SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE to Be Reimagined in Original Concert Reading in Chicago

Smoke & Mirror Productions will present Berlioz: An Episode in the Life of an Artist, a new concert reading performance by Chicago playwright and musician Nick_Jones. Inspired by Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique and the programme story he wrote to accompany it, the production will run October 10–12, 2025 at Chicago Dramatists’ Russ Tutterow Theatre (798 N. Aberdeen).

Directed by Gabriella Bonamici, the adaptation blends narrative, dance, symphonic music, and original text with fragments of Shakespeare, Goethe, and Berlioz’s own memoirs. The performance explores comedy and tragedy, dreams and nightmares, while theatrically realizing the obsessions that fueled Berlioz’s groundbreaking work.

In a unique twist, Jones will use cutting-edge mi.mu gloves to shape the sound in real time through gesture, effectively “conducting” the piece live.

Cast and Creative Team

Performers include Jake Beauvais, Katy Blaustein, Rebecca Ann Carver, Rebecca Gilman, Aviva Jaye, Nick_Jones, Matt Keeley, Mary Grace Seigel, Becca Schwartz, Thomas Squires, and Christine Watt.

Creative team: Elliot Hubiak (lighting design), Mary Grace Seigel (costume design), Rebecca Ann Carver (choreography), Becca Schwartz (fight & intimacy direction).

Performance Schedule

Berlioz: An Episode in the Life of an Artist
October 10–11 at 8:00 p.m.
October 12 at 3:00 p.m.
Chicago Dramatists – Russ Tutterow Theatre, 798 N. Aberdeen, Chicago, IL