HERE's 25th Anniversary Season to Include Return of Basil Twist

HERE announced that one of the boundary-pushing theater company's greatest successes will be returning for its 25th anniversary 2017-18 season: Symphonie Fantastique, puppeteer-director Basil Twist's 20-year-old work set to Hector Berlioz's landmark 1830 program symphony of the same name. Set to run in a limited 12-week engagement March 29-July 15, 2018, the revival will feature live accompaniment from pianist Christopher O'Riley, playing Franz Liszt's transcription of Berlioz's piece.

HERE also offered details on the rest of their season. It will kick off with Stairway to Stardom, a production from resident artist Amanda Szeglowski and her all-female company cakeface. The work is described as "a silver-sequined dissection of the American dream" that features "live-mixed sound and visuals from electronic duo Prism House and clips from the '80s cult-favorite New York public access TV show of the same name" to honor "the contributions of the wildly passionate but questionably talented among us." Stairway to Stardom will run September 12-23.

Thomas Paine in Violence follows, November 6-18. Created by Paul Pinto — the original Balaga in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 — and starring renowned vocalist and composer Joan La Barbara, it is described as "an electronic psychedelic opera-sermon…that is set in a radio station in the afterlife of the Founding Father and international activist."

Lake Simons and John Dyer's Dream Music Puppetry presentation TreePop will take the HERE stage November 30-December 10. It is described as "a visual poem told through a variety of puppetry forms, dance and music" that "evokes memories of old friends, meditates upon the life of objects, and explores how we play."

The Prototype opera and music theater festival will return for a sixth year January 7-20, 2018. Afterward, HERE's annual resident artist festival Culturemart will return March 5-18, 2018.

After Symphonie Fantastique, Assembled Identity will follow. Created by Purva Bedi, HERE artistic director Kristin Marting, and Mariana Newhard, and performed by Bedi and Newhard, it is described as follows: "Twin sisters discover they are clones and embark on an unexpected journey, confronting their own authenticity." It is running April 24-May 13, 2018.

Finally, the season closes out with American Weather, resident artist Chris Green resident artist and Dream Music Puppetry program presentation that is described as "an immersive work of projected animation, live music and puppetry that re-frames our troubled American narrative as a rambling folk-epic wherein fear of the 'other,' a lost shared reality and other contemporary Americana are mythologized through song and performance." It runs June 15-30, 2018.

For more information on Symphonie Fantastique, click here.

For more information on HERE's new season, click here.