Ruth Fremson/The New York Times
In 1998, I was working at the downtown arts center HERE when Basil Twist's Symphonie Fantastique premiered in a small black box theater in the basement. Billed as a "puppet show," I remember being skeptical about seeing Berlioz' hour-long masterpiece turned into some kind of phantasmagoria. It was unlike anything I've ever seen: using just a backlit water tank, Twist used a mix of feathers, glitter, slides, dyes, and other objects to conjure "a concert of forms." It was like watching a live version of Disney's Fantasia, only better.
Symphonie Fantastique remains Twist's best-known work, with subsequent productions staged on Broadway and across the globe. After seeing it in 2001, Lincoln Center's Jane Moss approached Twist and commissioned his Petrushka (2002), using a combination of abstract and figurative puppetry set to Stravinsky's score, arranged for two pianos. (The following year, Lincoln Center staged his Symphonie Fantastique.)
Those uptown experiences inspired Twist to think on a larger scale, and last year, Carolina Performing Arts at The University of North Carolina commissioned him to create a new evening of Stravinsky "ballets" with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, anchored by The Rite of Spring on the occasion of its centenary. That evening has now made it's way to Lincoln Center's Rose Theater, where it's receiving its New York premiere this week as part of the ongoing White Light Festival.
I didn't have a chance to read Twist's program note before seeing Fireworks, the first of three ballets on the program, or I would have realized that the somewhat crude pinwheels and pyramids were a direct reference to Giacomo Balla's original 1917 stage designs for the Ballets Russes. But, some homages are best left unacted, and by 2014 standards, this one looked like a middle school stage play.
Pulcinella was somewhat better, with black-clad puppeteers configuring what looked like rolls of white paper into various shapes and figures: a trotting horse one moment, a stick figure the next. Still, I had the unsettling feeling that I had been unwittingly transported to an 18th century court theater, surrounded by patrons overeagerly display their noblesse oblige by applauding every new recognizable shape. At least the music was good.
Courtesy of Lincoln Center
As for the main event, it's difficult for any staging of the Rite of Spring to stand up to Stravinsky's brutal, masterful score, so unsettling that it set off a riot at its Paris premiere in 1913. But, at opening night on Wednesday, Twist seemed to surrender completely to the music: all we could see for the first ten minutes was a black curtain being pulled and shaken from behind. Really?
Turns out that wasn't the real show. A stage manager stopped the performance, citing "technical difficulties." The house lights came on, and we waited for what felt like 20 minutes. People checked their email, chatted, flipped through their programs.
Finally, the house lights dimmed and the performance restarted. Now, things were completely different: shimmering silk curtains fell one-by-one, huge shapes rose and fell in front of green and blue backlights. All of which begs the question: why did they allow the shaking of the black curtain to go on for so long? What was that? Did someone actually believe we'd be fooled into thinking that was the real performance? Assuming it wasn't Twist, someone should lose their head over that one.
When all was said and done, the performance was a masterful blend of abstract images and live choreography, with Christopher Williams dancing the role of The Chosen Victim. The OSL, conducted here by Jayce Ogren, didn't quite live up to the high musical standards of some other orchestras we've heard recently, but as a pit band, they dispatched themselves well enough.
Hopefully, Twist and his team of puppeteers have worked out the kinks for their three remaining performances tonight and tomorrow. Tickets and info available on the White Light website.