The Mad Hatterpillar & her Many Heads (Synchronicity Theatre),  Cat & Mouse Tales (Stage Door Theatre/ Piccadilly Puppets),  And Then They Came for Me,  A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Georgia Ensemble Theatre), The New Black Fest’s Hands Up (Alliance Theatre), Newsies  (Atlanta Lyric Theatre/Aurora Theatre), The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Reindeer Games & The Lawrenceville Ghost Tours (Aurora Theatre, Appco19). 

Evan is also skilled in graphic design, animation, playing music on the Alto Saxophone, appreciating trash, improv, stage-combat, befriending rubber duckies, quoting obscure cartoons & cooking tostadas. He hopes you enjoy the show! Shoutout to Mom, Dad, Kyron, Blake & Jalen for all of their support. Sporadic updates at @evanhillphillips & www.evanhillphillips.com
Benjamin Shirley
Musician
Benjamin Shirley is a musician, composer, educator, and organizer based in Atlanta, GA. Primarily a cellist, Benjamin has sought to incorporate his love of avant-garde jazz, old-time fiddle, and experimental classical traditions into a dynamic, creative, and personal vernacular. He has performed in hundreds of concerts across the U.S. and Europe with groups including “deep listening Appalachia” duo Whispers of Night, experimental noise orchestra Faun and a Pan Flute, improvising rock quintet Mute Sphere, creative jazz trio BASrelief, garage-classical Artifactual String Unit, and a duo with saxophonist Jeff Crompton.  Engaging as an instrumentalist and composer for each of these groups, he is dedicated to a highly collaborative mode– instigating flows of invention, devising unexpected structures, and arriving at uncharted musical destinations. In addition to co-leading the Atlanta Improvisers Orchestra, he has performed with ensembles such as Bent Frequency, the Atlanta Contemporary Ensemble, and the Albany, GA Symphony Orchestra, and at festivals such as Big Ears in Knoxville, TN and Black Mountain College’s {Re]Happening.  Benjamin holds degrees in music and political science from UNC Chapel Hill and a certificate in music education from Georgia State University.  A devoted student and teacher of music, Benjamin continues to garner inspiration from the music traditions of the past, while pursuing a musical life aimed at the future horizons of creativity.
Jeremy Speed Schwartz
Musician
Jeremy is an Atlanta-based artist and performer, and is very excited to be telling stories and singing songs with the Ghastly Dreadfuls.  He holds an MFA in Experimental Animation from the California Institute of the Arts and a BA in Digital Media from UC Santa Cruz.  Jeremy has been a repeated collaborator on Xperimental Puppetry Theater at the Center for Puppetry Arts.  A recent transplant to Atlanta, Jeremy’s theater work in New York and California includes Parade (Rochester CenterStage), Ruddigore (Off-Monroe Players), Evita, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Hornell Theatre), As You Like It, and A Little Night Music (Westchester Playhouse). As an animator and interactive artist, Jeremy’s work has been featured at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, The Sundance Institute, and in film festivals internationally.  He is very thankful to his wife Heather, and his kids Madelyn and Nat for all their support.  Jeremy teaches in the School of Art and Design at Kennesaw State University.
Kristin Storla
Puppeteer
Kristin is an Atlanta-based Intimacy and Fight Director, Puppeteer and Actor. A regular haunt at the Center for Puppetry Arts, she’s been seen in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Avanti DaVinci, Charlotte’s Web, Peter Pan, Aesop’s Fables, and Pete the Cat. Around town her work has been seen at Actor’s Express, Havoc Movement Company, Shakespeare Tavern, Synchronicity, and more. She hopes you don’t get too scared tonight, it’s just a show. Love to Joe. Keep up at www.KristinStorla.com
Sarah Beth Hester
Puppeteer | Artist in Residence
Sarah Beth “EssBee” Hester is thrilled to once again take the stage at the Center for Puppetry Arts! As a puppeteer, actor, musician, and teaching artist, Essbee has been an active member of the Atlanta theatrical community, since graduating the apprentice program with the Shakespeare Tavern in 2015. Sarah Beth was a head puppeteer for BBC’s Moon and Me and continues to develop their puppetry craft in both performance and fabrication. This winter, EssBee will take over the direction of The Center for Puppetry Art’s annual production of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. 

Some recent credits include: Boy, The Cat in the Hat (CPA); Principle Performer, Sesame Street the Musical (CPA); Puppyteer, Dr DeSoto (Alliance); Shmoopy Lou, Just Another Play About Rainbows (Havoc Movement) Diafoirus/ Puppet Fabrication, Le Malade Imaginaire (Théâtre du Rêve) Benvolio, Romeo & Juliet (ASC); Puppet Captain/ Performer, Tesla vs Edison (CPA, World Premiere); Puppet Fabrication for Havoc Movement; Musical Composition and puppet fabrication, The Mad Hatterpillar (a new puppet musical); National Puppetry Conference, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. You can find EssBee’s album I’M FINE. anywhere that music streams. Follow for more: @hotgarbagepuppets 

Some recent credits include: Boy, The Cat in the Hat (CPA); Principle Performer, Sesame Street the Musical (CPA); Puppyteer, Dr DeSoto (Alliance); Shmoopy Lou, Just Another Play About Rainbows (Havoc Movement) Diafoirus/ Puppet Fabrication, Le Malade Imaginaire (Théâtre du Rêve) Benvolio, Romeo & Juliet (ASC); Puppet Captain/ Performer, Tesla vs Edison (CPA, World Premiere); Puppet Fabrication for Havoc Movement; Musical Composition and puppet fabrication, The Mad Hatterpillar (a new puppet musical); National Puppetry Conference, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. You can find EssBee’s album I’M FINE. anywhere that music streams. Follow for more: @hotgarbagepuppets 
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