Encore Michigan

Detroit’s PuppetART to close doors at end of August

News August 09, 2017 David Kiley

DETROIT, Mich.–PuppetART has been a magical place in downtown Detroit for 20 years, but it will soon be closing.

The combination theater and puppet studio/museum will vacate its downtown spot at the end of August due to increasing rents, and take its show on the road, says the owners, doing shows and puppet expositions on a roving basis.

PuppetART’s owners made the announcement on their Facebook page.

Igor Gozman, 63, one of the company’s owners, came to the U.S. 27 years ago from Russia. ““With the big development, everything is great for downtown, but not for us with a small operational budget … (the city’s) not helping us sustain,” Gozman told The Detroit News. “We’ll be in downtown if something changes with official management to protect small niche business; otherwise, we could find ourselves near Eight Mile,” Gozman told The News.

PuppetART has won multiple Wilde Awards and has performed numerous original works, including adaptations on classics like Sleeping Beauty and Snow Queen.

Read The Detroit News Story here.