File puptcrit/puptcrit.0810, message 297


Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2008 14:00:18 -0400
From: "Steve Abrams" <sapuppets-AT-gmail.com>
To: puptcrit <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
Subject: [Puptcrit] Arias with a Twist


Hi AllAa few weeks ago I saw "Arias with a Twist" in New York.
I was saving the review for Puppetry Journal, but thought I should share
this puptcrit.

Basil Twist is the co-creator and director of "Arias with Twist" playing
until Dec 31 at HERE in New York. The New York Times gave this show a great
review, and I agree.

The pace is excellent. Each inventive scene left me wondering what
surprising Twist would happen next (pun intended)

This not a show for kiddies. The star is Joey Arias. Joey has returned to
the East Coast after spending several years as Master of Ceremonies for
"Zumanity" the adult Cirque Du Soleil show in Las Vegas.

Joey's drag character is somewhat like Tim Curry in Rocky Horror.
This is a one-person show with a supporting cast of puppets. Joey is an
entertainer who knows how to hold an audience. He has fun performing and
clearly wants his audience to have fun too
The term drag show covers a lot of territory. This is NOT a show where the
drag makes a huge effort to create the illusion that he is woman (usually a
singing star) and lip syncs a few numbers.

Joey actually sings wonderfully  well and in  several different styles,
including the style of jazz singer Billie Holliday and the mysterious Yma
Sumac. For me, Joey's songs were a highlight of the show.The show is packed
with visual and musical references (sometimes very pop and sometimes
obscure) to the 60s and 70s. The plot, such as it is, is a journey or trip
that is  a sort of drug induced hallucination. Some of the sexual humor is
sly wink wink nudge nudge and some goes right over the top.

>From the very first moments of the show, fine lighting and stage craft are
used to tease, and lovingly make fun of fine lighting and stage craft in
service of the "big build up."
There is a great montage of film/video clips in the multi-media spectacle


Ok Ok so you want to know about the puppets.
An unexpected treat in the show was the combo of marionette jazz musicians
who "provided" the music. Basil Twist's grandfather, Griff Williams was the
leader of a swing band, and he used large beautifully crafted marionettes as
a novelty feature with his band. Basil took the well preserved marionettes
out of storage and set them to work. The string bass player bears a striking
resemblance to the classical music conductor, Arturo Toscanini. Other
musician puppets from the era  were Cab Calloway,Harry James, and Ted Lewis

There is a scene where the diva finds herself in a tropical jungle populated
by creepy puppet snakes. When she escapes to New York there is Busby
Berkeley type chorus line of high-kickers. Is a special effects flying
saucer right out of a grade B 1960s sci-fi film considered a puppet or
moving scenery?


The puppeteers in the show take this comedy quite seriously. The
manipulation is very professional

I don't think the playful naughtiness of the show would be offensive to most
people over the age of 15.

During the 1930s depression Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Busby Berkeley
provided  sometimes real elegance and sometimes paper moon glamour, laughter
and escape from a troubled economy. The plots were idiotic but everyone had
fun and enjoyed the music. "Arias with a Twist" is a similar cocktail.

This show marks 10th season for the Dream Music Puppetry Program at HERE's
Dorothy B. Williams Theatre. "Dream Music" was Griff Williams' theme song
and Dorothy Williams, Basil's grandmother, helped to fund the space. The 80
seat theatre in Soho was launched with Basil's "Symphony Fantastique" which
won an Obie Award in 1998. Basil is artistic director of The Dream Music
Puppetry Program and along with producing director and HERE co-founder,
Barbara Busackino, they provide a space in Manhattan where adult,
experimental, works of puppetry are presented. Basil Twist deserves high
praise for nurturing many puppeteers and giving them a place  to perform.
There is a small lobby exhibit showing puppets from shows that have been
showcased at HERE
over the last 10 years. Sarah Provost's "Charcoal Boy" and Richard Termine's
"Diary of a Mad Man" are represented as well as Chinese Theatreworks
(Stephen Kaplin), Kevin Augustine,
Erin Orr, Lake Simons and Chris Green

Steve
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