...is dedicated to creating innovative and exemplary puppet-based theater for audiences of all ages.
Since 2007, Little Did has been utilizing puppetry and music to express complex and imaginative themes through tales that are timeless and accessible to any audience. From our New York City debut A Silly Silverstein Show at FringeJR 2009 to 2014's Ramayana in Madison Square Park, LDP has been making their mark on the city's puppet community with performances at the Bushwick Starr, St. Ann's Warehouse, and Standard ToyKraft. Reviewers have called the work "clever," "snappy" and "visually scintillating," accompanied by original music that is "haunting and beautiful."
These experiments in puppetry, music and theater have led us here, to SOLINA.
SOLINA is a full-length, all-original show told through diverse styles of puppetry and music. Premiering at the New York International Fringe Festival in August 2015, SOLINA is the story of young girl who awakens to Rooster’s call and discovers Sun is missing and everyone she loves is trapped in a deep sleep, peacefully unaware. She ventures into the darkness to speak to the creatures of the night, encountering false trails, riddles, and dangerous characters on a quest to find Sun and save the world from darkness. This original hybrid multimedia puppet opera draws from myths, techniques, and musics from a variety of cultures to resonate as something rooted in the familiar, yet never before seen.
Puppetry is an expensive art form, and SOLINA is our most ambitious show to date. Our vision is expansive, including moving set pieces, glowing puppet eyes and live electronic music. Generosity from art lovers like you is simply the only thing that will make it possible. In the sidebar you can see the rewards that we're offering to our donors, including physical, handmade goods and exclusive digital content. We hope that you'll consider becoming part of the Little Did family and help us Little Do It.
A Well-Defined Fiscal Plan...
...is essential to any serious art project.
We are proud and honored to be partially supported by public funds from the
Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. We've also been awarded the
2015 Hot Time in the Old City residency for projects in development by our friends over at
Standard ToyKraft!
We're also forever thankful to an anonymous donor who has generously offered to match any funds raised up to $3,000!
This is why our goal for this campaign is $3,000. If we can raise this much from a dedicated and caring team of fans, it will be matched and added to the funds that we can/have raised through grants. This puts us very close to our budget goal, but not quite there. Any additional funds raised will still go directly into the show, most notably to provide stipends for our tireless and talented cast and crew.
Here are our budget broad strokes:
Expenses:
Rehearsal
Space Rental: $800
Puppet
Materials: $2,507
Set Materials: $1,450
Costumes: $350
Makeup: $150
Travel/Transportation: $698
Technical Expenses: $700
Printing/Publicity: $950
Fringe/Fractured Atlas Fees: $975
Total without stipends: $8,580
Modest Stipends for all Designers and Performers: $4,670
Total: $13,250
Income:
"Drinking with Puppets" Fundraiser 2014: $410
MCAF Grant: $2,690
Total secured income: $3,100
Indiegogo Campaign at Goal: $3,000
Matching Donation: $3,000
Total income with Indiegogo goal met: $9,100
Indiegogo Campaign at Reach Goal: $5,150
Matching Donation: $3,000
Total with Indiegogo campaign Reach goal met: $11,250
Projected Ticket Sales: $2,000
Total income with Indiegogo campaign Reach goal and projected ticket sales: $13,250 (BALANCED BUDGET!)
We are happy to discuss the details of our budget with any potential donors if you want to reach out to us at littledidproductions@gmail.com. The basic formula is this:
By helping us to get to our Goal of $3,000, you maximize our potential income from private donors
By helping us to get to our Reach Goal of $5,150, you maximize our potential to balance our budget after ticket sales
Anything raised beyond our Reach Goal will go to further performances of SOLINA
...would make you a member of the Little Did team, a Giving Tree, and a dear friend.
Our agreement with our fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas, makes it so that the donations that go through this campaign will be tax-deductible (above the cost of your rewards) because they will go directly to this project, SOLINA. We will not use any part of it on administrative costs or anything not directly related to the creation of this show, a journey story that will empower children, inspire audiences, and invigorate theater, puppetry and music communities in New York and beyond.
Let's be Friends...
If you cannot donate (or even if you can), please consider sharing on your social media outlets! Our Instagram and Twitter handles are @littledidprod and you can find us on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/LittleDidProductions. Please "Like" and "Follow" us for updates that include sneak peeks of the digital content being offered as rewards, short films and #eyebombs that we've been leaving around the city, slowly turning our community into a giant puppet!
![]()
Both musically, and visually, SOLINA takes our greatest skills and pushes them to the limit. Although kid-friendly, it is a twisted and unconventional fantasy intended for all audiences. The story’s main theme challenges the antiquated concepts of “good” and “evil” too often oversimplified in children’s theatre. In SOLINA, like in life, all characters possess both good qualities and evil qualities, and our strong, female protagonist learns this as she ventures out on her own for the first time. It’s a lesson essential to children, but as Little Did goes on this journey to write, build and fund our first fully original full-length show in New York City, we are learning just how vital and ageless it is.
