Watch Leonardo! Trailer
Get a sneak peek at the show.

Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster

Manual Cinema
from Chicago, Illinois

June 4 – 26, 2022
Recommended Ages
For ages 4 – 7
Price
Tickets start at $20
What Kind of Show?
Puppetry with live music; silly and clever
Running Time
45 minutes with no intermission
Venue
The New Victory Theater 209 W 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036

Select a Performance

Available

Few Seats Left

Unavailable

Week of May 30 – June 5

Jun 04

Sat, 11am

Jun 04

Sat, 3pm

Jun 05

Sun, 11am

Jun 05

Sun, 3pm

Week of June 6 – 12

Jun 11

Sat, 11am

Jun 11

Sat, 3pm

Get to know the performers and creative team at a Talk-Back!
Live audio-description provided

Jun 12

Sun, 11am

Jun 12

Sun, 3pm

Week of June 13 – 19

Jun 18

Sat, 11am

Live sign-interpretation provided

Jun 18

Sat, 3pm

Jun 19

Sun, 11am

Jun 19

Sun, 3pm

Week of June 20 – 26

Jun 25

Sat, 11am

Jun 25

Sat, 3pm

Jun 26

Sun, 11am

Jun 26

Sun, 3pm

Key

  • Audio Described Performance
    Audio-Described

    Live audio-description provided

  • Audio Described Performance
    Sign-Interpreted

    Live sign-interpretation provided

  • Audio Described Performance
    Talk-Back

    Get to know the performers and creative team at a Talk-Back!

About the Show

Leonardo tries so hard to be scary. But… he just isn’t. When he searches far and wide for a friend to frighten, he discovers Sam, who is scared of anything and everything! With puppets, projections, live music and a story by none other than Your Pal Mo Willems, this performance will surprise you with its cinema-sized story about fright, feelings and friendship. See how multimedia movie magic gets made when Manual Cinema presents Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster.

Puppets and projections bring Mo Willems’ tale of a bungling monster to life.

Did You Know?

  1. Leonardo! received its virtual world premiere on March 15, 2021, via the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The stage production will come to life through live actors, 3D puppets, DIY cinema and immersive sound.
  2. Manual Cinema’s marriage of live feed cameras, projection screens and puppetry brings stories to life in real time at different scales, with all the intricate handheld work visible onstage combining in the projection above.
  3. Another show based on a beloved Mo Willems book—Elephant & Piggie’s We Are In a Play!—made its Off-Broadway premiere as part of our 2016-17 season.

About the Company

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 and live feed cameras, the artists of Manual Cinema cross moviegoing with theatergoing, remaking the cinema experience with liveness, ingenuity and theatricality for the stage.

Creative Team

Inspired by the books Leonardo, The Terrible Monster and Sam, The Most Scaredy-Cat Kid in the Whole World by Mo Willems

Director
Sarah Fornace

Adaptation
Manual Cinema

Music, Lyrics & Sound Design
Ben Kauffman and Kyle Vegter

2D Paper Puppets and Props
Drew Dir

Hand and Rod Puppets
Lizi Breit

Costumes & Wigs
Mieka Van der Ploeg

Lighting
Trey Brazeal with Nick Chamernik

Dramaturgy
Megan Alrutz

Stage Manager and Board Operator
Maydi Díaz

Technical Director
Mike Usrey

Photos

Images by Manual Cinema, Characters © Mo Willems
Images by Manual Cinema, Characters © Mo Willems; Photo: Ben Kauffman
Images by Manual Cinema, Characters © Mo Willems; Photo: Ben Kauffman
Images by Manual Cinema, Characters © Mo Willems; Images by Manual Cinema, Characters © Mo Willems
Images by Manual Cinema, Characters © Mo Willems; Photo: Dexter Ellis
Images by Manual Cinema, Characters © Mo Willems