BLAIR THOMAS, BIOGRAPHY
Artistic Director Blair Thomas is a theater artist at the mid-point of his career. As founder of the highly successful Redmoon Theater, he spent a decade leading a vision to create large-scale Spectacle Theater. He was the principal creator behind productions such as Frankie & Johnny, Moby Dick, Frankenstein, the Winter Pageant, and All Hallow's Eve halloween parade until he left in 1998. Blair then served as co-curator for both of Chicago's International Puppet Festivals in 2000 and 2001 and became an Associate Adjunct Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2002, Blair founded this new organization to create a distinctive Chamber Puppet Theater. With the company, Blair has toured to Boston, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Tampa, Atlanta, Phoenix, Madison, Bloomington, Mexico, and Spain, and has built a repertoire of work for adults and for children. He was awarded the Illinois Arts Council Fellowship for New Performance in 2002 and 2004, and was hand-picked to serve in the inaugural position of Jim Henson Artist-in-Residence at the University of Maryland in College Park for the 2006-07 academic year. He is a graduate of Oberlin College.