Mister D: Although this isn’t really Bette-related, I couldn’t let this pass by. Brian is producer for the Wocka Wocka Festival: A Jim Henson Celebration, tomorrow at Symphony Space, in New York – where else???? I love New York!!! So congrats to him and to those who live there or around the vicinity, then please check it out! And don’t forget to drop by his fabulous Bette site, too, www.bettelyrics.com:
The New York Times
A Marathon of Muppets
By LAUREL GRAEBER
Published: December 16, 2005
A concerned social worker finds a 6-year-old living without parents. The youngster does have attentive neighbors – a whole street of them, in fact – but no one who cares for him is remotely related to him. Shocked, the social worker sends him to Illinois to live with “his own kind.” Longing for his unconventional family, he soon runs away.
This is not the latest news involving Child Protective Services, nor is it a plot for a Movie of the Week. The 6-year-old is Big Bird, and his quest to escape foster parent Dodos is the story behind “Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird,” the first film in the Wocka Wocka Festival: A Jim Henson Celebration, tomorrow at Symphony Space.
“I tried to set up the day so we’d start off early with the things beneficial for the small kids,” said Brian J. Heck, the film festival’s producer. “They’re probably more familiar with the ‘Sesame Street’ characters than with the other Muppets.”
But Mr. Heck, 28, knows them all. For him, the big three Muppet films are “The Muppet Movie,” “The Great Muppet Caper” and “The Muppets Take Manhattan,” all to be screened tomorrow. But he could not resist including “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” at 1 p.m.
“Kermit plays Bob Cratchit,” Mr. Heck said. “Miss Piggy is Emily Cratchit, of course. There’s a tiny frog, Robin, Kermit’s nephew, and he plays Tiny Tim.” (In a nod to humanity, Michael Caine is Scrooge.)
Most screenings are in the afternoon, but an evening show, also open to children, will feature “The Dark Crystal” (a Henson foray into “Lord of the Rings” territory) and “The Muppets Take Manhattan,” in which Kermit and Miss Piggy finally tie the knot. (No word on whether New York has recognized the union.)
The Wocka Wocka Festival, tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street; (212) 864-5400. Tickets per screening: $10; children, students and ages 65+, $8; members, $6. All-day pass: $21. Schedules: symphonyspace.org.
