Basil Twist News

Last night, October 13, Tony Award winning director & choreographer Matthew Bourne, Broadway's Original Tony Award winning Billy Elliot Trio David Alvarez, Kiril Kulish & Trent Kowalik; Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden (Pollock), film & TV star Christine Baranski (Mamma Mia! movie), Tony Award winner Donna McKechnie (A Chorus Line), directing royalty Sir Richard Eyre, Tony Award winning stage & film star Alan Cumming (Cabaret), Academy Award & Tony Award winning stage and film director Sam Mendes (Cabaret, American Beauty), Emily Mortimer (Pink Panther, '30 Rock'), downtown performance artist Joey Arias, renowned puppeteer Basil Twist, screenwriter Caroline Thompson (Edward Scissorhands), Broadway choreographer Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys), and Jack Noseworthy (Sweet Smell of Success) were among the stars who came out to celebrate the opening night of Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake at the New York City Center. BroadwayWorld was also on hand and brings you photo coverage below.

Legendary underground entertainer-turned international cabaret sensation Joey Arias returns to Seattle's historic Triple Door on Tuesday, October 12 at 7:30pm, for an evening of homage to the great Billie Holiday, with all the bawdiness, elegance, and musical genius needed to properly channel the magic of 'Lady Day.' Joey Arias will be accompanied by his longtime pianist and creative co-conspirator, Eliot Douglass. Strange Fruit's return to Seattle is made possible by producer The Swedish Housewife Presents.

As part of its 2010-11 mainstage season, HERE proudly presents Soul Leaves Her Body, by filmmaker and video artist Peter Flaherty and dance theater artist Jennie MaryTai Liu.

Following on the heels of last year's sensational Il mondo della luna at the Hayden Planetarium, Gotham Chamber Opera announces that The New 42nd Street presents, at The New Victory Theater, a Gotham Chamber Opera and Tectonic Theater Project production in association with Blind Summit Theatre, Xavier Montsalvatge's El gato con botas (Puss in Boots), a stunning new production of the classic children's tale directed by Moisés Kaufman and conducted by Neal Goren, which will be presented in October 2010.

With its newest production, 'In Retrospect,' the LOCO7 Dance Puppet Theatre Company, led by Federico Restrepo, investigates how we each construct our personal memory box: how we keep our memories fresh and preserve the things that made us who we are.

Following on the heels of last year's sensational Il mondo della luna at the Hayden Planetarium, Gotham Chamber Opera announces that The New 42nd Street presents, at The New Victory Theater, a Gotham Chamber Opera and Tectonic Theater Project production in association with Blind Summit Theatre, Xavier Montsalvatge's El gato con botas (Puss in Boots), a stunning new production of the classic children's tale directed by Moisés Kaufman and conducted by Neal Goren, which will be presented in October 2010.

Following on the heels of last year's sensational Il mondo della luna at the Hayden Planetarium, Gotham Chamber Opera announces that The New 42nd Street presents, at The New Victory Theater, a Gotham Chamber Opera and Tectonic Theater Project production in association with Blind Summit Theatre, Xavier Montsalvatge's El gato con botas (Puss in Boots), a stunning new production of the classic children's tale directed by Moisés Kaufman and conducted by Neal Goren, which will be presented in October 2010.

Following on the heels of last year's sensational Il mondo della luna at the Hayden Planetarium, Gotham Chamber Opera announces that The New 42nd Street presents, at The New Victory Theater, a Gotham Chamber Opera and Tectonic Theater Project production in association with Blind Summit Theatre, Xavier Montsalvatge's El gato con botas (Puss in Boots), a stunning new production of the classic children's tale directed by Moisés Kaufman and conducted by Neal Goren, which will be presented in October 2010.

Nonstop theater, a costume competition and ballroom dancing will bewitch the East Village in Theater for the New City's 34th annual Village Halloween Costume Ball on Sunday, October 31 at TNC, 155 First Avenue.

Legendary underground entertainer-turned international cabaret sensation Joey Arias returns to Seattle's historic Triple Door on Tuesday, October 12 at 7:30pm, for an evening of homage to the great Billie Holiday, with all the bawdiness, elegance, and musical genius needed to properly channel the magic of 'Lady Day.' Joey Arias will be accompanied by his longtime pianist and creative co-conspirator, Eliot Douglass. Strange Fruit's return to Seattle is made possible by producer The Swedish Housewife Presents.

Following on the heels of last year's sensational Il mondo della luna at the Hayden Planetarium, Gotham Chamber Opera announces that The New 42nd Street presents, at The New Victory Theater, a Gotham Chamber Opera and Tectonic Theater Project production in association with Blind Summit Theatre, Xavier Montsalvatge's El gato con botas (Puss in Boots), a stunning new production of the classic children's tale directed by Moisés Kaufman and conducted by Neal Goren, which will be presented in October 2010.

The 2006 hit production The Fortune Teller from HERE's The OBIE award-winning HERE is thrilled to present an encore staging of the 2006 Dream Music Puppetry Program hit production The Fortune Teller. This marionette play in miniature is created and directed by Erik Sanko and Jessica Grindstaff, and features original music by Danny Elfman and Erik Sanko and narration by Gavin Friday. Set to play October 28 - December 4 at HERE (145 Sixth Avenue), this production will have its Official Opening on Sunday, October 31st (Halloween) at 9:00 PM.

The OBIE award-winning HERE is thrilled to present an encore staging of the 2006 Dream Music Puppetry Program hit production The Fortune Teller.

The Pee-wee Herman Show begins previews October 26 and opens on November 11, 2010 at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. Click below for a first look at some show clips!

What puppeteer doesn't wonder what will happen to him as he impersonates the creator? In 'Wake Up, You're Dead!,' Aaron Haskell of Brooklyn Art Department (www.brooklynartdepartment.com), one of the original designers of Nightmare: NYC's Haunted House, gives us a Halloween-flavored creation myth. It's a De La Guarda-type event and spectacle that adds a late-night attraction to 'La MaMa Puppet Series IV--Built to Perform.' It will be presented October 29 to November 7 in the second-floor Club of La MaMa E.T.C., 74A East Fourth Street.

Winners of Drama Desk Awards for the 2009/2010 New York theater season received their engraved trophies at a cocktail reception in their honor last week at Il Punto Ristorante. BroadwayWorld was on hand and brings you photo coverage of the trophy ceremony below.

To add a family theater component to 'La MaMa Puppet Series IV -- Built to Perform,' La MaMa will present Jane Catherine Shaw in a solo show of found object puppetry, 'Folk Tales of Asia and Africa,' from October 16 to November 7.

Even as its shows reach New York and London, Berkeley Repertory Theatre begins another season of fearless theatre here at home: Emmy- and Tony Award-winning actor Mandy Patinkin stars in the world-premiere production of Compulsion on Berkeley Rep's intimate Thrust Stage. Acclaimed director Oskar Eustis returns to the Bay Area with Rinne Groff's latest play, a kaleidoscopic collision of history and culture that combines stellar acting with marvelous marionettes. Compulsion, a world-premiere co-production from Berkeley Rep, The Public Theater, and Yale Repertory Theatre, begins previews on September 13, opens September 16, and closes October 31.

Following on the heels of last year's sensational Il mondo della luna at the Hayden Planetarium, Gotham Chamber Opera announces that The New 42nd Street presents, at The New Victory Theater, a Gotham Chamber Opera and Tectonic Theater Project production in association with Blind Summit Theatre, Xavier Montsalvatge's El gato con botas (Puss in Boots), a stunning new production of the classic children's tale directed by Moisés Kaufman and conducted by Neal Goren, which will be presented in October 2010.

Producer Scott Sanders has announced additional cast members for the upcoming Broadway engagement of the highly anticipated stage play, The Pee-wee Herman Show.