Puppet theater relocating to Industry City after 35 years in Park Slope

A puppet theater will soon raise the curtain at its new Brooklyn home, after more than three decades of performances in Park Slope.

Puppetworks is set to open within Industry City’s Makers Guild in mid-September. It will occupy a 1,200-square-foot space in Building 5.

Founded in 1980 by Nicolas Coppola, Puppetworks opened in Park Slope at 338 6th Ave. in 1990. The puppet theater has spent the past 36 years at the four-story building where it entertained elementary school students from across Brooklyn with its marionettes during the week and hosted performances for the general public on the weekend, according to Brooklyn Paper.

Puppetworks will relocate because a developer bought its Park Slope building.

“While we are sad to leave our home, we are very fortunate to have found Jim Somoza, who has really championed our organization to get us into a top-notch facility that will offer us new opportunities,” said Jamie Moore, Puppetworks’ manager of stage operations.

The puppet theater’s final performance in Park Slope will be “Pinocchio” on Aug. 9 and its first one at Industry City will be “Hansel & Gretel” on Sept. 12, according to its website.

Before it moves, the theater will continue programming in Park Slope, including a nostalgia night on July 31 at 7 p.m.

“It’s for grown ups who still feel young at heart to have an opportunity to come and enjoy one last evening with us before we move on to our new home,” Moore said. “It will also be another opportunity for people to try and donate money. We are trying to raise money for the new build out and the cost of moving.”

The new lease is for five years.

TSCG’s Chase Welles and Taylor Onosko represented Puppetworks in the deal while Industry City had in-house representation.

“This deal is very consistent with the experience-based and entertainment-based retail that we do,” said Jim Somoza, managing director at Industry City. “Puppetworks also make their puppets and that’s why we have them in the Maker’s Guild. We have a big maker population at Industry City so it actually fits into two things we like to do.”

Puppetworks will join a mix of experiential retailers at Industry City that includes Brooklyn performing arts company bkOne Productions, crafts making school Craftsman Ave, and board game lounge Brooklyn Game Knight.