JUNE - DEC 2008

Created by Joey Arias and Basil Twist
at Here Arts Center
in New York City

June - December 2008

NEWS FLASH!! Joey Arias and Basil Twist are named OUT 100 Honorees for the "uproarious" Arias With a Twist! See more at www.out.com

Two national treasures unleash their epic imaginations to conjure a modern and intimate fantasy. Twist's signature magic envelopes Arias's legendary voice, transporting us to unpredictable worlds, channeling ecstatic desires, lavish nightmares and bizarre premonitions in a bejeweled cabinet of curiosities that could only be found in one of downtown's last enclaves for bohemian New York style.

A special performance created for the Dorothy B. Williams Theatre, marking Arias' homecoming after a triumphant six-year run in Las Vegas with Cirque du Soleil's Zumanity, and the 10th Anniversary of our Dream Music Puppetry Program.

For more information visit the Dream Music Page Tickets are very limited. Go to www.here.org to purchase.

"Eat your heart out, Madonna. The chanteuses who play Madison Square Garden and football stadiums have never experienced the imaginative heights of spectacle with which Basil Twist surrounds Joey Arias" - New York Times

It is an explosion of imagination, doled out in gigantic portions of fun... How good is it?  Let's see.  The best show I've seen this year?  Yes.  The best show I've ever seen in my life?  Maybe.  Among the 10 best theatrical experiences I've ever had?  Definitely. 

OCT/ NOV 2008

PETRUSHKA

Oct 31st - Nov 2nd, 2008
with Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Conductor

Nov 6th - Nov 8th, 2008
with the Phoenix Symphony
Michael Christie, Conductor

Basil Twist's Petrushka will appear for the first time with a full live symphony orchestra. Nine hidden puppeteers combine Czech and Japanese puppetry traditions in a tour de force of puppetry technique.

in Fort Worth Kodaly's lively Dances of Galánta opens the concert followed by Behzad Ranjbaran's melodic tale of a young Persian prince's seduction and betrayal. Stravinsky's beloved Petrushka features the magic of Basil Twist's puppets.

In Phoenix The magic of music is on display with Stravinsky's rambunctious Petrushka. Experience a delight for the ears and eyes as special guest puppeteer Basil Twist brings the comical music of Petrushka to life. Audiences will also amuse in Beethoven's more humorous and energetic side with his Symphony No. 2.

a "wondrous, visually opulent puppet version of the Stravinsky-Fokine ballet." - the New York Times

for tickets and further information see:
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra tickets (tickets for Petrushka only available to season ticket holders.) and The Phoenix Symphony tickets.

SEPT 2008

The Island of Dr. Moreau

September 5 - 28 ( Friday - Sunday)
Gates Open 7 PM, showtime 8:15 PM
Hip Pocket Theatre, Texas

by H.G. Wells,
Stage adaptation and direction by Johnny Simons
Costumes by Basil Twist

Inspired by the 1896 science fiction novel about an obsessed scientist and his experiments in evolution.
World Premier September 5

for tickets and further information see:
http://www.hippocket.org

July 2008

SINGING IN THE RAIN

Wednesday July 30th, 2008
at THE BUBBLE LOUNGE
in TINGEL TANGEL SAN FRANCISCO

Basil is pleased to be making his Bubble Lounge SF debut in the fifth edition of TINGEL TANGEL SAN FRANCISCO, a performance-rich monthly that fuses NYC and SF talent on last Wednesdays of the month. THE JACKIE FACTORY is co-producing this edition along with WEIMAR NEW YORK's EARL DAX and BUBBLE LOUNGE diva EMMANUELLE CHICHE, at BUBBLE LOUNGE in North Beach. This month's delights also include Factory DJ JOHNNY DYNELL, MC CHI CHI VALENTI, performances by San Francisco drag star ANNA CONDA, and KELLITA OF HOT PINK FEATHERS.

THE BUBBLE LOUNGE 714 MONTGOMERY STREET, SF
For tickets and more info go to: tingeltangelclub.com

June/ July 2008

PILOBOLUS

June 19-21, 2008
at American Dance Festival
in Durham, North Carolina

June 30 - July 26, 2008
at Joyce Theater
in New York City

Basil joins Pilobolus for their second annual International Collaborators Project. This new commission created by the company is a unique opportunity to explore the unencumbered imagination of a puppeteer with the magical imagery of shadows. World premiere at The American Dance Festival.

Mr. Twist has given the company "Darkness and Light," an engrossing work that seems at once a return to pure Pilobolus essence and a complete departure from basic Pilobolism.

May/ June 2008

HAMLET

May 27 - June 29, 2008
at The Delacorte Theater
in Central Park, New York City

Hamlet opens the 2008 Shakespeare in the Park summer season with Artistic Director Oskar Eustis directing Hamlet. Hamlet stars Tony Award nominee Michael Stuhlbarg in the title role with Tony Award winner Richard Easton as Polonius. Hamlet has not been staged at The Delacorte Theater since 1975 when Sam Waterston played the title role. Hamlet will begin previews on Tuesday, May 27 and run through Sunday, June 29. Twist collaborates with Eustis to bring us a large scale string puppets in a mini

Performances of Shakespeare in the Park will be Tuesday through Sunday at 8PM. *Please note exceptions below.

May 27 - June 29
*Added perf June 16 and June 23
No perf June 18 and June 24
Perf on June 19 starts at 8:30PM
Limited ticket distribution on: June 4, June 23,
No distribution/Stand-by line only on: June 17

*Tandem Otter donors contact Barbara for special seating opportunities. For additional information about Shakespeare in the Park, call (212) 539-8750 or visit The Public Theater website at www.publictheater.org

June 2008

WONDER BOY

San Francisco, California
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
June 6-8 and 13-15, 2008
See the FULL TOUR SCHEDULE

'Wonderboy' keeps everyone on their toes. - SF Chronicle

Wonderboy is a boy who has special sensitivities, the uncanny ability to empathize with all types of people, an intuitive knack that sets him apart from others. He feels small and apart, an outsider with his nose pressed up against the glass looking in, but in truth, he has enormous power - to see and perceive and even to heal with his gentle demeanor. In "Wonderboy" the operating of the puppet will become part of the dance. The unique blend of disciplines builds on the acclaimed Joe Goode Performance Group method of storytelling through text, song, and dance.

Dance-Theatre premiere by choreographer-director Joe Goode in collaboration with Basil Twist, composers Carla Kihlstedt and Matthias Bossi For more information visit www.joegoode.org

April 2008

PETRUSHKA

April 2-12 at 7:30 (Monday dark)
April 5, 6, 12, 13 at 3:00

"Brilliantly imagined, wonderfully expressive, and breathtakingly realized" - New York Magazine

A Great Performers commission for the 2000 season, this work spins new magic around the legendary Ballets Russes production of "Petrouchka". It tells of the tragic love triangle between three magical puppets; the clown Petrushka, the alluring Ballerina and the dashing Moor whose stories emerge amidst the swirl of the Russian carnival.  Russian identical twin pianists, Julia and Irina Elkina, perform a specially created two piano version of Stravinsky's masterpiece. Nine hidden puppeteers combine Czech and Japanese puppetry traditions in a tour de force of puppetry technique.   The program opens with an abstract fantasia of puppetry set to Stravinsky's Sonata for Two Pianos.

ONLINE INTERVIEW with Basil Twist available at lincolncenter.org
click the audio clips on the left side of the page.

Read
The New York Times Review,
The Wall Street Journal Article or The New Yorker Review

At Clark Studio Theater Located in the Samuel B. and David Rose Building, 7th Floor West 65th Street and Amsterdam Avenue For more information and tickets go to www.lincolncenter.org