Symphonie 20

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HEAR THE COLOR. SEE THE MUSIC.

's Dream Music Puppetry Program presents

Basil Twist’s ground-breaking work

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"A peerless, delightful summer evening."
- The New Yorker

“True Magic…it is like listening to music with your eyes.”

- Ben Brantley, The New York Times

Twenty years ago in 1998, Basil Twist debuted his boundary-breaking response to Berlioz’s 1830 “Symphonie Fantastique” to universal acclaim, inaugurating HERE’s intimate Dorothy B. Williams Theatre. In the two decades since Symphonie Fantastique’s premiere, Basil Twist has become an internationally recognized artist in opera, ballet, and on Broadway, and has won countless awards including the illustrious MacArthur Fellowship. Twist will revisit his legendary masterpiece as part of HERE’s 25th Anniversary Season. In this revival, accompanied live by the virtuosic pianist Christopher O’Riley playing the exquisite Liszt transcription, Symphonie floats and swirls in a 1,000-gallon water tank neatly disguised as a puppet stage. For the many who never saw it, and for those who relish seeing it again and again, the return of this tour de force to HERE is the event of the season.

“In a seen-it-all-world, you’ve never seen
anything quite like this”

- Time Out, New York

“True magic turns the ordinary into the sublime, and there's no denying the presence of magic in Basil Twist’s extraordinary interpretation of Berlioz’s ''Symphonie Fantastique.''...It comes as close to anything I've seen to finding physical equivalents to the abstractions of classical music... It’s as if you had been listening with your eyes.” - Ben Brantley, The New York Times

“I am grateful, excited, and terrified all at the same time to be bringing back my Symphonie Fantastique this April, on the occasion of it’s 20th anniversary premiere that launched the Dream Music Puppetry Program, and is a centerpiece of HERE’s 25th anniversary season." - Basil Twist
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Creative team

Basil3CropLR Basil Twist (Creator) Since coming to New York over 20 years ago, Basil Twist has garnered an international reputation as an audacious designer, director and performer. He creates iconic, visionary puppetry worlds with a remarkable range of style and scope appearing in intimate nightclubs to large orchestra halls. He is a sought after collaborator for theater, dance, opera and film. His utterly unique approaches have been recognized with awards; critical acclaim and have furthered contemporary artistry and the technical craft of puppetry. He is MacArthur Fellow, lives in New York City where he leads The Dream Music Puppetry Program at HERE.

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Christopher O’Riley (Pianist) Acclaimed for his engaging and deeply committed performances, the pianist Christopher O’Riley is known to millions as the host of NPR’s From the Top. Now in his 15th year on air, O’Riley introduces the next generation of classical-music stars to almost a million listeners each week. He performs around the world and has garnered widespread praise for his untiring efforts to reach new audiences. Christopher O’Riley has performed as a soloist with virtually all of the major American orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, National Symphony, and San Francisco Symphony.

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Andrew Hill (Lighting Designer) Previous work with Basil Twist includes the original presentations of Symphonie Fantastique; Petrushka; La bella dormente nel bosco; and Dogugaeshi. Other designs include Budapest Festival Orchestra’s stagings of Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro at Lincoln Center and the Edinburgh International Festival; Freiburger Barockorchester’s Cosi fan tutti and Idomeneo for Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival; and Phantom Limb’s 69°S for BAM’s Next Wave Festival. Numerous designs at HERE with Dream Music Puppetry artists include Lyubo with Chris Green; What’s Inside the Egg with Lake Simons; Savage Nursery with Erin Orr; Fortune Teller with Erik Sanko; and Virgo Genitrix with Christopher Williams.

PUPPETEERS

Ben Elling (Puppeteer) Ben Elling is a performer and theatrical technician. He has puppeteered with Tandem Otter on Sister’s Follies, and Basil Twist’s The Rite of Spring. Ben is pleased to be back at HERE, where he served as Technical Director. Ben currently freelances about town, collaborating with artists and venues to bring their work to stage.

Andy Gaukel (Puppeteer) As a puppeteer, some of Andy’s credits include the world premier of Paula Vogel’s The Long Christmas Ride Home and Basil Twist’s Symphonie Fantastique. In 2013, Gaukel held a Creation Residency at the Institut International de la Marionnette in Charleville-Mézières, France. A graduate of Trinity Rep. Conservatory (M.F.A.) in Providence, Gaukel’s original work Schweinehund premiered at the 2015 Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes in Charleville-Mézières, France and has since been presented at the 2016 Internationales Figurentheaterfestival Blickwechsel in Germany, among others around Europe.

Jonothon Lyons (Puppeteer) Jonothon Lyons is a New York based actor, writer, and puppeteer. Symphonie Fantastique marks his fifth production with Basil Twist after Sisters Follies, Rite of Spring, Petrushka, and Dogugaeshi. Other performance credits include Blue Man Group, Sleep No More, Off the Main Road (Williamstown Theater Festival, starring Kyra Sedgwick), Anthony Minghella’s Madama Butterfly (The Met), and Moisés Kaufman’s El Gato con Botas (New Victory Theater).

Lake Simons (Puppeteer) Lake Simons is a theatre artist based in New York City with strong ties to Fort Worth, Texas. She is a director, designer, choreographer, puppeteer, physical performer, and maker of things. Lake has collaborated with many artists creating theatre productions from the ground up. She utilizes puppetry, movement and live music. But most importantly, she relies on make-believe. Lake has received multiple Jim Henson Foundation grants in support of her original work, most recently for Tree Pop, co-created by John Dyer and performed at HERE.

Kate Brehm (Puppeteer) Kate Brehm has worked as a Twist associate since 2005 on productions such as, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Dorothy and the Prince of Oz, The Rite of Spring, Dogugaeshi, and Sister’s Follies. She devises and directs visual movement theater as imnotlost. She lectures on affective performing scenery and cinematic techniques for live puppetry, and is certified in the Margolis Method of physical theater. She’s also enjoyed working with Torry Bend, Mabou Mines, Christopher Williams, Julie Atlas Muz, and Blue Man Group.

PRESS

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