Life Sized Puppet From Tony Awarding Winning Play Makes One-Night Appearance
New Cumberland, PA –Meet Joey, star of the “landmark theater event” War Horse on Friday, Oct. 18th. Joey, the life-sized horse puppet who created a sensation on Broadway in War Horse, will make his first appearance in Central Pennsylvania at the 68th Annual Pennsylvania National Horse Show. Joey will appear one night only during the popular ten-day horse show, which will be held October 10th to 19th at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, PA.
Joey is operated by three puppeteers who train for eight weeks before performing. The three puppeteers, work together to operating the head, the heart and the hindquarter of the horse puppet, to create the character of the horse and produce amazingly life-like movements and sounds of a horse.
Photo credit: Photos © Brinkhoff/Mögenburg
The life-size horse puppet is principally made of cane and plywood, with a lightweight structure of aluminum and a “skin” of stretched fabric. Cords, levers and bicycle brake cables are used to control different parts of the horse’s body.
Liz Shorb, President of the Pennsylvania National Horse Show, said, “Joey’s appearance is part of a wonderful line up of family entertainment scheduled for this year’s show. We are honored to be able to bring Joey to the Harrisburg community.”
The National Theatre of Great Britain Production of War Horse is coming to the Hershey Theatre December 10 – 15.
The Pennsylvania National Horse Show is one of the largest indoor horse shows in the U.S., hosting horses and competitors from across the country with 10,000 spectators attending from the Mid‐Atlantic region. With over 1,400 qualified horses competing for $450,000 in prize money, the show features Hunter and Jumper competition and the $85,000 Grand Prix de Penn National.
Proceeds from the event benefit community equine and youth programs. Since its inception in 1945, the Pennsylvania National Horse Show Foundation has donated over $1.5 million to charitable entities. For more information on the Pennsylvania National Horse Show, visit www.PANational.org.
