THE DAISY THEATRE Opens Tonight at Baryshnikov Arts Center

Puppeteer provocateur Ronnie Burkett, internationally acclaimed as North America's most daring puppeteer, will bring his latest marionette creation, The Daisy Theatre, to Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC)'s Jerome Robbins Theater, 450 West 37th Street, for a two-week engagement tonight, September 30, through Saturday, October 10. The Daisy Theatre is part of BAC's 10th anniversary celebration in 2015.

The Daisy Theatre, performed by Canadian puppet master Ronnie Burkett, also creator of his forty hand-crafted marionettes, variety numbers that parody theatrical genres from opera, music hall, Las Vegas, French cabaret and vaudeville into a "see it more than once" theatrical experience.

A outrageous rotating cast of characters manipulated and voiced by Mr. Burkett includes singer Rosemary Focaccia, marionette ventriloquist Meyer Lemon, chanteuse Jolie Jolie, the beloved fairy child Schnitzel, a talking cow, a wistful fairy and the most beloved and befuddled prairie farm wife in Canada. With ever-changing content and nightly improvisation performed in an intimate setting, no two performances of The Daisy Theatre are the same.

(Oh, and don't bring the little ones!) This production is intended for adult audiences only. No children under age 16 will be admitted.

The Daisy Theatre premiered in 2013 at the Luminato Festival and its New York premiere is presented by Baryshnikov Arts Center in association with Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA.

Music for The Daisy Theatre is by John Alcorn and costumes are by Kim Crossley. The Daisy Theatre stage is devised and created by Mike Kukucska, Hamilton Scenic Specialty Inc. The Max Blümchen Orchestrale pit band is devised and constructed by Eric James Ball with its puppets sculpted by Noreen Young. The Franz and Schnitzel theme music is composed by Cathy Nosaty. The Daisy Theatre theme song is by Laura Hubert. Crystal Salverda is production stage manager.

Ronnie Burkett has been credited with creating some of the world's most elaborate and daring puppetry. Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes was formed in 1986 and has stimulated an unprecedented adult audience for puppet theatre for nearly 30 years, continuously playing to great critical and public acclaim on stages around the world.

Mr. Burkett won an Obie in 1999, but his last work seen in New York was 15 years ago when Ben Brantley of The New York Times, reviewing Street of Blood, wrote:

"It's not just the finely detailed appearances of the marionettes that astonishes; it is also Mr. Burkett's ability to endow them with such physical eloquence. A seemingly simple twitch of the strings, and these characters deliver gestures and assume postures more expressively human than much of what's offered by live actors in Broadway musicals these days."

Mr. Burkett has been captivated by puppetry since the age of seven, and began touring his shows around Alberta at the age of fourteen. He received the 2009 Siminovitch Prize in Theatre, The Herbert Whittaker Drama Bench Award for Outstanding Contribution to Canadian Theatre, and four Citations of Excellence from the American Center of the Union Internationale de la Marionnette. The Daisy Theatre is the thirteenth production from the Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes, following the international successes Penny Plain, Billy Twinkle, 10 Days on Earth, Provenance, and the Memory Dress Trilogy: Tinka's New Dress, Street of Blood, and Happy.

This production was co-commissioned by Luminato (Toronto), the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA (Los Angeles), in association with Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes (Toronto). The Daisy Theatre is presented with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.

Performances of The Daisy Theatre at Baryshnikov Arts Center's Jerome Robbins Theater, 450 West 37th Street, will take place September 30 at 8PM; October 1 at 7:30PM; and October 2­3 and 7­10 at 8PM. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at www.bacnyc.org or 866-811-4111.

Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) is the realization of a long-held vision by artistic director Mikhail Baryshnikov to build an arts center in Manhattan that would serve as a gathering place for artists from all disciplines. BAC's opening in 2005 heralded the launch of this mission, establishing a thriving creative laboratory and performance space for artists from around the world. BAC's activities encompass a robust residency program augmented by a range of professional services, including commissions of new work, as well as the presentation of performances by artists at varying stages of their careers. In tandem with its commitment to supporting artists, BAC is dedicated to building audiences for the arts by presenting contemporary, innovative work at affordable ticket prices. For more information, please visit www.bacnyc.org.