Museum of the Moving Image (Muppets, Star Trek, & Silence, Oh My!)

Tim and I went to the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, NY yesterday to see their exhibit on Jim Henson.  They were also showing The Muppets Go To The Movies-- a 1981 TV special which was originally produced to promote the feature film The Great Muppet Caper.  Both the exhibit and the movie were a lot of fun!  I highly recommend going to see the exhibit before it closes on March 4th.  If you grew up on Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, or the Muppet Show you'll get a great insider's look at workings behind the Muppet world.

For fans of my current show, Silence! The Musical, might enjoy a visit to the Museum as well.  They have a rather extensive display on the scenic elements built for The Silence of the Lambs film.  The collection includes research materials, drawings, and even full model of the asylum in Baltimore and Buffalo Bill's basement from the climax of the film.  Speaking of Silence!-- make sure you come see the show soon!  I'm only working on it thru the end of February.  We've added a 10:30pm show THIS SATURDAY.  :)  There's also a CD signing event with the cast of Silence The Musical THIS THURSDAY at Barnes and Noble at 86th & Lex!  Come check it out.


Of course Museum of the Moving Image has a section dedicated entirely to Star Trek!  Well, not really... but there is some cool Trek stuff to see.  There is a section of the museum dedicated to the the moving image's influence on pop culture.  They have toys, lunch boxes, models, magazines, etc-- all sorts merchandising that has been released to promote movies and TV shows.  This list of items includes Star Trek action figures from the original series and the first movie, a model of the USS Enterprise (pictured here), a phaser water pistol, a cereal bowl and cup with Kirk & Spock on them, a Star Trek happy meal box from 1979, examples of Star Trek jewelry, several fan produced magazines, etc.  Outside of the world of Star Trek they fun stuff like a C3P0 scotch tape dispenser, a Batman lunch box and many more cool merchandising tie-in items.

There's also a display on Stop Motion animation where you can make your own little movie with paper cut outs.  They have it all set up so that you can make your own animated movie and then have it e-mailed to yourself.  Check out mine below!