A bale of hay comes to life and plays with a little girl. A headless mannequin holds a lobster on a leash. A confused astronaut wanders amongst a group of choristers while a video of a collapsing glacier plays in the background. These are but a few of the arresting images from Robert Wilson’s vision of the beloved Messiah, composed by Handel and arranged by Mozart.

The director’s production will be staged in the United States for the first time at Houston Grand Opear, in the first performances of the composer’s majestic oratorio in company history. In Wilson’s hands, the Messiah -a narrative-free meditation on Jesus’ role as the Christian messiah, originally conceived for concert halls - transforms into a surreal and mesmerizing theatrical spectacle reminiscent of Disney’s Fantasia.