Basil Twist Joins Symphonie Fantastique in Select Performances

Puppeteer Basil Twist is set to perform in his work Symphonie Fantastique during all Saturday evening performances from July 28 until the show's scheduled close on September 2.

Dream Music Puppetry Program's production of Symphonie Fantastique returns to its original home at HERE, where the groundbreaking work first premiered in 1998, to celebrate the theater's 25th anniversary season. The show takes place in a 1,000-gallon water tank, in which five unseen puppeteers swirl countless pieces of fabrics, feathers, fishing lures, flashlights, glitter, dyes, plastic, vinyl, and bubbles in all shapes and sizes, creating a dreamlike world of imagination and surrealistic storytelling.

Symphonie Fantastique is set to the 1830 score by composer Hector Berlioz, and this engagement marks the first time in New York City that the work has been performed with live piano accompaniment, using the Franz Liszt transcription. On the piano is Christopher O'Riley, who has been a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony.

In addition to Twist, the cast includes frequent Twist collaborator, Andy Gaukel, along with Kate Brehm, Ben Elling, Jonothon Lyons, and Rachael Shane. Following each performance, the puppeteers will welcome audience members backstage for a walk-through to see the tank and some of the materials used for the production. Lighting design is by Andrew Hill.