November 2013 – Page 2

Out of the Box Gets Bloody with ‘Carrie’ Musical

November 1, 2013September 23, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Julia Kupiec as Carrie White in the musical, "Carrie." Peter Bertling photo — Julia Kupiec as Carrie White in the musical, “Carrie.”
Peter Bertling photo

While a new version of the blood-soaked prom queen, “Carrie” blows up the box office this Halloween season, Out of the Box Theatre Company has brought their own production of Stephen King’s classic horror tale to the stage. Yet, “Carrie: The Musical” is not new. Instead, it’s a story of growing pains.

A dozen years after Brian De Palma’s film, the Royal Shakespeare Company workshopped a musical version, but it was beset by tech problems, and the 1988 Broadway production closed after five performances. It was the definition of a flop. Or so everyone thought. Remade as an off-Broadway musical without the special effects and with fewer characters, the revivals began to happen, first illegally, with companies performing without the rights. Then a proper, 2012 revival occurred with new songs from the writers. “Carrie” had risen from the grave.

Mellow Mix – SPIN-OFF HIP-HOP GROUP COMES TO THE VELVET JONES

November 1, 2013September 23, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

From left, Hodgy Beats, Left Brain, Domo Genesis comprise the hip-hop group Mellow High. Life or Death PR photo — From left, Hodgy Beats, Left Brain, Domo Genesis comprise the hip-hop group Mellow High.
Life or Death PR photo

“Everything is regular in Los Angeles, except us.”

But to answer who “us” is in the case of Domo Genesis and the rap and hip-hop family he shares, well, that’s another matter. Collectively called “Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All,” (aka Odd Future aka OFWGKTA), the 14-person group mixes members into multiple side projects. Mellow High, the trio consisting of Domo Genesis, Left Brain, and Hodgy Beats, is one incarnation, and they are coming to Velvet Jones Saturday.

Fright Night – WEIRD PAINTINGS LAND AT MICHAELKATE INTERIORS

November 1, 2013September 23, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

'Geronimo,' Wallace Piat Brad Nack photos — ‘Geronimo,’ Wallace Piat
Brad Nack photos

Curator Brad Nack was looking for something creepy and scary for his latest show at MichaelKate Interiors and he may have gotten more than he expected. There’s some artistic madness going down at the furniture showroom that doubles as a gallery, making for one of MichaelKate’s boldest shows of the year.

Fans of La Luz de Jesus gallery and the pop surrealist movement will instantly groove on the very large paintings by Christopher Ulrich and his “Demoneater” series. But equally scary is Christina Tonges Korn and her spectral paintings. These balance against the more mellow works by Barbara Romain and the pop art explosions of Wallace Piatt, the only local in the show. It might be an unfair battle, two unhinged artists going up against two more “normal” ones (friends of the artists may begin debate here!), but the mix of color and scale work themselves out nicely.