Uncanny Valley Puppet Slam

04/28/2026

Uncanny Valley @ Newburgh Fringe - See you in October!

📣 WE'RE COMING BACK!

We're over the moon to announce Newburgh Fringe Festival will return this year: October 16-18 ✨✨

So excited to be bringing this fabulous community together again with our Fringe team: Ken Martinez, Hit House Creative, Shane Bly Killoran, John Hartzell, Patricia A. Cornwell, Gloria Bonelli, Diamond Grade Media, and Buffey Favata.

Stay tuned and follow Newburgh Fringe Festival for updates 💫

03/31/2026

HATS OFF to the beyond-incredible performers of the 4th Uncanny Valley Puppet Slam. We were blown away 👏👏

Thank you to all who attended Saturday's (SOLD OUT) show. What a pleasure it was to kick off our season of 2026 programming with you. See you next time!

We co-produce Uncanny Valley with Dov Manley (Up In Arms ) and Saturday's spectacular show featured:
Liz Joyce (our banjo-playing puppeteer & host!)
William PK Carter
Carole D’Agostino
Opal Elwell
Scott Hitz
Chris Palmieri
Cabot Parsons
Brad Shur

📸 Photos by Brian Wolfe

03/30/2026

Uncanny Valley Puppet Slam on March 28, 2026 was another smash, sold out success. There's undeniable artistry on stage and their commitment to creativity and craft astounds me each time. Introspection, a healthy dose of humor and mayhem were on full display and our audience was so present and appreciative.

Bravo to all the amazing talent and thanks again to Safe Harbors of the Hudson and The Puppet Slam Network. If you missed us in Newburgh, see us at Hudson Valley Puppet Slam at the Stissing Center in Pine Plains, NY with some of our Uncanny talent joined by others on April 25.

Mark your calendars for the Uncanny Valley Puppet Slam return to Newburgh on October 17, 2026.

03/27/2026

The puppets are descending: tomorrow, March 28th at 7PM, we will blessed with the glorious performers of Uncanny Valley Puppet Slam. Leave the kids at home and join us.

There are a few tickets left online here: https://safe-harbors.org/the-ritz-theater/uncannyvalleypuppetslam/

If you miss them, there will be a limited number available at the door tomorrow night.

We co-produce Uncanny Valley with Dov Manley (Up In Arms) and Saturday's show will be hosted by Liz Joyce and feature performances by:
William PK Carter
Carole D’Agostino
Opal Elwell
Scott Hitz
Chris Palmieri
Cabot Parsons
Brad Shur

03/23/2026

Less than a week to go until Uncanny Valley Puppet Slam's adult-only, anything-goes puppetry graces our Lobby at the Ritz! Thanks to Chronogram and Brian Mahoney for this great write-up as we approach showtime with our co-producer Dov Manley (Up In Arms).

In the words of Ken Martinez, our Director Performing Arts and Community Programming: “It’s a hilarious evening of short-form adult puppetry. Underground, fun, insane—a little bit naughty, a little bit nice.” Don't miss it!

⏰Saturday, March 28th at 7pm
👉Read the article: www.chronogram.com/arts/theater/uncanny-valley-puppet-slam-returns-to-newburgh-with-adult-only-anything-goes-puppetry
🎟️Buy tickets: safe-harbors.org/the-ritz-theater/uncannyvalleypuppetslam

⭐Saturday's show, hosted by Liz Joyce, promises out-of-this-world puppetry performances by:
William PK Carter
Carole D’Agostino
Opal Elwell
Scott Hitz
Chris Palmieri
Cabot Parsons
Brad Shur (pictured)

03/16/2026

See something weird and wonderful on March 28th!

Join us: https://safe-harbors.org/the-ritz-theater/uncannyvalleypuppetslam/

03/12/2026

Uncanny Valley: try it, you‘ll like it!

Video clip featuring this March’s fabulous host, Liz Joyce. Get ready folks, it’s puppet time 💫

We proudly present Uncanny Valley Puppet Slam in association with Dov Manley (Up In Arms)

🎟️ Buy tickets for the March 28th show: https://safe-harbors.org/the.../uncannyvalleypuppetslam/
This show will also feature:
🌟 William PK Carter
🌟 Carole D’Agostino
🌟 Opal Elwell
🌟 Scott Hitz
🌟 Chris Palmieri
🌟 Cabot Parsons
🌟 Brad Shur

03/03/2026

It's officially March and you know what that means: it's Puppet Month!!🥳

We've got three more fabulous puppeteers to introduce you to in the lead-up: Chris Palmieri, Cabot Parsons, and Brad Shur (Paper Heart Puppets) will captivate Uncanny Valley Puppet Slam audiences in less than a month.

👉 Join us on March 28th at 7 PM, buy tickets here: https://safe-harbors.org/the-ritz-theater/uncannyvalleypuppetslam/

Chris Palmieri is a seasoned performer, builder, and entertainer with over 15 years of experience in New York City. He portrayed Sven in the Northeast regional premiere of Disney’s Frozen, where he also served as puppet designer. Chris reprised the role at Fulton Theater in Lancaster, PA, serving as both performer and puppet captain. Notable credits include the Emmy-nominated preschool series Snug’s House and Tigger in Disney’s Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Stage Adaptation. Learn more at palmieripuppets.com

Cabot Parsons‘ short work review “Strange Things I’ve Shoved My Hand In” sold out Beacon’s Howland Cultural Center in 2024. He’s performed at Berlin Art Week, The National Puppet Slam, and at venues from Boston to Atlanta. Two full length works for adult audiences, “Gristle & Thumbs” and “Searching for a Mirror in the Dark” (a 2025 National Puppetry Conference Emerging Artist Resident) are currently in pre-production. Learn more at cabotparsons.com

Brad Shur, founder of Paper Heart Puppets, is a puppeteer, builder, and arts educator. He’s toured nationally, built puppets for American Idol and Dollywood, and was Resident Artist at Puppet Showplace Theater for eight years. His work has received multiple honors, awards and grants, including two Jim Henson Foundation grants. Now based in Poughkeepsie, he is dedicated to sharing and expanding the art of puppetry. Learn more at paperheartpuppets.com

Safe Harbors produces Uncanny Valley in association with Dov Manley (Up In Arms).

02/27/2026

Fabulous, fun, and freaky puppets are headed our way. 🎭✨

Uncanny Valley Puppet Slam will be gracing the Lobby at the Ritz on March 28th. As you purchase tickets (👀) and sit back to await the show, meet two of the brilliant humans bringing puppets to life: Opal Elwell () and Scott Hitz.

Opal Elwell (aka Naughty Little No Good) is a New York-based puppetry artist who is drawn to exploring the bizarre and the unspoken. Her creations delve into haunting, ethereal spirits, weaving stories that evoke both wonder and discomfort through multiple forms of puppetry from toy theatre to larger-than-life-sized. Recent works include “BESTIFUSEDBY: a milky elegy”, an exploration in self-destruction and grief in a milky world. And “Hymen Opus”, a sapphic, vampiric homage to the poem Christabel and orchid mantises. Opal has taken part in “Concrete Boom: Vol 4” at Dixon Place, attended Alice Gottshalk’s “Puppets, Robots & Hybrid Marionettes!” Intensive at The O’Neill Theatre Center’s National Puppetry Pre-Conference, and her designs have been featured in Brooklyn’s vibrant nightlife scene, contributing to events like “Insects!” at Rubulad, as well as Pretty Polly’s “Freak Show” at Sleepwalk. Lean more: naughtylittlenogood.com

Scott Hitz is a director, producer, puppeteer, and educator whose work has been seen internationally. His credits include Avenue Q, Hand to God, Little Shop of Horrors, and television projects for Comedy Central, Disney Channel, and Sprout. A co-founder of Monkey Boys Productions, he has been an Artist in Residence at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, toured internationally, and is a recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Seed Grant.

Safe Harbors presents Uncanny Valley in association with Dov Manley (Up In Arms). Buy your tickets here: https://safe-harbors.org/the-ritz-theater/uncannyvalleypuppetslam/?fbclid=IwY2xjawQJfmtleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETJ6RHh4VlR1Q09pN1gzZ0F6c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHmbfJWxb7-TrGP6UdO4AXwg7ovrNOucNOUi2UsMzVD4S5aNvaIRrHP_g5n1b_aem_9inLDpyRHZeE1z5BH-NHCQ

02/23/2026

Have you snagged your tickets yet?!

Uncanny Valley Puppet Slam is returning on March 28th at 7 PM. As anticipation mounts for this eclectic adult puppet show, we're thrilled to introduce two of our exciting performers: William PK Carter and Carole D’Agostino.

Learn more and buy tickets here: https://safe-harbors.org/the-ritz-theater/uncannyvalleypuppetslam/

William PK Carter is a quilter and puppet artist based in Central Valley, New York, who bridges the puppet and fine art worlds by fabricating wondrous creatures that exist at the intersection of queerness and blackness. She received her Bachelor of Science in Studio Art from Skidmore College in 2023, and her work has been exhibited and performed in theaters, galleries, and museums across the country. Carter is the recipient of Skidmore College’s President’s Racial Justice Award, the Van Dewater Memorial Award, and the John P. Heins Award: Outstanding Senior Thesis Exhibition. She has just completed her time as part of the 2025 cohorts of Puppet Showplace’s Creative Residency for Black Puppeteers and Ann Street Gallery’s Emerging Artist Fellowship, and is currently developing a full-length puppet piece, entitled Beautiful Without Consequence, that recently received a Workshop Grant from The Jim Henson Foundation. Learn more: williampkcarter.com

Carole D’Agostino is a puppeteer and fabricator with experience in film, television, theater. Her creations have appeared at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, Sesame Street, and several Broadway productions including Avenue Q, Pippin, Disney’s Aladdin, and Shrek! The Musical. Carole has performed in Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres Tour, with Imagine Dragons in the Radioactive video, at the O’Neill Puppetry Conference, and at Puppeteers of America festivals with her own original work and as host of Meet The Artist. She is a graduate of the University of Connecticut’s Puppet Arts program. Learn more: hellocarole.com

Safe Harbors produces Uncanny Valley in association with Dov Manley (Up In Arms)