GNY EP.201 | feat. Andrea Dotto with The Dusty & Dott Company

GNY EP.201 | feat. Andrea Dotto with The Dusty & Dott Company

From Good News York by Growth Mode Content by Growth Mode Content

July 17, 2026 · 16 min · Season 1 · Episode 201

About this episode

Andrea Dato discusses her work with The Dusty and Dot Company and the upcoming premiere of The Hurt Monster.

Andrea Dato on The Dusty and Dot Company, Puppetry, and The Hurt Monster Premiering in Syracuse On Good News York, host interviews Andrea Dato, president and co-founder of The Dusty and Dot Company, a central New York multidisciplinary creative studio focused on theater programming, education, and puppetry. Andrea shares the company’s origins with her husband and co-founder Brendan Malafronte, including their characters Dot and Dusty, and discusses their recent work on Syracuse Stage’s Frozen, where Brendan played Olaf and Andrea understudied and performed twice. She previews The Hurt Monster, a Jim Henson Foundation Family Grant–supported world premiere at Red House Art Center on September 12–13, about a girl, Kaya, in a starless world who partners with the Hurt Monster to transform hurt into healing light. The production includes a healing-sound soundscape by Tyeesha McNeal and engineered remote-controlled illumination by Think Variant, plus a post-show talkback; details at thehurtmonster.com . 00:00 Community Powered Creativity 00:27 Meet Andrea Dato 00:42 What Is Dusty and Dot 01:17 Frozen Puppetry Stories 02:58 Hurt Monster Announcement 03:25 Story Themes And Audience 04:57…

People in this episode

Host: Growth Mode Content

Guest: Andrea Dato

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Dusty and Dot Company, Syracuse Stage, Jim Henson Foundation

Books & works: Frozen, The Hurt Monster

Places: Syracuse, Red House Art Center

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