“You have to see it to believe it” is an often-deployed phrase for those in the live performance space. In the case of “Requiem for the Troposphere,” it may actually be the easiest way to describe what will unfold Thursday at the Kessler Theater.
Billed as “an immersive, 3D multi-media experience featuring a performance collaboration between classical and jazz pianist Thiago Nascimento and Dallas-based projection team LightWare Labs,” it sounds utterly unlike anything else in town — so much so that Nascimento, during a recent conversation, often took long pauses to find the right words to convey what he’s participating in.
“The original idea was not necessarily mine,” he said. “The show is … it’s obviously a collaboration. [Kessler Theater artistic director Jeffrey] Liles knows me, and I did a show there before. He asked me to come back … he just wanted something that was a pure experience. When he mentioned [LightWare Labs] was going to basically turn the inside of the Kessler into a planetarium — just lights and sound — I was like, ‘Oh, hell yeah. Say less.’”
“Requiem for the Troposphere” will make its premiere Aug. 22 at Oak Cliff’s Kessler Theater.
Press materials for the performance describe it as “focusing specifically on the many challenges that we face from severe weather and dramatic climate change,” and Nascimento hedged a bit when it came to more specific details than that, citing — understandably — a desire to preserve some mystery around the specifics of the event.
“I’m basically wearing a costume — there’s going to be a lot of artistic messages or gestures,” Nascimento said. “I’m going to find my piano, get on stage and basically take off all these layers of, like, a post-apocalyptic survivor. … It’s going to be a journey, and everybody is going to be a part of that journey, if that makes sense.”
For as rare as it is for an artistic event to defy description, it’s rarer still for the audience to be directly engaged with the event, beyond merely observing. Nascimento is confident those who take the leap will be greatly rewarded.
“I think people are going to walk out of that theater just being like, ‘Oh, I needed that,’” Nascimento said. “I think people are going to be artistically satiated.”
“Requiem for the Troposphere” featuring Thiago Nascimento and LightWare Labs at Kessler Theater, Dallas. 8 p.m. Aug. 22. Tickets are $20-$320.
Preston Jones is a North Texas freelance writer and regular contributor to KXT. Email him at [email protected] or find him on X (@prestonjones). Our work is made possible by our generous, music-loving members. If you like how we lift up local music, consider becoming a KXT sustaining member right here.
