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Redmoon Theater Partners with Chicago Symphony Orchestra for Four Performances Dec. 16-19

In a new collaboration, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and Chicago’s Redmoon Theater will present a world-premiere shadow-puppetry spectacle accompanying music from Tchaikovsky’s fairy-tale ballet Swan Lake, with performances Wednesday, Dec. 16, at 6:30pm (part of the rush-hour Afterwork Masterworks series); Thursday, Dec. 17, at 8pm; Friday, Dec. 18, at 1:30pm; and Saturday, Dec. 19, at 8pm.

Russian conductor Alexander Polianichko returns to the CSO podium to conduct the all-Tchaikovsky programs, which also include selections from The Snow Maiden, narrated by actor Alex Balestrieri.

Tchaikovsky’s rarely heard overture The Storm—which the CSO has performed only once, in 1899—opens the concerts on Dec. 17-19.

Known for their enormous and spectacular live productions, Redmoon Theater and artistic director Frank Maugeri have constructed a unique addition to the standard concert-hall experience, to be staged in synchronization with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s performance of music from Swan Lake.

Redmoon’s specially created dramatization showcases an array of handcrafted shadow puppets, meticulous live puppetry and larger-than-life video projections, bringing to life the tragic story of a princess, who is turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer’s curse, and the prince who falls in love with her.

The program also includes Tchaikovsky’s incidental music to The Snow Maiden, featuring actor Alex Balestrieri reciting a new adaptation from Aleksandr Ostrovsky’s play.

Gerard McBurney, CSO artistic programming advisor and an authority on Russian music, has retailored key scenes from Ostrovsky’s original text, telling the poetic story of an ice goddess whose heart is warmed when she falls in love with a mortal.

Redmoon Theater was founded in 1990 to promote a unique brand of performance committed to the highest quality artistic product, to civic well-being and to creating unexpected theater in unexpected locations.

Drawing on both contemporary art forms and ancient theatrical traditions, Redmoon has forged a performance style that is equal parts pageantry, gadgetry, acrobatics and ephemera.

Over the past decade, Redmoon has garnered international attention for its theatrical productions and site-specific performances, which have been seen everywhere in Chicago from the Jackson Park Lagoon to the façade of Museum of Contemporary Art.

In addition, Redmoon has expanding projects in Holland, Ireland, France and Australia; in October 2009, Redmoon was selected to perform as part of the White House’s exclusive Halloween festivities.