ERTH’S DINOSAUR ZOO LIVE

We’d love to see your moments! Share your experience on Instagram & tag us @kupferbergcenter! 

SUN, FEB 2, 2025, 3 PM at COLDEN AUDITORIUM

Specialist Puppet Design BRYONY ANDERSON

Composer PHIL DOWNING

National Tour Booking BRAD SIMON ORGANIZATION                

National Marketing Director C MAJOR MARKETING

Tour Manager JOHN RUEGSEGGER

Technical Director JOHN RUEGSEGGER

General Manager DAVID DENSON

WHO’S WHO in the CAST

CHARLIE JHAYE (Host) Australian raised, New York based, this will be Charlie’s third time touring with Erth. Other recent credits include Helia the Sun Goddess in Celebrity Cruises’ Eden, Mary in Women in Jeopardy (Cortland Rep) Sheila u/s in Hair (Midtown Arts) Pamela in Fox on the Fairway (Cortland Rep) Sally Bowles in Cabaret (Star of the Sea / In the Wings) Captain Hook in Peter/Wendy (Alpha NYC) Shakespeare in Shakespeare Salon (The Dark Lady Players) and Broadway’s Rising Stars Concert (Broadway Summer Festival). This is the one and only show where she’s been able to use her natural accent so, G’day everyone! More at: charliejhaye.wix.com/charliejhaye

ADAM BOURQUE (Puppeteer) Adam is a stunt performer and puppeteer, native to New York and a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Since graduating he has been fortunate to travel the world performing for all ages. By land, touring shows like Foodplay and Mystic India: The World Tour, and by sea with Carnival and Celebrity Cruises. This is Adam’s fourth time performing with Erth after puppeteering for Shark Dive at the Australian Museum, Prehistoric Aquarium Tour and Dinosaur Zoo Live at The Smithsonian Zoo. Adam loves learning new skills and forms of storytelling! While Dino Zoo isn’t his first time with a puppet, it’s proving to be a new, albeit ‘prehistoric’ challenge and adventure!

BRANDON GRIMES (Puppeteer) is a dynamic performer from Harlem, captivating audiences with a range of roles. An AMDA graduate from 2016 to 2019, Brandon honed his skills in productions like Spelling Bee and Once On This Island, guided by mentors like David Cady and Michael Perilstein. He’s not just a stage actor, he has recently found a passion for puppeteering with the renowned company Erth. With an extensive theatrical background and newfound skills in puppeteering, Brandon Grimes is a standout entertainer ready to captivate audiences of all ages.

ERYN MALAFRONTE (Puppeteer) Eryn Malafronte is honored/ thrilled/ all the adjectives to be working with Red tail and ERTH again, tricking kids into learning with the power of puppets. Most recently seen puppeteering as Alphabot in the PBS show “Reading Buddies” with Dusty and Dot seasons 1-3, or as Tip Toe the Reindeer in Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade, and pretty much every Erth tour that has toured the states, I’m proud to carry the tradition of scaring/ entertaining children performing non-verbal puppets. Many thanks to these amazing companies, and theaters for opening their doors to us and the families and individuals who support this show and the arts/ live theater in general, the arts needs you! Enjoy the show! 

DON MITCHELL (Puppeteer)  is an Atlanta-based performer and poet. Don enjoys moderately short walks on the beach and has a weakness for Oreo cookies. He would like to thank his family and friends for the overwhelming support as well as Red Tail Entertainment for the opportunity to work on Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo.

SCOTT WRIGHT (Artistic Director) Scott is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Erth Visual & Physical Inc.  For over twenty-five years Erth’s puppetry based theatrical productions and innovative community projects have challenged and inspired audiences across the world, driven by a founding interest in natural history, indigenous folklore, sociology and urban mythology. Scott has directed the majority of Erth’s productions, which now tour year-round internationally, and have featured in all major Australian arts festivals, and today the company is recognized internationally as an innovator of physical and visual theatre, and a creator of brave, unbridled work for children.

SHARON KERR (Associate Director) Sharon is Executive Director and a founding member of Erth. Originally trained as a school teacher majoring in drama, Sharon has much performance experience. Prior to helping form Erth, she spent five years in contemporary dance theater with empha­sis on improvisational movement. Puppetry became a natural extension of this. Her roles within Erth are many and varied. Contributing to creative and performance direction, Sharon continues to perform whenever she can.  Sharon has also steered the company for many years as its key administrator. Some of her per­formance highlights include her aerial har­ness and flying work memorable amongst these are from atop the sails of the Sydney Opera House, the spire of St. Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne and from the 30th floor of the Nge Ann skyscraper in Singapore.

STEVE HOWARTH (Designer) As a founding and fulltime member of Erth Visual & Physical, Inc., Steve designs for most of the company’s productions and external com-missions. From the Erth Studio/Workshop he supervises a team of artists in creating the puppets, sets, props, costumes that are on constant tour around the globe. The puppets often take the form of teeth-gnashing beasts and inflatable monsters that are the foundation of Dinosaur Zoo. Steve also mentors design students from tertiary institutions and assists emerging makers in the implementation of their respective crafts.

BRYONY ANDERSON (Specialist Puppet Design) Bryony is a designer, maker, artist and wannabe scientist based in the forested hills of NSW. Her puppets and constructions for visual performance have toured nationally and internationally with many Australian circus, puppetry, visual performance and theatre companies, as well as appearing in museums, festivals and documentaries. Solo exhibitions have ranged from interactive puppetry installations and handmade projection machinery to intricate illustration, all investigating a salvaged aesthetic. She has conducted community workshops in the Central Desert, rural Victoria, Western Sydney, and across the Mid North Coast of NSW. In 2011 she began working with her local community to seed a creative industry of skilled artisans making high calibre work from frugal resources. A three-year project was spawned that drew in artists, composers, scientists and over 1200 community participants, and resulted in an intricately detailed forest installation made entirely from stuff that was headed to landfill. The Frugal Forest is now on tour.  frugalforest.oneoffmakery.net.au

PHIL DOWNING (Composer) Phil has a distinct history working with interactive multimedia. After years spent performing music, Phil set about reinventing his means of expression through music, by creating unique and obscure musical instruments. This inspiration has led to the creation of numer­ous soundtracks for theatrical productions (1999–2012). Delivery of video and imagery being an obvious progression, Phil has also worked with various technologies to incor­porate physical interaction (with performers and audience members) into installations and performances, utilizing technologies such as infra-red, sonar and pressure sensors, Arduino programmable circuit boards and Kinect sen­sors. Working with Erth, Phil has developed systems for automated delivery of sound, light and visual effects, and has designed stand-alone sound systems for their various creature puppets. “This one’s going to be a mad professor!” his grandma proclaimed upon his birth.…She was possibly correct!     

DAVID DENSON (General Manager) is an accomplished director and producer with over twenty years of experience creating live theatrical events on and off-Broadway, regionally and on tour. As Partner and Head of Productions at Red Tail Productions, David produced the world premiere of Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol in Boston in 2019 as well as the European premiere at London’s Southbank Centre in 2022. Broadway credits include The Kite Runnerand Paradise Square; he has produced national tours of Double Dare Live! with Marc Summers; Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo Live and Prehistoric Aquarium Adventure. In 2022 he launched two new, immersive, multi-media experiences: Lazer Invazion: A Rock-n-Roll Odyssey of Lasers, Lights, and Alien Invasions and Lazed & Confused: The 420 Laser Experience. Prior to joining Red Tail, David served as the Director of Programming for the multi-venue, AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas, TX where he also spent two years with the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs overseeing the construction and grand opening of the $48M, 750 seat Dallas City Performance Hall in 2012.

BRAD SIMON ORGANIZATION (Exclusive North American Booking).  Since 1983, The Brad Simon Organization has provided tour booking services for a diverse roster of artists and productions in a wide variety of performance venues, including performing art centers, commercial theaters, amphitheaters, arenas, festivals, fairs and theme parks.   Their national and international tours have reached millions of audience members at over 1,000 commercial and non-profit venues in all 50 United States and eight provinces in Canada, plus Sydney, Australia, Singapore and other territories.  They have toured 20+ productions based on top-rated television series, over 75 from regarded book titles, as well as original theatre productions, all targeted to multi-generational family audiences.   The Brad Simon Organization’s longevity in the touring industry is a product of their work ethic and love for presenting live performance and meaningful theatrical experiences for audiences of all ages.

RED TAIL ENTERTAINMENT (Producer) Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, Red Tail Entertainment has established itself as one of the industry’s Top 100 Presenters with sold out engagements of Cinderella, Wizard of Oz, Stomp, The Beach Boys, Tony Bennett, Harry Connick, Jr., Steve Martin & Martin Short, The Wild Kratts, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Hip Hop Nutcracker, Cirque Dreams, and many more. The company continues to expand and grow, becoming a leader in producing unique live events using international talent. In addition to Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol, Red Tail produced the 2018 and 2019 tours of Nickelodeon’s Double Dare Live! with Marc Summers as well as a three-month residency at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C. for Erth’s Dino Zoo Live. Red Tail has also produced the U.S. tours of Erth’s Prehistoric Aquarium Adventure, Scooby-Doo! Live Musical Mysteries, as well as A Night with Janis Joplin on Broadway, and has co-produced The Kite Runner on Broadway. As audiences change and new artists emerge, Red Tail Entertainment will continue to focus on producing and presenting only the best in live entertainment.

ERTH VISUAL & PHYSICAL INC. (Producer).  ERTH is a company fueled by beautiful accidents; a team of creators, makers and performers pushing the limits of design, content and experience. For over twenty-five years ERTH’s puppetry-based theatrical productions and innovative community projects have challenged and inspired audiences across the world, driven by a special interest in natural history, indigenous folklore, sociology and urban mythology.  Today the company is recognized internationally as an innovator of physical and visual theatre, and a creator of brave, unbridled work for children.  ERTH’s work tours year-round internationally, has featured in all major Australian arts festivals, and has appeared at international events including the Sydney Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, Hong Kong Fringe, Galway Arts Festival (IR), Stockton International Riverside Festival (UK), Singapore Arts Festival, the Festival of Arts & Ideas (USA), Shanghai World Expo, the opening of the Mall of Qatar (UAE), and the Hampyeong Butterfly Festival (South Korea).  ERTH’s studio and workshop custom builds specialist creations for clients that have included the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Festival, Sydney Olympic Games, Vivid Sydney, the Centenary of Federation, the Department of Communications and the Arts, Performing Lines and The Empire Strips Back, and the company has long standing creative relationships with major museums around Australia, New Zealand and the USA.  In the company’s ongoing push to explore boundaries and devise new work, 2017 sees the premiere of birdfoxmonster – a multi-sensorial dining experience and collaboration between Erth and Studio A, which will take place at Carriageworks, and the release of Prehistoric VR – a 360-degree virtual reality short film for children created in partnership with renowned Australian film director Samantha Lang, and based on Erth’s Prehistoric Aquarium.