Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio has shared behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage of a deleted scene the band was forced to cut from its New Year’s production of Gamehendge at Madison Square Garden.
“This was supposed to be a ridiculous West Side Story style “Dance battle”between The Lizois, (arriving on their French Warship with Wilson flag!) and The Revolutionaries,” Anastasio wrote in a social media post. He explained that the scene was cut at the last minute “due to unforeseen complications that arose once we actually got on the real stage at MSG. Stage height, sight lines, gear placement..everything moving fast and sometimes entire scenes end up on the cutting room floor. But I always got a kick out of this one, so I thought I’d share my IPhone vid from rehearsal.”
The video shows about 20 dancers rehearsing the battle scene along with a recording of the song “Wilson”. Anastasio can be heard giggling in the background as the un-costumed cast nails its synchronized choreography. The clip offers fans a behind-the-scenes look at the joy and hard work that went into the historic performance.
Check out rehearsal footage of the deleted scene below, and click here to watch Phish’s full Gamehendge performance from New Year’s Eve.
View this post on Instagram