By Sarah Lindenfeld Hall

For more than a decade, the Kazoom Puppet Theatre has been holding regular morning shows at Comedy Worx near downtown Raleigh. The show, featuring Ms. Poly, Ms. Ester and the Carolina Hurricanes-loving puppet Bartlet, is a favorite of toddlers to early grade-schoolers and their parents.

With the hopes of luring more families who can't make it to a morning show, the theatre is adding a special afternoon show at 2 p.m. Thursday just to see how many people might turn out. The theatre had already been planning a special show for a preschool that afternoon and decided to open it up to the public.

"We thought we might try this as a run to see what happens with it," said Ms. Poly (AKA Carolyn Johnson).

Johnson tells me that there have been some requests over time for an afternoon show from parents with kids in morning preschool programs. The show is always at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. every Wednesday and Thursday at ComedyWorx on Peace Street near its intersection with Glenwood Avenue. Tickets are $4 for anybody 12 months and up.

You can also find them at the Holly Springs Cultural Center on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 10 a.m. Tickets for shows there are $5.

If you've been to Kazoom before, Thursday's show will be no different. The theme is barnyard animals and the story is "The Three Little Pigs." If you haven't, expect a mix of storytelling and song singing. If you go, be sure your child makes a picture or writes a note for Bartlet, who reads his "Bartlet mail" during the show.

And for all you working parents, Johnson tells me there's been some talk of having a weekend show at the Holly Springs Cultural Center. Stay tuned.