For the younger generation, “lamb chop” may be an item on a restaurant menu. But for an older crowd, it is the name of an iconic sock puppet that they have known since childhood.
The opportunity to see Lamb Chop in his younger days in the 1950s on film with the late creator and puppeteer Shari Lewis, as well as with daughter Mallory in person is coming to the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center on the closing night of the annual Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, February 26 at 7 p.m. The screening is the Southeast Premiere of the film and is sponsored by Visit Sandy Springs.
Lamb Chop first appeared with the elder Lewis on the children’s show Captain Kangaroo. The nostalgic biographical film about Shari Lewis and the beloved Lamb Chop, containing archival footage, TV clips and interviews, was produced in collaboration with Lewis’s estate. It also includes insights from daughter Mallory who was born a few years after Lamb Chop’s introduction to America’s children and who said she slept with Lamb Chop as a child.
Mallory Lewis says Lamb Chop has changed
Mallory still owns the live performing rights to the Lamb Chop character. She told SandySprings.com that Lamb Chop “will be on the red carpet with me, chatting with people and will be on stage for the Q&A,” with WABE’s Lois Reitzes.
Mallory described Lamb Chop as “older than her. She’s a well-defined personality and very much her own person. When she worked with Mom,” she was like a sassy daughter. But “I’m her sister, so she shows sister disrespect.”
When asked how Lamb Chop has changed over the years, Mallory said “she’s changed the same way all women have changed. Her legs are longer and her eyelashes are longer.”
Mallory asserts that she has “the most fun job in the world. I go to nice places. I get picked up at the airport by nice people. I go to nice performing arts centers where there’s a nice sound guy with great sound equipment. I love my job. I don’t charge for performing. I charge for leaving my husband and for my travel.”
Lamb Chop, she added, has no plans for retirement.
Two film venues will be in Sandy Springs
The AJFF Jury Award winners will also be announced at the concluding program. The categories include best narrative feature, best documentary feature, best short film, emerging filmmaker, and films that build bridges between diverse groups and films that capture the perseverance and strength of individuals facing bigotry, inequality and persecution.
The screening of “Shari and Lamb Chop” will conclude AJFF’s lineup of 48 feature films and 15 shorts from 20 countries, including three world premieres, six North American premieres, two U.S. premieres and 13 Southeast premieres. More than 30 films will be exclusively screened this year in theaters, while 17 features and four short films will be available for streaming in the Virtual Cinema.
The film that will open the more than 20-year-old film festival on February 13 is “Irena’s Vow,” a World War II drama that is based on a true story about a Catholic housemaid of a Nazi official who saves several Polish Jews. The guest speakers include Irena’s daughter.
Of the five metro-area venues for the in-person screenings, two are in Sandy Springs. In addition to the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center, films will also be shown at the Springs Cinema & Taphouse in Sandy Springs.
Tickets for the film festival will go on sale to AJFF members exclusively on January 17 at noon. The general public will be able to purchase tickets beginning January 31. Ticket prices are $18 for evening shows and $16 for matinees. Streaming tickets will be available for $18 per household. For more information and to order tickets, visit AJFF.org or call the box office at 678-701-6104.
