How do you take an oft-told tale and make it relevant? If you’re Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra Music Director Gary Fagin, you start with a well-chosen collaborator, choreographer/director Jody Oberfelder’s reimagining of this classic (based on the Russian folk tale about a fiddle-playing soldier’s deal with the Devil) time warps from the proceedings from their original post-World War I era setting to 2011. Dynamic physicality from the cast (Jody Oberfelder Dance Project performers) gives a literal lift to this tale — which gets a further injection of dramatic tension courtesy of “Harry Potter” actor Christian Coulson (as the narrator). Stravinsky’s theatrical score will be performed by musicians from the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Fagin. Thurs., June 9 through Sat., June 11 (7:30pm). At Pace University’s Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts (3 Spruce St.). For tickets ($15 & $20), and more info about KCO, visit pace.edu and knickerbocker-orchestra.org
