Barbicide

Hey all, April here!

Angie and I are furiously preparing to hit the road today for the Double or Nothin' Tour, but first I wanted to share another side of Angie's brilliance.

If you don't know already, one of Angie's many hats is that of actor. She's been working on a new show called Barbicide, currently in development by the Theatre Project. Written by Sean Pomposello and directed by Christian Amato, Barbicide is a new take on Sweeney Todd. "Imagine if Jack Kerouac, Jim Thompson and Mario Puzzo were to open an unauthorized parody of Sweeney Todd. It would be Barbicide, a tasty, noirish revenge play of interwoven monologues, underscoring the consequences of coincidence and fate."

When I got to the city last Wednesday, Angie met me at Penn Station and we went straight to Moustache Greenwich Tonsorial, a barber shop (see what they did there?) in the Village that hosted the show's staged readings.



Director Christian Amato introduces the show

The show's 4 actors play a total of 7 characters, switching effortlessly between the roles using just their bodies and voices. Arthur Aulisi, as Todessco/The Judge, even has several conversations with himself.

Angie plays Jo, the 1964 Queens street beat version of the Sweeney Todd character, Joanna, a lovelorn orphan(?) being raised under the controlling hand of The Judge.



Clockwise from top left: Arthur Aulisi as Toddesco/Judge; Angie Atkinson as Jo; Arthur Aulisi, Paulette Oliva as Ms. Lionetti/Beggar Woman; Douglas Sharf as Ant Knee/Tony


Angie will have the privilege of continuing the role when Barbicide opens at the Players Theatre in October. It's her first Off Broadway show!

Even as a staged reading, the show is mesmerizing and brutal. It's gritty and hard, set in a time when Times Square was a playground for pornographers and prostitutes and violent crimes were soaring. I can't wait to see it fully realized.

Lulu's Style Studio

So apparently there are perks to being a quirky musician who wears crazy clothes and sometimes blogs about those clothes...I mean, aside from the obvious perk of just being that kinda gal. I was lucky to attend a fabulous Lulus.com Fashion Week shindig on February 10th. I couldn't stay for too long because I had to rock out Bar East that night, but I had a great time during my short visit.

I was greeted at the door by an incredibly friendly staffer who immediately gave me a cute little canvas tote filled with goodies. Directly behind check-in was a table for Cravebox.com, who set me up with a free mini sample box of stuff, including some fabulous skin care products from Amore Pacific. Cravebox is great, 'cause if you sign up (for a very low monthly fee, $10/month), they will send you a box every month filled with deluxe-size samples of fabulous luxury health and beauty goods! And these samples are huge. Often samples are tiny little one-or-two-use dealies, but I'm not even halfway through that delicious Amore Pacific eye cream.

Hypnotiq Vodka was next in the queue of fabulous vendors, and they gave us all little goody bags full of brightly colored candies and mints as well as delicious free cocktails. And anyone who's been to one of my shows knows that I'm a sucker for a free drink.


Fancy shoes and lip tattoos.

I kind of had to breeze quickly through the room, but I picked up some fabulous treats from CorSilver, Mereadesso Woman (amazing lip balm!), Tenatura (via Etsy, also delish lip balm), Pop Beauty, NYX, and a variety of others. They even had a few racks of fantastic clothing pieces from which each guest got to select and take home a free piece! Unfortunately I had to leave before the giveaway, but in my canvas goodie bag was a variety of coupons for free or discounted products also sold through Lulus.com!


Spin the wheel for even more amazing prizes!

I had a fantastic time mixing and mingling with other fashion bloggers and sampling all the lovely pretty girl treats. You can check out the official recap here.


When I got home, I perused Lulu's to see if they had anything that would work for playing gigs. I consider what I wear to be an important part of the whole performance package. I think a lot of musicians are the same way. Even if they look like they just rolled out of bed and came to the show, there was usually some thought put into picking just the right t shirt. As I was window shopping, I put together some fantasy performance outfits with pieces from Lulu's and other online retailers.

Coffee Shop

The first is for a coffee shop gig. These shows are usually acoustic and very laid back. They also often happen on a weekend afternoon, so it's a much more casual atmosphere. I usually dress like I would if I were meeting someone at the coffee shop for a date. The dress and boots from Lulu's are a great mix of sweet and rugged, and I added some fun items from across the pond, including an Alexander McQueen leather jacket that costs about as much as my rent. But, these are fantasy outfits, so a girl can dream big, right?


Dive Bar

While I love doing a little acoustic jam at a coffee shop, I think my favorite places to play are dive bars. The drinks are cheap and I get to rock out with a full band, getting all sweaty and ferocious. Everything in this set is from Lulu's, except the t shirt, which I already own, and the jacket, which I really wish I owned. I'm also really craving those faux leather leggings.


Lounge or Club

Lounges and clubs give me a chance to go all out and add some real drama to my performance clothes. I'm very much drawn to the Victorian aesthetic, but also, as a girl raised on Madonna, I sometimes like to just perform in my underwear. This outfit features a bustier and sequin shorts from Lulu's. I consider sequin shorts to be a potential staple in my performance wardrobe, but haven't quite found the perfect pair yet. These look like they'd fit the bill. Again, another fantastically expensive Alexander McQueen jacket makes an appearance, alongside some equally unattainable Fluevog boots.

Overall, there were a lot of cute things at Lulu's that would work for my performance wardrobe and for every day wear. (I'll talk to you guys about the art of layering eventually.)

Hopefully Lulus will have another event in the fall...if so, I will definitely be there, and hopefully won't have to leave so quickly!

What I Wore - Bar East show, 11/9/2011

It so could've been such an awful night, but it was awesome.

Oscar, who had done such a fantastic job on lead guitar for my CMJ gig at R Bar, was all amped to back me up along with Curt and Luis. We were adding Jeff on pedal steel for the first time, and it promised to be a rockin' show.

But then Oscar had a kitchen accident and injured a fret finger. He was out. No one was available to step in. So it was just going to be Jeff on steel, Curt on bass/occasional electric, Luis on drums. And me. In a bar I'd never played at before. In a neighborhood I wasn't familiar with. No one was responding to the Facebook invite. People who had told me they were coming suddenly couldn't. I had promised the venue that I'd bring in at least 10 people, and it was looking more like 2 or less. I was panicking.

I thought, "This whole night may go down in flames, but if so, I'm going down lookin' FIERCE. Why not pull a Gaga and perform in my underwear?"



I call it Urban Prairie Chic.

In keeping with the Old West Victorian Meets New Lower East Side theme, I started with this sheer black dress (Ralph Lauren sample sale, $20). It's actually huge on me, but I nipped the waist with a belt (also Ralph Lauren sample sale, $10) and shortened the skirt by several inches just by tucking the excess fabric under the belt and gathering the excess volume in the back to create a mini-train/bustle. I wore my favorite/trademark pearl studs with one dangling silver feather earring (Charlotte Russe, $8/pair), 'cause it fit. The onyx pendant necklace was a gift from a stranger on the street, my favorite kind of accessory. I loved the way it complimented the neckline of the dress and the whole buttoned-down look of the top. The wide silver band ring is from a Christofle sample sale, and the other ring belonged to my late grandmother. I generally don't leave home without one or both of them on.

I thought it looked pretty bangin', and I guess the crowd did, too, 'cause even people who had come to see previous bands stuck around to listen to what turned out to be one of the best sets I've had, even in the absence of dear Oscar! AND, I exceeded my promised number of attendees! It was such a special night, and I'm so grateful to everyone who made it possible.

Can't let doubt get you down. Gotta keep the faith.
And if you do start to doubt, just sing in your panties.
It really helps.