As previously reported, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ frontwoman Karen O is debuting a “psycho opera” in conjunction with The Creators Project as part of a week-long event in NY’s DUMBO neighborhood. Now, we have details about the project, titled Stop The Virgens.
Taking place at St. Ann’s Warehouse, the opera will premiere on October 12 for eight performances, finishing on October 22. It was co-created by Karen O and design director KK Barrett, produced by the Creators Project, and directed by Adam Rapp. It features songs by Karen with musical direction from Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ bandmate Nick Zinner and Sam Spiegel (aka producer Squeak E. Clean of N.A.S.A., and brother of Spike Jonze). Karen’s longtime fashion accomplice Christian Joy designed the costumes. The cast of contributors includes members of the Greenhornes/Raconteurs, Money Mark, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ drummer Brian Chase. Also, weirdly, actress Lili Taylor will also perform.
Karen O added the following about her project:
I have a pretty good idea of what the psycho opera is about but I wouldn’t dare try and put it into my clumsy words. I’m hoping to create an original live experience, it should feel like a psychedelic ride laced with catharsis. There is emotional cost to our narrative so we’re aiming to engage the audience, this piece isn’t aiming to be all about spectacle or abstraction though there is good helping of both in the production. It’s aiming to have all the good stuff of escapist entertainment with a few sucker punches to the gut along the way. I’m in the camp that needs to discover and take risks, sometimes it’s with the promise of something special and new, sometimes it’s to stay awake, either way it’s much more stressful with all the uncertainty but worth the pain in the end.
If this makes you wish you lived in New York, you are not alone. For more info about the event, go here.
(Via P4K)
