The primary creative focus in 2009 for BT&Co. will be on the development of a stage adaptation of Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick as a chamber puppet cantata, and specifically on the development of the libretto, the completion of the song cycle, the overall design, development of puppetry, masks, costumes, and stage design. It is a production that will continue BT&Co.’s recognized history of adapting significant historic milestones for the stage, and this project was developed directly as a result of a grant from the Henson Foundation for the development of new work.

The challenge for this new production is specifically to represent an iconic literary work that has engaged so many in a manner that is both populist and academic. The engagement of renowned folksmith Mark Smith is crucial to the ambition – as this combination of the epic and the pedestrian is the shared beauty of the craft of folksmithing and puppetry. Michael Smith has been commissioned to compose 16-20 songs by the summer of ’09 and workshops to develop the production design and staging conventions will be scheduled for the fall of 2009 and will be executed by artistic associates of BT&Co
Thomas is no stranger to Melville’s epic. At Redmoon Theater, the spectacle theater company he started in 1989, he produced a 45-minute production of the novel with a small marching band and giant pole puppets, which was performed on the beach of Lake Michigan in the summer of 1992. Later in 1995, he adapted the novel in a co-production with Pegasus Players and in collaboration with Chicago playwright Jeff Dorchen and director Jim Lasko. Contemporary artist Michael Zerang's mesmerizing score combined to create a performance that was critically acclaimed.

After more than 15 year of artistic development, Blair Thomas will revisit to that epic in 2009 from a different perspective, focusing on the narrative arc or the novel and it’s capacity to be communicated through folksong and movement. This visual spectacle will incorporate the puppets, masks and stage screens that have characterized BT&Co.’s most successful productions in recent years.

As always, the production will engage the experience and expertise of the company performers who have consistently met the challenges of presenting work of exceptional quality.

The primary creative focus in 2009 for BT&Co. will be on the development of a stage adaptation of Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick as a chamber puppet cantata, and specifically on the development of the libretto, the completion of the song cycle, the overall design, development of puppetry, masks, costumes, and stage design. It is a production that will continue BT&Co.’s recognized history of adapting significant historic milestones for the stage, and this project was developed directly as a result of a grant from the Henson Foundation for the development of new work.

The challenge for this new production is specifically to represent an iconic literary work that has engaged so many in a manner that is both populist and academic. The engagement of renowned folksmith Mark Smith is crucial to the ambition – as this combination of the epic and the pedestrian is the shared beauty of the craft of folksmithing and puppetry. Michael Smith has been commissioned to compose 16-20 songs by the summer of ’09 and workshops to develop the production design and staging conventions will be scheduled for the fall of 2009 and will be executed by artistic associates of BT&Co
Thomas is no stranger to Melville’s epic. At Redmoon Theater, the spectacle theater company he started in 1989, he produced a 45-minute production of the novel with a small marching band and giant pole puppets, which was performed on the beach of Lake Michigan in the summer of 1992. Later in 1995, he adapted the novel in a co-production with Pegasus Players and in collaboration with Chicago playwright Jeff Dorchen and director Jim Lasko. Contemporary artist Michael Zerang's mesmerizing score combined to create a performance that was critically acclaimed.

After more than 15 year of artistic development, Blair Thomas will revisit to that epic in 2009 from a different perspective, focusing on the narrative arc or the novel and it’s capacity to be communicated through folksong and movement. This visual spectacle will incorporate the puppets, masks and stage screens that have characterized BT&Co.’s most successful productions in recent years.

As always, the production will engage the experience and expertise of the company performers who have consistently met the challenges of presenting work of exceptional quality.