WHEN DREAMS GET A SECOND ACT

Nearly two decades later, Joey Arias and Basil Twist’s
downtown fantasia returns with its imagination,
naughtiness, and joyful strangeness intact

Back in 2008, when iPhones were a year old and Instagram might’ve been a cookie mix, Arias With A Twist burst onto the downtown New York theater scene. Part cabaret act, psychedelic trip, adult puppet show, alien sex fantasy, girl-gone-wrong parody, drag extravaganza, and soul-baring confessional with rock-and-roll undertones, the exuberant and colorful mishmash was an instant hit. It starred downtown performance legend Joey Arias, who co-created the project with genre-bending puppeteer Basil Twist, who also directed. The award-winning show garnered a multi-city tour the following year, becoming an international must-see.

And since we now live in a time where “…they suck the dreams right out of you,” at least according to Arias, the show has been remounted at its original theater, HERE Arts Center in Lower Manhattan. Not updated, just remounted. This resurrection (his word) of the piece is now back to give people “…hope to dream.”

And anything is possible for Arias’s onstage persona, an ultra-feminine burlesque throwback. For she is abducted by aliens, dropped into Eden, parties with well-hung demons, trips off ’shrooms, has a clarifying moment of self-reckoning opposite her snarky mini-me, pulls herself together, takes a literal bite out of Manhattan, slays as a Big Band girl singer, and dazzles as the toe-tapping centerpiece of a high-kicking, rotating, Busby Berkeley-esque finale. More story by association than cogent narrative, creators Arias and Twist have again brought the fun, laughs, theatricality, imagination, wonder, naughtiness, and coloring-outside-the-lines sensibility that made the show a success almost twenty years ago.

And while the goal may be to bring back the hope, this production may also bring up some melancholy. And maybe even sadness.

Because it’s no secret that those still around who can remember 2008 have aged. And so has Arias. And so have the puppets. And so have the sets. While there’s something incredibly endearing about the DIY and “handmade” aesthetic of the physical production and practical effects, there’s also a probably unintentional vibe that this is a museum piece from a freer time. When we weren’t so regulated and trackable and drowning in passwords. When one could be fun and silly and outrageous and dream simply for the joy of the doing. Where amazing puppetry (and it is still amazing) and well-timed projections alone could happily suspend disbelief.

Yet Arias is a phenomenal performer who still commands an audience like nobody’s business. He cajoles, seduces, jokes, traverses—all in those signature heels, bustier, and Bettie Page-inspired hair. The voice may not be quite what it was, but there’s a history and depth to it now that keeps it appealing.

And Arias’s inner joy is infectious. It infuses every aspect of the production, from the backstage team of talented puppeteers to the intricate projection and lighting cues to even the Dream Maker Orchestra—a four-piece combo of white-jacketed, wooden puppets. They are over 100 years old and are a bit the stuff of nightmares. Yet Arias’s playful interactions with them make this band, which must’ve played The Overlook Hotel at some point, almost human.

And maybe that’s why the show has returned. As a performer, Arias leads with joy, and that joy inspires hope. But the hope is not given. The onstage Arias creates it for herself. And if she can do it, maybe we can too? And if that’s the hopeful message Joey Arias is bringing to us from almost twenty years ago, all we can say is, “Welcome back, Joey. It’s been too long.”

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photos by Richard Termine

Arias With A Twist
Tandem Otter Productions
Dorothy B. Williams Theatre at HERE Arts Center, 145 Sixth Ave. in New York City
Wed–Sat at 7; Sun at 4 & 7; additional performances vary
80 minutes, no intermission
ends on November 1, 2026
for tickets, visit HERE Arts Center

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