Trey Lyford News

On May 13, the OBIE-winning HERE will honor MacArthur fellow Taylor Mac and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation ArtsProgram at BLOOM, HERE's annual spring gala. The evening celebrates Mac, a playwright, actor, singer-songwriter, performance artist, director and producer and "critical darling of the New York scene" (New York Magazine) who also has been HERE's resident playwright since 2016. Mac's current Broadway debut, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus, was commissioned by HERE and written during Mac's residency.

HERE welcomes composer and singer Gelsey Bell, OBIE and Doris Duke award-winning playwright Julia Jarcho, and NAACP-nominated theatre-maker Nia O. Witherspoon as new members of the HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP).

The Civilians will present a staged reading on February 1stand 2nd, hosted by the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University. The play is based on Daniel C. Dennett and Linda LaScola's groundbreaking book Caught in the Pulpit, Leaving Belief Behind, adapted by Marin Gazzaniga and directed by Steve Cosson.

In 1993, HERE barged into Soho and threw one hell of a party. It's been 25 years and the world has changed, but the OBIE-winning producer and presenter is still HERE.

HERE announces that applications for the HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP) are currently open. This multi-year, $100,000 residency program was created in 1999 and serves as a national model.

Critically acclaimed Philadelphia-based artist Trey Lyford is preparing to return to the Philly Fringe Festival with his newest work, The Accountant. This highly anticipated production includes a unique audience participation project surrounding the notion of memory, will have an exclusive five performances only run at Old City's Christ Church Neighborhood House, September 6-9, 2018.

HERE's Board of Directors announces that long-time Producing/Executive Director Kim Whitener will step down from HERE Art Center this fall to return to creative producing and consulting with her company KiWi Productions, where she will work with a range of US artists and companies primarily in the contemporary opera-theater and music-theater worlds.

Beginning tomorrow, July 28, designer, director, master puppeteer, and MacArthur "genius" Basil Twist will perform in his singular creation, Symphonie Fantastique, during all Saturdayevening performances. The 20th-anniversary production, which has received near universal acclaim and is scheduled to close on September 2, will include Twist on July 28, August 4, 11, 18, 25 and September 1 at 8:30pm. Set to Hector Berlioz's revolutionary 1830 score, Symphonie Fantastique, for the first time in New York, features live piano accompaniment by Christopher O'Riley. Hailed as a creative masterpiece when it debuted in 1998, the production, which opened on April 4, is a presentation from HERE's Dream Music Puppetry Program and a centerpiece of HERE's 25th anniversary season.

HERE is thrilled to present Cabaret Fantastique, a culminating concert event featuring pianist Christopher O'Riley who performs his haunting solo piano arrangements of songs by Radiohead, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, The Smiths, Elliott Smith, Portishead, and Sun Kil Moon. Master puppeteer and MacArthur "genius" Basil Twist and company members from Symphonie Fantastique will accompany O'Riley with new puppet work. The one-of-a-kind event will take place on August 19 at 7pm. Known to millions as the host of NPR's From the Top, O'Riley is currently performing live piano accompaniment for Basil Twist's Symphonie Fantastique, which continues performances at HERE until September 2.

HERE (Kristin Marting, Founding Artistic Director, and Kim Whitener, Executive Director) is proud to announce its 2018-2019 season, which marks the OBIE-winning institution's 26th year of producing of daring new hybrid performance by new artists from all disciplines - theatre, music, art, dance, puppetry, and media art.

Critically acclaimed Philadelphia-based artist Trey Lyford is preparing to return to the Philly Fringe Festival with his newest work, The Accountant. This highly anticipated production includes a unique audience participation project surrounding the notion of memory, will have an exclusive five performances only run at Old City's Christ Church Neighborhood House, September 6-9, 2018.

PROTOTYPE: Opera/Theatre/Now is pleased to announce programming for the seventh annual festival of fresh opera-theatre & music-theatre running January 5-13, 2019, featuring eight presentations that "shift the whole paradigm of what opera is and can be" (New York Observer).

HERE (Kristin Marting, Founding Artistic Director, and Kim Whitener, Executive Director) is proud to close their 25th anniversary season with the commissioned world premiere of American Weather, a new work by director and designer Chris Green, a member of the HERE Artist Residency Program since 2016. With a bittersweet verve, American Weather is a visceral work of material performance inspired by daily life in America.

On June 4, the OBIE-winner HERE will honor Tony Award-winner Eve Ensler and HERE's board chair and star attorney Bethany Haynes at Out of the Box for 25 Years, HERE's 25th Anniversary Gala. The evening celebrates HERE's quarter of a century history as a leader in thinking creatively, reimagining performance practice and taking audiences to new frontiers. HERE has been a champion for unconventional theater artists, puppeteers, musicians, and dancers for 25 years including Ensler, whose groundbreaking The Vagina Monologues was developed and premiered at HERE in 1996.

In response to overwhelming demand and near universal critical acclaim, Symphonie Fantastique - the singular creation by designer, director, master puppeteer, and MacArthur "genius" Basil Twist - extends its 20th anniversary engagement to July 15. Set to Hector Berlioz's revolutionary 1830 score, Symphonie Fantastique, for the first time in New York, features live piano accompaniment by Christopher O'Riley. Hailed as a creative masterpiece when it debuted in 1998, the production, which opened on April 4, is a presentation from HERE's Dream Music Puppetry Program and a centerpiece of HERE's 25th anniversary season.

A new take on PETER AND THE STARCATCHER is shaping up at Theatre Horizon (401 DeKalb Street, Norristown, PA), where a cast of star performers are rehearsing for a one-of-a-kind musical journey.

As a centerpiece of its 25th anniversary season, HERE (Kristin Marting, Founding Artistic Director, and Kim Whitener, Executive Director) is proud to present the world premiere of Assembled Identity, a new theatrical work by Kristin Marting created in collaboration with Purva Bedi and Mariana Newhard. Running April 24 - May 19, Assembled Identity is set to open on May 1 and features performances by Newhard and Lipica Shah, who play multiple characters and speak several languages. Assembled Identity is the 29th hybrid work by Marting, who co-founded HERE in 1993. Her multi-disciplinary work has been noted for its "striking unity of sound and meaning" (New York Times) and for being a "a true treat for the adventurous." (Time Out New York).

This sure isn't your normal take on Peter Pan. Theatre Horizon, a professional theatre company located in Norristown, PA, will present a new vision for the beloved musical tale PETER AND THE STARCATCHER. Directed by award-winning theatre artist Matthew Decker, the production will play April 26 through May 20, 2018 at 401 DeKalb Street, Norristown.

Symphonie Fantastique - the singular creation by designer, director, master puppeteer, and MacArthur "Genius" Basil Twist - returns to its original home at HERE in a 20th anniversary production for 12 weeks only, March 29-June 17. Set to Hector Berlioz's revolutionary 1830 score, Symphonie Fantastique, for the first time in New York, features live piano accompaniment by Christopher O'Riley. Hailed as a creative masterpiece when it debuted in 1998, the production is set to open on April 4 and a presentation from HERE's Dream Music Puppetry Program and a centerpiece of HERE's 25th anniversary season.

SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE - the singular creation by designer, director, performer and master puppeteer Basil Twist and set to the revolutionary 1830 score by composer Hector Berlioz - returns to New York City for a 20th anniversary production, running 12 weeks only from March 29-July 15, 2018