The Shadow Box Theatre at 45 Bleecker Street

For more than four decades, this nonprofit children's musical puppet theater has provided original, socially responsible entertainment for New York City kids, emphasizing self-esteem, cultural pride and healthy, positive and hopeful lifestyles. The shows combine several kinds of puppetry—including hand, shadow and body—with music, dancing and live performers. Recent productions have included The Earth & Me, Play It Safe: A Safety Musical and The African Drum: Four African Folk Tales.